Affects of Disease

[BSF]

Quick query since I am blind and can't find it in the SRD.

When disease affects Ability Scores, is it ability damage, or ability drain?

If it is dependent on the disease, which diseases do ability drain?

As a secondary question, does anybody know where gangrene might have been statted up? My PCs have found a badly injured NPC and are trying to save him. Alas, they do not have access to Remove Disease right now.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

It's ability damage. Some diseases actually do ability drain. You can find some here: http://www.wizards.com/d20/files/v35/AbilitiesandConditions.rtf

Note that, because they are generally ability damage, if you're bed resting, miss your saves, and the DM rolls the damage low, you can be sick but not really feeling it.

Of the base diseases, only Demon Fever (DC 18 Injury, 1 day incubation, 1d6 Con) and Slimy Doom (DC 14 Contact, 1 day incubation, 1d4 Con) do ability drain. In this case, when you take damage from the disease, you must re-roll your Fort save. A failure changes one point of ability damage into one point of ability drain.

As for gangrene, I'd treat it like filth fever (the disease that rats spread). The damage is 1d3 Dex, 1d3 Con, with a DC of 12.

Note that most diseases are actually pretty easy to overcome *if* you've got a trained Healer on staff.

 

[BSF]

Thanks for the reference! Blind, that is what I am.

Huh, by the SRD there are only four core diseases that can actually threaten your life? Only two of those threaten any sort of permanent damage. Two of them come from very specific monsters.

No core rules to deal with Bubonic or Pneumonic plague. No Anthrax. Huh.
OK, it's a fantasy game and maybe you don't want to introduce such things? I don't know. Surely somebody has looked at it before though, right?

 

[Scharlata]

[...] Huh, by the SRD there are only four core diseases that can actually threaten your life? Only two of those threaten any sort of permanent damage. [...]

Hi!

Take a look into the BoVD, page 29. There are more diseases, some of them very "specific".

Hope that helps

 

[BSF]

Yeah, I think there might be some stuff in Occult Lore too. But I don't have either of those at work with me.

I think I will have to hold off on resolving the situation until I can get home and do my research. *sigh*

 

[Rackhir]

There's only one disease that I'm familiar with that has causes an affect. It's the movie critic's disease where by they loose the ability to enjoy say a good old fashioned action flick and can only be entertained by movies about two gay dogs talking for 2 hours while having dinner.

Or were you looking for effects?