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<blockquote data-quote="Deuce Traveler" data-source="post: 7311664" data-attributes="member: 34958"><p><strong>Round 2, Match 1: Deuce Traveler's "Quarantine"</strong></p><p></p><p>Mass Hysteria </p><p>Violent Solution</p><p>Talking Animals</p><p>Last Laugh </p><p>Mission of Mercy </p><p>Wandering Monster</p><p>Dragon Scales</p><p></p><p>Name: Quarantine</p><p></p><p>System: Any fantasy RPG ruleset, and any campaign. Meant for mid-level characters.</p><p></p><p>Location: An urban location somewhere along a hostile frontier. </p><p></p><p>Background: While patrolling an important roadway used for local trade, the government’s guard finds a caravan being attacked by an ogre or some other creature known to be active in the area. The caravan’s mercenaries put up a good defense and wound the monster just as the patrol intervenes and puts it to flight. A few of the caravan members were also slightly injured, but much of the blood splashed on the warriors and horses belong to the monster. The incident is otherwise unremarkable save for the uncontrollable giggling that had continuously bellowed from the creature.</p><p></p><p>A few days after the incident, animals show symptoms of illness, starting with those that belonged to or came in contact with the caravan and involved local guard. The first stage of the affliction results in signs of lethargy among the beasts. At this time they are contagious. In the second stage the animals seem to have new energy and have recovered. But by the third stage the animals begin to act in unpredictable ways, such as constant babbling as if trying to talk and then foaming at the mouth. Death soon follows. The symptoms run through creatures of lower intelligence faster.</p><p></p><p>For humanoids, first there is a horrible fever and cough typical of your ordinary illness. This is soon followed by a higher temperature along with feelings of euphoria. The final stage involves manic behavior, hallucinations, constant laughing, and uncontrollable drooling. Finally death comes as the muscles tighten and the afflicted person dies with a sick, rigid grin fixed upon his or her features (think of murdered victims of Joker’s poison gas).</p><p></p><p>Hook: </p><p></p><p>- The party members may have been part of defense of the caravan. If so, the DM should run the incident as if it was a typical random wandering monster encounter. When symptoms begin to show on friends it will likely take the final stages of giggling and babbling to connect the encounter with the disease. By that time the illness would have spread throughout the settlement, while some of the heroes are starting to be affected with stages they can now identify.</p><p>- An animal mount, familiar, or companion has the potential to show the late-stages of the disease before a human friend, alerting a PC that something is very wrong.</p><p>- The party could have heard about the incident through an involved friend that made it through the battle. That same friend grows sick and involves the party through personal connections.</p><p>- The party may have a reputation as problem solvers, and community leaders approach them and others. They want help in finding the solution that eludes them once it becomes an uncontrollable crisis. Of course a monetary reward is offered. </p><p></p><p>Complications</p><p></p><p>The illness is magical in nature, thus able to leap from various humanoid races and animals. It is transmitted primarily through fluids, though chances of other means of transmission such as through the air can be determined by the DM. Anytime someone comes into contact with a disease-bearer, they must make a save versus magical affects, though with intelligence bonuses aiding in the roll. Failure results in the first symptoms occurring between a few hours and a couple of days. From then on, the diseased must make a similar saving throw every 1-6 days or progress to the next stage. The contagion has spread so quickly that the settlement’s clerics cannot contain it, and the regional government has closed the population off with military force. </p><p></p><p>The regional government’s solution has been swift and violent. Any person or animal seen leaving the city walls is shot on sight and their bodies left where they lay. In the rare incidents that someone does get through the cordon, they are hunted down and their bodies burned while cleric’s magically treat the soldiers and slay the animals involved. Wizards and specially prepared falcons are on site to handle airborne escapees.</p><p></p><p>People are forming crowds while beginning to panic in different ways, some with hysterical bouts of religious fervor, and others through acts of wild and immoral abandon. The quarantine has stopped fresh food and water coming into the city, resulting in hoarding and severe inflation for even the most basic goods. This is also flu season and people are quarantining neighbors and even family members for having the slightest cough. This is being done by boarding up doors and windows of various abodes. The more educated and well to do in the city are not appearing to be affected as badly as those in the poorer areas of town. This is due to better access to divine magic and living conditions, less crowding, and the fact that many of the rich are practitioners of magic and have a higher intelligence score that allows for better saving throws. The result has been several conspiracy theories about the origin of the disease and talk of taking mob rule into the wealthier districts, which in turn has forced the guard to put most of their members guarding the elite and allowing other districts to fend for themselves.</p><p></p><p>And mob rule is getting plenty of exercise in the poor districts, as Raynor, a local rabble-rouser and former priest, is often seen inciting crowds to put the law into their own hands. Under Raynor’s guidance, households that have been identified with ill members have been forced to stay in their homes by order of his personally formed militia. Raynor holds court over the lives of these households, and if it is decided that a family cannot be saved, the home and family members are put to the torch while Raynor blesses the flames in what the madman declares to be his mission of mercy. Afterwards, the mob is allowed to pick through the debris once it is given a once-over by Raynor’s subordinates. He is followed around by a circle of rough men, some that delight in the chaos and cruelty, and others that are fanatical followers driven by fear of the city’s plight and Raynor’s sermons. It has been cynically suggested that homes that are just a bit better off than their neighbors are more often put to the torch and picked clean. The local guard is stretched thin, and many frightened folks secretly look the other way to these more violent methods in the hopes that greater suffering now will end the crisis faster.</p><p></p><p>Solution: </p><p></p><p>PCs or NPC scholars are eventually able to find an ancient reference to this magical disease, which came to be known at the dawn of humanoid recorded history. As an age of dragons gave way to the ages of the other races, the disease was first encountered and was created by dragon lore. Whether or not the dragons created it in an attempt to fight the lesser intelligent and shorter lived upstart populations, or whether a humanoid developed it by accident is unknown. What is known is that a few extremely rare ingredients are required in order to develop the antidote, dragon scales being one. </p><p></p><p>There may be several ways for the party to collect dragon scales. First, the heroes might know of a dragon that needs slaying outside of the city, forcing them to have to try to run the quarantine and risk the pursuit and wrath of the regional governor. Or perhaps the heroes hear rumors of a vault beneath the city catacombs containing sets of dragon scale armor ripe for the taking. </p><p></p><p>Finally, the heroes might decide to investigate the travels of the wandering monster that had started the crisis in the first place and discover what it had explored to become initially infected. If the party can bring the source of the infection back for research, they have a chance of working with the local churches to develop a new cure. Whether the contagion started via an accidental exposure or due to malicious actions should be up to the DM.</p><p></p><p>The most successful players will have found a way to help the poorer districts avoid mob justice while preventing attacks upon the richer districts. They should have aided the research of the disease, and put the right people in charge of ensuring the flow of basic necessities throughout the entire city. Finally, they should be instrumental in swiftly finding a cure so that fewer citizens succumb. Depending upon the choices they make, they will become heroes or enemies in the eyes of the various factions, which in turn will lead to the call of future challenges.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Deuce Traveler, post: 7311664, member: 34958"] [b]Round 2, Match 1: Deuce Traveler's "Quarantine"[/b] Mass Hysteria Violent Solution Talking Animals Last Laugh Mission of Mercy Wandering Monster Dragon Scales Name: Quarantine System: Any fantasy RPG ruleset, and any campaign. Meant for mid-level characters. Location: An urban location somewhere along a hostile frontier. Background: While patrolling an important roadway used for local trade, the government’s guard finds a caravan being attacked by an ogre or some other creature known to be active in the area. The caravan’s mercenaries put up a good defense and wound the monster just as the patrol intervenes and puts it to flight. A few of the caravan members were also slightly injured, but much of the blood splashed on the warriors and horses belong to the monster. The incident is otherwise unremarkable save for the uncontrollable giggling that had continuously bellowed from the creature. A few days after the incident, animals show symptoms of illness, starting with those that belonged to or came in contact with the caravan and involved local guard. The first stage of the affliction results in signs of lethargy among the beasts. At this time they are contagious. In the second stage the animals seem to have new energy and have recovered. But by the third stage the animals begin to act in unpredictable ways, such as constant babbling as if trying to talk and then foaming at the mouth. Death soon follows. The symptoms run through creatures of lower intelligence faster. For humanoids, first there is a horrible fever and cough typical of your ordinary illness. This is soon followed by a higher temperature along with feelings of euphoria. The final stage involves manic behavior, hallucinations, constant laughing, and uncontrollable drooling. Finally death comes as the muscles tighten and the afflicted person dies with a sick, rigid grin fixed upon his or her features (think of murdered victims of Joker’s poison gas). Hook: - The party members may have been part of defense of the caravan. If so, the DM should run the incident as if it was a typical random wandering monster encounter. When symptoms begin to show on friends it will likely take the final stages of giggling and babbling to connect the encounter with the disease. By that time the illness would have spread throughout the settlement, while some of the heroes are starting to be affected with stages they can now identify. - An animal mount, familiar, or companion has the potential to show the late-stages of the disease before a human friend, alerting a PC that something is very wrong. - The party could have heard about the incident through an involved friend that made it through the battle. That same friend grows sick and involves the party through personal connections. - The party may have a reputation as problem solvers, and community leaders approach them and others. They want help in finding the solution that eludes them once it becomes an uncontrollable crisis. Of course a monetary reward is offered. Complications The illness is magical in nature, thus able to leap from various humanoid races and animals. It is transmitted primarily through fluids, though chances of other means of transmission such as through the air can be determined by the DM. Anytime someone comes into contact with a disease-bearer, they must make a save versus magical affects, though with intelligence bonuses aiding in the roll. Failure results in the first symptoms occurring between a few hours and a couple of days. From then on, the diseased must make a similar saving throw every 1-6 days or progress to the next stage. The contagion has spread so quickly that the settlement’s clerics cannot contain it, and the regional government has closed the population off with military force. The regional government’s solution has been swift and violent. Any person or animal seen leaving the city walls is shot on sight and their bodies left where they lay. In the rare incidents that someone does get through the cordon, they are hunted down and their bodies burned while cleric’s magically treat the soldiers and slay the animals involved. Wizards and specially prepared falcons are on site to handle airborne escapees. People are forming crowds while beginning to panic in different ways, some with hysterical bouts of religious fervor, and others through acts of wild and immoral abandon. The quarantine has stopped fresh food and water coming into the city, resulting in hoarding and severe inflation for even the most basic goods. This is also flu season and people are quarantining neighbors and even family members for having the slightest cough. This is being done by boarding up doors and windows of various abodes. The more educated and well to do in the city are not appearing to be affected as badly as those in the poorer areas of town. This is due to better access to divine magic and living conditions, less crowding, and the fact that many of the rich are practitioners of magic and have a higher intelligence score that allows for better saving throws. The result has been several conspiracy theories about the origin of the disease and talk of taking mob rule into the wealthier districts, which in turn has forced the guard to put most of their members guarding the elite and allowing other districts to fend for themselves. And mob rule is getting plenty of exercise in the poor districts, as Raynor, a local rabble-rouser and former priest, is often seen inciting crowds to put the law into their own hands. Under Raynor’s guidance, households that have been identified with ill members have been forced to stay in their homes by order of his personally formed militia. Raynor holds court over the lives of these households, and if it is decided that a family cannot be saved, the home and family members are put to the torch while Raynor blesses the flames in what the madman declares to be his mission of mercy. Afterwards, the mob is allowed to pick through the debris once it is given a once-over by Raynor’s subordinates. He is followed around by a circle of rough men, some that delight in the chaos and cruelty, and others that are fanatical followers driven by fear of the city’s plight and Raynor’s sermons. It has been cynically suggested that homes that are just a bit better off than their neighbors are more often put to the torch and picked clean. The local guard is stretched thin, and many frightened folks secretly look the other way to these more violent methods in the hopes that greater suffering now will end the crisis faster. Solution: PCs or NPC scholars are eventually able to find an ancient reference to this magical disease, which came to be known at the dawn of humanoid recorded history. As an age of dragons gave way to the ages of the other races, the disease was first encountered and was created by dragon lore. Whether or not the dragons created it in an attempt to fight the lesser intelligent and shorter lived upstart populations, or whether a humanoid developed it by accident is unknown. What is known is that a few extremely rare ingredients are required in order to develop the antidote, dragon scales being one. There may be several ways for the party to collect dragon scales. First, the heroes might know of a dragon that needs slaying outside of the city, forcing them to have to try to run the quarantine and risk the pursuit and wrath of the regional governor. Or perhaps the heroes hear rumors of a vault beneath the city catacombs containing sets of dragon scale armor ripe for the taking. Finally, the heroes might decide to investigate the travels of the wandering monster that had started the crisis in the first place and discover what it had explored to become initially infected. If the party can bring the source of the infection back for research, they have a chance of working with the local churches to develop a new cure. Whether the contagion started via an accidental exposure or due to malicious actions should be up to the DM. The most successful players will have found a way to help the poorer districts avoid mob justice while preventing attacks upon the richer districts. They should have aided the research of the disease, and put the right people in charge of ensuring the flow of basic necessities throughout the entire city. Finally, they should be instrumental in swiftly finding a cure so that fewer citizens succumb. Depending upon the choices they make, they will become heroes or enemies in the eyes of the various factions, which in turn will lead to the call of future challenges. [/QUOTE]
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