STARP_Social_Officer
First Post
This stems from an argument with my players. Never mind why it came up. They weren't trying to cure cancer. None of them plays a cleric. It just sort of came up.
Anyway, one player reckons the remove disease spell removes cancer. The spell description says it removes all diseases from the subject, and also removes parasites like green slime. In the player's mind, given the physiology of cancer, he believes the spell will remove cancerous growth.
I disagree. I don't think it does. The spell to me seems designed to cure contagious diseases, viruses, strange bugs picked up from mummy tombs, maladies and so on. It doesn't seem within the spirit of the spell to have it cure cancer, or any other 'disease' that you don't directly contract from an outside source. You don't 'catch' cancer like you catch a cold - it develops pretty much on its own, though it can be stimulated by environment. I would have the same view about Alzheimers, or Parkinson's, or similar mental conditions. They're probably classified as diseases but I can't accept that a 3rd-level spell would get rid of any and all medical conditions a patient may be suffering from. Mind you, only two levels later is a spell to raise the dead, so maybe I'm being a bit zealous. What do people think? Can Clerics Cure Cancer?
Anyway, one player reckons the remove disease spell removes cancer. The spell description says it removes all diseases from the subject, and also removes parasites like green slime. In the player's mind, given the physiology of cancer, he believes the spell will remove cancerous growth.
I disagree. I don't think it does. The spell to me seems designed to cure contagious diseases, viruses, strange bugs picked up from mummy tombs, maladies and so on. It doesn't seem within the spirit of the spell to have it cure cancer, or any other 'disease' that you don't directly contract from an outside source. You don't 'catch' cancer like you catch a cold - it develops pretty much on its own, though it can be stimulated by environment. I would have the same view about Alzheimers, or Parkinson's, or similar mental conditions. They're probably classified as diseases but I can't accept that a 3rd-level spell would get rid of any and all medical conditions a patient may be suffering from. Mind you, only two levels later is a spell to raise the dead, so maybe I'm being a bit zealous. What do people think? Can Clerics Cure Cancer?