Diseases

[jester47]

I want to make diseases part of my game. Plagues in towns, consequences for lousy lodging, etc. However, the DMG does a lukewarm job of covering diseases. The thing about diseases is that they can spread.

Does anyone have any method for determining if a disease is present? I would like there to be some sort of random chance that gooing to a certain town, or dungeon or part of the country that there is a chance to get a disease.

I thought I read somthing on this once but I forgot where. Any help would be appreciated.

Aaron.

 

[Valmur_Dwur]

the good ol' 1e DMG has a section on contracting diseases. Don't have the book handy however..

 

[Maitre Du Donjon]

% chance to be in touch with a contagious source, then Fort save to see if the disease was fought off or contracted. Just be careful that all that extra dice-rolling and rules don't bog down speed of play.

There were indeed disease rules in the AD&D DM's Guide.

(side note on old books, i recently bought a AD&D player's handbook (used), didn't have it)

Maitre D

 

[jester47]

I have seen the rules for diseases in the AD&D DMG. No good, not what I am looking for.

Think about the plague in Europe. The fleas were everywhere. You could get the plague just by showing up in town, or walking in the wrong part of town. There are almost no rules for this. I guess it would just be a simple hazard. A certain area is infested with fleas, certain wells are contaminated with water.

The problem is not figureing out how the players contract the disease, but rather placing it in the world.

I have been putting some thought into this--

If a city or town or village is expereinceing an epidemic, certain things happen. Certain places (depending on how the disease is transmitted) become dangerous. So in a non-epidemic situation, poor lodging and food could be factors.

so some factors seem to be tied together:

food quality
lodging quality
contamination area
infestation area

It just seems to me that diseases are poorly done.

Aaron

 

[Lord Pendragon]

I wouldn't say it's been poorly done, though disease has certainly been inadequately covered, in lieu of what you want to do in your campaign world. Remember, we don't all need exhaustive coverage of disease.

To be more constructive: I don't have the knowledge of the plague to give you realistic game mechanics, but to be honest if I were trying to accomplish what you are, I wouldn't bother with mechanics anyway.

I'd pick a single spot (or spots) where the disease originally shows up. Then after each session, I'd consider how much game-time has passed, and expand the area of contamination based on that and roughly how fast I want my disease to move. (I'd probably have it move slowly enough that the PCs could hear rumors, talk to infected NPCs, etc. before it moved from city to city.) Since the movement of disease often seems random, I wouldn't bother too much about justifying the spread pattern, either. The PCs aren't going to know or care, so why should I?

 

[isoChron]

<snip> certain wells are contaminated with water. <snip>

Oh my god ! Look ! There is water in that well, we can't use it anymore !
The worldwide contamination with Dihydrogenmonoxid is killing us all !
Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[jester47]

Oh my god ! Look ! There is water in that well, we can't use it anymore !
The worldwide contamination with Dihydrogenmonoxid is killing us all !
Sorry, couldn't resist.

!?

Wha?

Aaron.

 

[Quinn]

Do you want to just assign a basic percentage chance? Say 20% that a given town they walk into will have a disease spreading though it doesn't necessarily have to be an epidemic. If the town does have an area of disease, chances are it's spread around. Any tavern or inn that the PC's go into (i.e. anywhere they would get food, or rest for a while) might carry with it another 10 to 20% chance per day of contracting the disease. If the PC's go into a dungeon or sewer, or anyplace where cleanliness is poor, the chance goes up to 50%. Then pick out your favorite diseases, and assign a value to them on a d20 roll, and voila...Disease chart!

This is probably over simplistic, but you would have a skeleton framework with which to work with. You can further modify it by including what are the chances the populace knows of the disease (is it spreading? are certain areas quarantined?), and if there is a treatment being given by the local church. Perhaps a good little adventure in here to find a treatment.

I think the reason the DMG doesn't get into it too much is because there are a lot of factors that could effect this that go beyond the scope of % chance of catching disease. It has societal impacts, and it's been left in the hands of the DM to figure that out.

 

[jester47]

Actually I have been thiniking about it, and the only thing that Clerics of Pelor, Illmater, Lathander, St. Cuthbert and all the rest can't handle is weird magical diseases.

A PC getting exposed to a disease has to be somthing special. I figure in my Campaign world, (a strangely interpreted version of FR) that clerics pretty much keep epidemics at bay.

As a result, disease becomes somthing special. They show up in really dirty places (like dungeons) or places where there are not good clerics (or druids) or clerics of the right diety.

I think that since most parties have someone to provide divine healing, that the quick treatment of woulds would keep them from getting things like Tetnus and gangreene. However I think if someone is wounded and is not immediately healed or if they touch things that would have diseases, then they would have a chance to catch it.

I think a good rule of thumb is:

An infestation vector (i.e. the disease is transmitted by vermin) is based on being bit by vermin. This I have noted is in the descriptions for the appropriate creatures. If the vermin is smaller than fine (i.e. a flea) then an area get classified as having a hazard (like green slime).

Entering the area equates contact with the disease. Roll once to see if they catch it for each time they enter the area. This works for airborne bactieria and viruses too.

Diseases in food and water indicate contact by drinking or bathing in the water and eating the food.

Injuries, (even small cuts) not treated by divine magic or application of the heal skill within 24 hours indicate exposure to a disease.

These guidelines should make disease present but not so overbearing that it slows down the game.

I hope this helps other folks.

Aaron.