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Interesting diseases?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Tequilasaurus
Dec 18, 2011 14:36:24 I'm soon to be doing a Four Horsemen themed campaign, subbing Pestilence for Conquest as the white horse. So the first chapter of the campaign will be themed around pestilence and disease. What are some interesting diseases I could throw at my players, or give to NPC's? I have the standard list from D&D essentials, but more would always be nice.

This is likely mid-heroid tier, so nothing too terrifying. I also like non-ability damage consequence for some of them. So far, I'm just brainstorming, but I'd love any suggestions.

Edit: We're playing a homebrew combination of 3.5 and 4.0, for the record. I can translate from either format.
#2
xervous
Jan 02, 2012 11:38:12 Ah, diseases, afflctions, plagues, and the like. Often have I toyed with such...

For a disease to be important to the story, or at the very least have a huge impact, it should draw attention to itself in one way or another. Of course, it appears that you want more than one disease so here are some possibilites:

- Have a common illness not unlike the common cold floating around all the time in some locations. It should just be a minor annoyance, like the common cold is, but make it a fantastic, rather than mundane annoyance. Like people grow hair on their tongues or something.

- Have one big, scary, trademark, "RUN, HE'S GOT THE PLAGUE" kind of illness that, when caught, is almost impossible for the commoners to cure. It could make their bodies rot from the inside out, alter them hideously, or whatever you prefer. But make it so it cannot be transmitted too easily, otherwise it wouldn't make sense for only a few people to have it. Bodily contact should be enough.

- For scary, go gruesome. Slow, painful, rotting deaths, like leprosy. Would be good the the trademark disease mentioned above.

~ A disease that causes a person to sweat constantly, forcing them to drink frequently, and perhaps bathe if the stench becomes a problem.

#3
Tequilasaurus
Jan 02, 2012 16:58:20 Thanks for the reply. I do like having it start with something rather innoculous, that sounds like a great way to start things off.

Also, a touch based "great plague" would be wonderful. (Or horrible, for the players.)

#4
xervous
Jan 03, 2012 15:09:02 ironically, I drew the idea of the rotting, touch based plague from a dragonlance book I read... what, six? years ago. One guy had it and was killing tons of priests and nobles to appease a god to get it removed. (more ideas!)
#5
1337DnDMTCn3rd
Feb 28, 2012 8:37:31 Any biosafety level 4 agent would suffice. Or you could used the Andromeda strain. That xenobiological agent turns your blood into red powder by clotting it solid. This results in a really painful death.
#6
cha-ika
Feb 28, 2012 14:07:31 Depending on how far you want to take the diseases you can really start messing with your players. You can have a disease that is slowly sapping their experience. Cruel I know but nothing will get them moving faster then losing their hard one experiene and potentially levels...

If you are not so overtly cruel like i tend to be,, then I'd suggest really looking into real life diseases. There are some horrible ones out there that are more terrifying and more dangerous then aids....

Another thing I'd look into is the characters behind diseases. By this I mean that it is a proven fact that some diseases have a slightl mind altering affect on the persons they are infecting. For instance The flu, before it hits you full force, actually makes you want to be more social so it can spread. Really look into reality...often time I find that adding a sprinkle of trth to everything makes it FAR more terrifying.
#7
1337DnDMTCn3rd
Feb 29, 2012 13:30:36 Touch based diseases would work best if transmission occurs when one also touches contaminated surfaces to. That means you will have to clean your weapons if they touch contaminated flesh. Just contact between 2 contaminated persons can easily be solved by quarantining the individual by isolating it from the rest of the gruop.
#8
randomvirus
Feb 29, 2012 14:32:53 SLIMY DOOM!

Scale it for level, as it's a level 23 disease. Something like instead of the ongoing 30 necrotic in the final stage it's an ongoing 5 - 10 or so.

www.wizards.com/dndinsider/compendium/di...

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Tequilasaurus Dec 18, 2011 14:36:24	I'm soon to be doing a Four Horsemen themed campaign, subbing Pestilence for Conquest as the white horse. So the first chapter of the campaign will be themed around pestilence and disease. What are some interesting diseases I could throw at my players, or give to NPC's? I have the standard list from D&D essentials, but more would always be nice. This is likely mid-heroid tier, so nothing too terrifying. I also like non-ability damage consequence for some of them. So far, I'm just brainstorming, but I'd love any suggestions. Edit: We're playing a homebrew combination of 3.5 and 4.0, for the record. I can translate from either format.
#2 xervous Jan 02, 2012 11:38:12	Ah, diseases, afflctions, plagues, and the like. Often have I toyed with such... For a disease to be important to the story, or at the very least have a huge impact, it should draw attention to itself in one way or another. Of course, it appears that you want more than one disease so here are some possibilites: - Have a common illness not unlike the common cold floating around all the time in some locations. It should just be a minor annoyance, like the common cold is, but make it a fantastic, rather than mundane annoyance. Like people grow hair on their tongues or something. - Have one big, scary, trademark, "RUN, HE'S GOT THE PLAGUE" kind of illness that, when caught, is almost impossible for the commoners to cure. It could make their bodies rot from the inside out, alter them hideously, or whatever you prefer. But make it so it cannot be transmitted too easily, otherwise it wouldn't make sense for only a few people to have it. Bodily contact should be enough. - For scary, go gruesome. Slow, painful, rotting deaths, like leprosy. Would be good the the trademark disease mentioned above. ~ A disease that causes a person to sweat constantly, forcing them to drink frequently, and perhaps bathe if the stench becomes a problem.
#3 Tequilasaurus Jan 02, 2012 16:58:20	Thanks for the reply. I do like having it start with something rather innoculous, that sounds like a great way to start things off. Also, a touch based "great plague" would be wonderful. (Or horrible, for the players.)
#4 xervous Jan 03, 2012 15:09:02	ironically, I drew the idea of the rotting, touch based plague from a dragonlance book I read... what, six? years ago. One guy had it and was killing tons of priests and nobles to appease a god to get it removed. (more ideas!)
#5 1337DnDMTCn3rd Feb 28, 2012 8:37:31	Any biosafety level 4 agent would suffice. Or you could used the Andromeda strain. That xenobiological agent turns your blood into red powder by clotting it solid. This results in a really painful death.
#6 cha-ika Feb 28, 2012 14:07:31	Depending on how far you want to take the diseases you can really start messing with your players. You can have a disease that is slowly sapping their experience. Cruel I know but nothing will get them moving faster then losing their hard one experiene and potentially levels... If you are not so overtly cruel like i tend to be,, then I'd suggest really looking into real life diseases. There are some horrible ones out there that are more terrifying and more dangerous then aids.... Another thing I'd look into is the characters behind diseases. By this I mean that it is a proven fact that some diseases have a slightl mind altering affect on the persons they are infecting. For instance The flu, before it hits you full force, actually makes you want to be more social so it can spread. Really look into reality...often time I find that adding a sprinkle of trth to everything makes it FAR more terrifying.
#7 1337DnDMTCn3rd Feb 29, 2012 13:30:36	Touch based diseases would work best if transmission occurs when one also touches contaminated surfaces to. That means you will have to clean your weapons if they touch contaminated flesh. Just contact between 2 contaminated persons can easily be solved by quarantining the individual by isolating it from the rest of the gruop.
#8 randomvirus Feb 29, 2012 14:32:53	SLIMY DOOM! Scale it for level, as it's a level 23 disease. Something like instead of the ongoing 30 necrotic in the final stage it's an ongoing 5 - 10 or so. www.wizards.com/dndinsider/compendium/di...