D&D 5E Help for disease based campaign

[enbee75]

Hi,

I'm a pretty new DM and not super excperienced with D&D and looking for help with ideas. I've had a first session with players based in a port town. In this session I involved the Tavern Owner's daughter who was a wannnabe adventurer, and had recently returned from a mission that had gone wrong. One of the PCs, a half-orc smuggler, was bringing the tavern owner 'Moonflower', an ingredient that is hard to find and most often on the black market - this could be due to it's illicit use as a recreational drug - and has been outlawed in most cities. The Tavern owner said his daughter needed it due to some kind of mysterious 'illness' which - when put on the spot last session, I said was turning her skin green! The daughter wants the drug for her own experiments and to attempt to cure herself of the disease.

I'm currently planning the next session, and would like some ideas about how I could spin this out into a short campaign. I figured it might be good to have the disease spread with a few more sightings of green skin, but have yet to flesh out symptoms or cause.

I wondered about a blight in a nearby forest, potentially caused by a cult, wanting to spread the disease to do the bidding of ... something. Or possibly a currupted Treant.

What mosters or villains could potentially cause this? How did the daughter end up getting it? What could the symptoms be? What can the PCs do to stop it?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Oofta]

My first thought is a green hag. They're known for complex plots leading to suffering and death. Depending on party level, you could make her part of a coven. For allies, it kind of depends on what books you have. If you have Volo's Guide to Monsters, there are some evil fey such as quicklings and redcaps.

Of course you could also have the hag transforming people into plants, there are plenty of plant based monsters.

How old is the daughter? I seem to remember something about young girls being transformed into hags when they hit puberty, that they were actually hags all along and metamorphize when they hit maturity.

 

[aco175]

Look at the snakefolk, yuan-ti. They have a drug they give to humans to begin the process of turning them into part snake slaves. It creates an addition where the snakefolk get people hooked and then turn them to slaves while taking over the town and rulers of the land.

 

[Burnside]

Might be worth mining for ideas. Compilation of 9 disease-themed adventures; also includes a selection of magical and non-magical disease-related items:

The Malady Chronicles - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild

The Malady Chronicles - This supplement is the culmination of our passion for medicine and gaming.It features nine stories, written by excellent

www.dmsguild.com

 

[enbee75]

Might be worth mining for ideas. Compilation of 9 disease-themed adventures; also includes a selection of magical and non-magical disease-related items:

The Malady Chronicles - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild

The Malady Chronicles - This supplement is the culmination of our passion for medicine and gaming.It features nine stories, written by excellent

www.dmsguild.com

THAT is excellent! Exactly what I'm looking for. Take my money dmsguild

 

[enbee75]

My first thought is a green hag. They're known for complex plots leading to suffering and death. Depending on party level, you could make her part of a coven. For allies, it kind of depends on what books you have. If you have Volo's Guide to Monsters, there are some evil fey such as quicklings and redcaps.

Of course you could also have the hag transforming people into plants, there are plenty of plant based monsters.

How old is the daughter? I seem to remember something about young girls being transformed into hags when they hit puberty, that they were actually hags all along and metamorphize when they hit maturity.

I like the idea of a plant based infection - especially the idea of people 'sprouting' when they die (Grim Fandango!). I think I should finally bite the bullet on Volo's guide.

 

[Imaculata]

My first thought is a secret plot where perhaps the town's people themselves are responsible for causing the disease, by cutting down a sacred fae-tree. The sickness is a curse placed on the town's water supply in retalliation, by the fae. Perhaps the mayor of the town wanted revenge on the fae, for killing his daughter... only they are not actually responsible. A mysterious third party framed the Fae, in order to get rid of them via the gullible town's people.