I'm running a game in a sort of steampunk/heavy necromancy world and I was wondering if anybody knew if there were rules for Tuberculosis anywhere out there. The reason I ask is because one of my "major NPC's" in the world has it and it is sort of a prevelant disease in the world.
If there are no rules I was wondering if I could get some help making it. I imagine the save would be similar to that of the black death/bubonic plague (maybe a little higher since TB is still pretty deadly now'a'days). I imagine it would deal con damage and possibly even a save to cause bleed damage/caughing. The caughing could be taken care of by making the character staggered I'd imagine but the real issue I'm having is the bleed and just the onset, save, etc. Anyway, thanks in advanced.
TB was pretty nasty, but not nearly as bad as the plauge. It never whiped out entire towns that i'm aware of.
Most infections in humans result in an asymptomatic, latent infection, and about one in ten latent infections eventually progress to active disease, which, if left untreated, kills more than 50% of those infected.-wiki
So it should have an easier DC, say 8 or so, but hit for a lot of con damage over a month when it DOES hit.
Level 2 disease, disease; Save Fortitude DC 8
Effects
Frequency: 1/week
Effect: 1d4 Con damage.
Cure: 10 consecutive saves
The DC to treat tuberculosis with a heal check is 25, rather than the diseases normal fort save.
-That should keep it a long slow, neigh inevitable death slowly consuming you without turning it into either a population decimator or a case of the sniffles.
MacGurcules, thanks for that, I knew I'd seen TB in the past somewhere I just didn't remember where.
BigNorseWolf, a DC8 seems a little low but I do like your idea of it easier to resist but hard to get rid of (as that is usually the case). I'd still like to incorporate coughing fits somehow but I suppose that would be more of a house rule and something that was sort of random. I imagine it would just be a Fort. Save with a mid range DC (10-15?) that if failed staggered the character for so long and caused 1d2 points of bleed damage for 1d6 or so rounds or so. Like I said, probably something I'd house rule, mainly because the major NPC in my game that has it is a Holy Vindicator that coughs up blood (due to TB) for his stigmata ability.
EDIT: Actually, for the coughing fit, I think what I'd do is the save to resist con damage would also be used to resist the coughing fit and it would stagger and deal 1 point of bleed damage to the PC for a number of rounds equal to the con damage.
Just thought I'd drop some knowledge for you...
Tuberculosis is a result of a bacterium that our immune system has a very difficult time removing. This is due to a unique cell membrane that surrounds the bacteria. The membrane is much thicker and fattier than normal, thus preventing our white blood cells from performing their normal function of eating and "digesting" the bacterium. Our bodies react by engulfing the affeted areas in a wall of immune cells, fibrous tissue, and dead tissue called a granuloma. This effectively destorys the infected area in hopes of removing the infection.
People who are infected typically carry the disease the rest of their life in a latent state. Tuberculosis can flare up again, and typically does so whenever the immune systems is compromized (ie serious sickness, malnutrition, immunosuppressive drugs, etc...). Under these circumstances, the integrity of the granuloma breaks down, and the infection can escpae into nearby healthy tissue.
In early stages, Tuberculosis is not very debilitating. But as it progresses, it becomes more and more damaging and serious.
Tuberculosis typically resides in the lungs, but oral (mouth and throat) infections are not uncommon either, resulting in an ulcer that is slow to heal.
People can be cured of the disease, but it takes months of medication, and since patient compliance is typically low, people usually remain infected even though symptoms of the disease go away. In the Pathfinder world, where modern medication is non existent, someone spontaneously becoming truely cured is a low probablity, but the damage previously done to the lungs and oral epithelia is permanent.
People can be cured of the disease, but it takes months of medication, and since patient compliance is typically low, people usually remain infected even though symptoms of the disease go away. In the Pathfinder world, where modern medication is non existent, someone spontaneously becoming truely cured is a low probablity, but the damage previously done to the lungs and oral epithelia is permanent.
So in the best we can do with game mechanics, that would be Constitution drain rather than damage.
Felgoroth, I'd be inclined to keep it simple and just do the ability damage/drain -- after all, the other diseases reflected "realistically" would involve coughing or vomiting or other things -- heck, Pathfinder has rules for the Shakes, and it's just Dexterity damage, not an actual chance to drop stuff.
If you really wanted to do something for the coughing, you could make spellcasters have to make a concentration check to cast spells (or their coughing gets in the way of the verbal and somatic components) and/or maybe add a secondary save to avoid being sickened for x rounds or something like that.
So in the best we can do with game mechanics, that would be Constitution drain rather than damage.
Felgoroth, I'd be inclined to keep it simple and just do the ability damage/drain -- after all, the other diseases reflected "realistically" would involve coughing or vomiting or other things -- heck, Pathfinder has rules for the Shakes, and it's just Dexterity damage, not an actual chance to drop stuff.
If you really wanted to do something for the coughing, you could make spellcasters have to make a concentration check to cast spells (or their coughing gets in the way of the verbal and somatic components) and/or maybe add a secondary save to avoid being sickened for x rounds or something like that.
I agree that Tuberculosis should be a Constitution drain over a long period of time. But I also think that in periods of stress, overexertion, or just poor health, there could also be a bleed damage component, as this would represent the active disease and not the latent disease.
FYI. The famous Doc Holiday had Tuberculosis ("Consumption") and eventually died of it. He was played by Val Kilmer in Tombstone, and he was called "Doc" because professionally, he was a dentist.