Diseases and transmission (variations on the disease system) - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Diseases and transmission (variations on the disease system)

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Dralenan
Dec 11, 2009 23:52:31
One way to make diseases in the game more interesting is to incorporate transmission into the disease themselves. This should be done carefully, however. I have, for my games, come up with a system of diseases that provides additional risk for characters, without disrupting the game. In this variant, I have added two catagories to diseases, transmission and contagion. These refer to how the disease is spread, and how easily is can be spread between characters. Transmission is based on four types.
1. Ingestion - The disease must be directly contracted, by eating, drinking, or otherwise bringing an infected source into the body. Any parasites (such as slimy doom) fall under this category.
2. Fluid-based - Any disease spread through either water, or through body fluids (such as biting) fall under this category. Blinding Sickness is a good example of this. Filth fever is an example of transmitting through saliva.
3. Air-based - These diseases can be spread through the air, and are breathed in. These are more dangerous, and should be used carefully, because they are easily spread.
4. Plague - Some diseases seem to just show up, and spread by contact. Simply being in the vicinity of these plagues risks infection. Fortunately, these diseases are rare.

Contagion is rated also on four levels.
1. None - A person must contract the disease from a specific source.
2. Mild - A disease may be spread by specific actions by an infected person (such as through a bite). Without these actions, there is no risk of infection.
3. Moderate - Disease can spread accidentally, but not through general contact. There is little risk of infection unless the character is interacted with closely.
4. Severe - The disease will attempt to spread through the typical means of transmission if possible. Any character exposed to the disease risks infection.

A DM can decide while looking up diseases which categories to place it under. It is important to consider the effect of spreading a virus among the party...or NPCs the party meets. One DM might decide Hellfever is air-based, while another decides it is ingested. There is also room for variations in diseases...not all strains may act the same.

The diseases follow the normal track. Characters who travel with an infected person risk exposure based on the prolonged exposure guidelines in the DM guide (if the disease can be transmitted). It does not matter how many in the party are infected, the same attack roll is made. A disease becomes contagious when the victim takes on their initial effect, with a risk of 1 exposure per day, per disease.

Finally, a character may have an unknown immunity to a disease. To determine an immunity, when the player is given their first roll against the virus (either a saving throw or endurance check, which ever comes first), on a natural 20, the character is considerd immune, and cannot contract the virus again.

Any further suggestions on this are welcome...

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#2
lady_ishtar
Dec 12, 2009 7:32:41 The system looks fine, as long as your players like it. Mechanically I don't see any problems with it, ohter than possibly making Cure Disease ritual mandatory.
#3
monstro
Dec 14, 2009 17:37:12 I use the 4e system for diseases to cover curses (remove curse is used instead of remove disease and an arcane or religion roll is necessary to facilitate a heal). It's worked wonders for my game. The old castle on the hill that the villagers claim is cursed...really is.

I also have a disease that levels up along with the party called "Crippling injury." Whenever a character is reduced to 0 hit points, the characters get a crippling injury instead of just waiting for someone to perform a heal check. The problem is easilly fixed, but the dynamic is handy in keeping the players trying to stay above 0 hit points.
#4
kieferz
Dec 15, 2009 13:51:39 I've used diseases for domination, poison, and the effects of torture.

Domination: After being dominated by a villain with a ritual while helpless, a character had to make Insight checks every day (instead of Endurance) in order to shake it off. Had he progressed to the final stage, the domination would have been permanent and required a Break Enchantment-style ritual to remove.

Poison: I've never liked the "ongoing 5 poison damage (save ends)" way of doing poison; it takes effect too quickly and wears off too easily for me to see it as realistic. So, I use the disease track, generally removing healing surges and/or hit points on an hourly or daily basis and imposing penalties to attack, movement speed, defense, etc., or conditions like daze or stun in later stages. The final stage generally isn't lethal, but carries with it some nasty penalty that requires long-term care and a Remove Affliction ritual to cure.

Torture: This one was a bit debatable; essentially, the subject of torture had to make both an Endurance and Insight check each session (to represent both physical and mental stresses) or become more and more willing to cooperate; at first it's a case of talking too much, but progresses to outright revealing sensitive information, to Stockholm Syndrome, to finally being "turned."

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Dralenan Dec 11, 2009 23:52:31	One way to make diseases in the game more interesting is to incorporate transmission into the disease themselves. This should be done carefully, however. I have, for my games, come up with a system of diseases that provides additional risk for characters, without disrupting the game. In this variant, I have added two catagories to diseases, transmission and contagion. These refer to how the disease is spread, and how easily is can be spread between characters. Transmission is based on four types. 1. Ingestion - The disease must be directly contracted, by eating, drinking, or otherwise bringing an infected source into the body. Any parasites (such as slimy doom) fall under this category. 2. Fluid-based - Any disease spread through either water, or through body fluids (such as biting) fall under this category. Blinding Sickness is a good example of this. Filth fever is an example of transmitting through saliva. 3. Air-based - These diseases can be spread through the air, and are breathed in. These are more dangerous, and should be used carefully, because they are easily spread. 4. Plague - Some diseases seem to just show up, and spread by contact. Simply being in the vicinity of these plagues risks infection. Fortunately, these diseases are rare. Contagion is rated also on four levels. 1. None - A person must contract the disease from a specific source. 2. Mild - A disease may be spread by specific actions by an infected person (such as through a bite). Without these actions, there is no risk of infection. 3. Moderate - Disease can spread accidentally, but not through general contact. There is little risk of infection unless the character is interacted with closely. 4. Severe - The disease will attempt to spread through the typical means of transmission if possible. Any character exposed to the disease risks infection. A DM can decide while looking up diseases which categories to place it under. It is important to consider the effect of spreading a virus among the party...or NPCs the party meets. One DM might decide Hellfever is air-based, while another decides it is ingested. There is also room for variations in diseases...not all strains may act the same. The diseases follow the normal track. Characters who travel with an infected person risk exposure based on the prolonged exposure guidelines in the DM guide (if the disease can be transmitted). It does not matter how many in the party are infected, the same attack roll is made. A disease becomes contagious when the victim takes on their initial effect, with a risk of 1 exposure per day, per disease. Finally, a character may have an unknown immunity to a disease. To determine an immunity, when the player is given their first roll against the virus (either a saving throw or endurance check, which ever comes first), on a natural 20, the character is considerd immune, and cannot contract the virus again. Any further suggestions on this are welcome... [Post HTML edited to work with custom CSS]
#2 lady_ishtar Dec 12, 2009 7:32:41	The system looks fine, as long as your players like it. Mechanically I don't see any problems with it, ohter than possibly making Cure Disease ritual mandatory.
#3 monstro Dec 14, 2009 17:37:12	I use the 4e system for diseases to cover curses (remove curse is used instead of remove disease and an arcane or religion roll is necessary to facilitate a heal). It's worked wonders for my game. The old castle on the hill that the villagers claim is cursed...really is. I also have a disease that levels up along with the party called "Crippling injury." Whenever a character is reduced to 0 hit points, the characters get a crippling injury instead of just waiting for someone to perform a heal check. The problem is easilly fixed, but the dynamic is handy in keeping the players trying to stay above 0 hit points.
#4 kieferz Dec 15, 2009 13:51:39	I've used diseases for domination, poison, and the effects of torture. Domination: After being dominated by a villain with a ritual while helpless, a character had to make Insight checks every day (instead of Endurance) in order to shake it off. Had he progressed to the final stage, the domination would have been permanent and required a Break Enchantment-style ritual to remove. Poison: I've never liked the "ongoing 5 poison damage (save ends)" way of doing poison; it takes effect too quickly and wears off too easily for me to see it as realistic. So, I use the disease track, generally removing healing surges and/or hit points on an hourly or daily basis and imposing penalties to attack, movement speed, defense, etc., or conditions like daze or stun in later stages. The final stage generally isn't lethal, but carries with it some nasty penalty that requires long-term care and a Remove Affliction ritual to cure. Torture: This one was a bit debatable; essentially, the subject of torture had to make both an Endurance and Insight check each session (to represent both physical and mental stresses) or become more and more willing to cooperate; at first it's a case of talking too much, but progresses to outright revealing sensitive information, to Stockholm Syndrome, to finally being "turned."