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Poison and Disease

Poison and Disease Traits

Symptoms: The symptoms of a syndrome are what happens to the unfortunate afflicted character. If they are listed as cumulative, the penalties stack. Otherwise, they just last for the duration of the disease or poison. Symptoms cannot be removed or dealt with until the poison or disease has been cured, so a wound from snake venom can‚t be cured until the poison is. Typically, symptoms are wounds, fatigue, and/or nausea. If a character is infected by a poison or disease which can afflict wounds as a symptom, the character does not heal naturally every day regardless of whether he succeeded on his fortitude check or not.

Primary Transmission: The Transmission of a syndrome is how someone gets it in the first place.

Injury: If the poison is present on the weapon dealing damage (even if it doesn't do a wound), the character is afflicted. Injury syndromes are also always Ingestion transferrable.

Inhalation: Breathing in the toxin causes the syndrome. The DC increases by +1 for every full time increment, based on the check rate (ex. For every round spent breathing tear gas, or every day spent in the presence of one or more plague victims).

Ingestion: Eating or drinking the toxin causes the syndrome.

Vector: A vector refers is a small creature, usually an insect (such as fleas or mosquitoes) that carries a disease from subject to subject. Vectors are almost always insects.

Secondary Transmission: This is the way that it gets from an infected creature to a healthy one.

Airborne Secondary: Every round the character is within 3m of an infected creature, roll a d6. On a 1, the character gets infected.

Waterborne Secondary:

Check Rate: The check rate is how often the character has to make a Fortitude check against the syndrome's DC. Each failed check incurs Symptoms. Three successful checks in a row mean the character has recovered from the poison or disease and is no longer afflicted

Diagnosis DC: This is the Medicine DC required to diagnose the character. If it is obvious what the character has (i.e., you saw him get bit by a viper) this check is unnecessary. See Medicine for more information. If the poison or disease is something the diagnose has never heard of before (such as a new disease) increase the DC by +3.

Fort DC: This is the DC that a character must beat to avoid that round of symptoms. Three successful checks in a row mean the character has recovered.

Overdose:  The given DCs and effects are for one standard dose of poison. If the afflicted character is, say, bitten twice in the same round or injected with more sedative, the DC goes up. You still only make one fortitude check, however. For every doubling of dose, the DC increases by +1 and the effects increase. If the character fails the check, he counts as having been poisoned twice (for double dose) three times (for quadruple dose), etc..  So, a quadruple dose of sedative would have DC 8 (6 +2), and would cause the drugged character to fall unconscious for 3d4 minutes.

Example Poisons and Diseases

Alcohol: Alcohol‚s fortitude DC generally varies between 3 (fairly-low alcohol content) to 6 (extremely strong). A character who fails their check becomes Drunk for 1d4 hours. Even on a success, the DC for all further alcoholic beverages drunk in the next hour increases by +1. This increase stacks with each additional drink.

Infection: A character has a 10% chance to get infected after an unsterilized surgery. Characters can also be infected if they are in unsanitary conditions after receiving cuts (such as an attack by a slashing or piercing weapon) without seeking medical attention, if the GM rules it.

Plague:

Radiation: Generally speaking, radioactive objects emit radiation that decreases at distance. A radioactive object emits radiation of its severity to one scale larger than it, then one scale larger than that in one severity less, etc.. For example, a Scale 0 chunk of radioactive material that emits Moderate radiation will expose anyone within a scale 1 area centred on the chunk to moderate radiation, to a scale 2 area with light radiation,  a scale 3 area to minor radiation, and no noticeable radiation at distances further than that.

Name

Primary Transmission

Secondary Transmission

Fort

DC

Diagnosis

DC

Check Rate

Symptoms

Alcohol

Ingestion

None

3-6

2

1/drink

See text

Infection

10% chance  from unsterilized surgery

None

4

6

1/day

1 cumulative wound, Nausea for 24 hrs

Plague

Flea bite

Airborne

6

4

1/day

1 cumulative wound, tired for 24 hours

Radiation (Extreme)

Radiation Exposure

None

12

4

1/second (6/round)

1 cumulative wound

Radiation (Heavy)

Radiation Exposure

None

10

4

1/round

1 cumulative wound

Radiation (Light)

Radiation Exposure

None

6

4

1/day

1 cumulative wound

Radiation (Minor)

Radiation Exposure

None

4

4

1/day

1 cumulative wound

Radiation (Moderate)

Radiation Exposure

None

8

4

1/hour

1 cumulative wound

Sedative

Injury

None

10

4

1/round

Unconsciousness 1d4 x 10 minutes

Chloroform

Inhaled

None

8

4

1/round

Unconsciousness 1d4 x 10 minutes

Snake Venom

Injury

None

6

4

1/round

1 cumulative wound

Spider Venom

Injury

None

6

4

1/round

Staggered 1 round. Three fails in a row results in full-body paralysis for 1 hour.

Tear Gas

Inhaled, Contact with eyes

None

6

4

1/round

Blinded (if it gets in your eyes), Staggered (if you inhale it) both for 1d6 rounds

Zombie Virus

Injury (zombie bite) or ingestion (infected material)

None

5

12/7

(see text)

1/hour

Random: 1 cumulative wound, morale penalty, or mobility penalty . Death creates a zombie in 1d4 rounds


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