The following is a list of diseases in the lands of Lesia, whilst the natural occurrence of these diseases is uncommon, they are in most cases easily curable. Monsters which cause these diseases are feared and any human capable of casting spells that cause these are to be reported to the authorities. They are graded by the strength of cure disease spell required or the Immunity required to resist.
Diseases affect all beings however some curative abilities will only work on Spiritual or Life Force creatures. Different diseases stack, however individual diseases do not, for example a character may have both Blood Cough and Asthma, but not 2 cases of Asthma.
Duration - 1 Encounter
When a creature first contracts a Disease they enter the incubation period. In this phase the victim shows no symptoms and the specific disease cannot be identified, however the Diagnosis skill will reveal the presence and strength of the disease. If the disease is not removed by the end of the incubation phase the disease moves on to the next phase - manifestation.
Duration - 1 Adventure
Once a disease reaches the manifestation phase the victim takes all of the effects of the disease. They typically feel unwell at this point, showing symptoms, and the precise disease can be identified using the Diagnosis skill.
Any damage caused by Disease is calculated last, after any other damage or curing for the encounter. This means if the disease was cured during the encounter it prevents all damage from the disease for the encounter.
If the disease is not removed by the end of the adventure the victim will recover during downtime over the next week, even for Major Diseases. This will usually be before the next adventure or tavern night unless they are happening the same weekend, for example if a character contracts a disease at a tavern night they may still have the disease on an adventure the next day, although they would usually heal any damage overnight.
When a disease is cured the victim recovers immediately, they take no further effects from the disease and do not take damage from the disease during the encounter.
Most standard effects which cure disease such as spells or potions will remove only 1 at a time, if the victim is suffering from several diseases then it will be randomly chosen from the strongest diseases the cure can remove. A character with Diagnose can choose to target a specific disease they can identify when they apply an appropriate remedy.
Roleplay diseases have no mechanical effect on a character, they are treated as Minor Diseases for immunities, diagnosis and curing - any correct diagnosis can determine that they will not cause any damage or material impact to the victim. They are weaker than Minor diseases, so if a victim suffers from multiple diseases any random cure disease will target them after valid minor diseases.
Alopecia
Flatulence
Lisp
Rash
Tinnitus
Vertigo
All the Minor to Moderate disease are non lethal cause a low base damage in TBP each encounter which significantly increases under a specific circumstance (an Aggravating Circumstance) which is plausibly avoidable. Major disease do the same as their Moderate counterparts, except the damage cannot be healed until the disease is removed first, and are capable of killing victims.
Minor
At the end of each encounter the victim suffers 1 point of TBP damage, this is increased to 5 TBP if they performed the aggravating action at any point.
This damage cannot take them below zero TBP.
Moderate
At the end of each encounter the victim suffers 2 points of TBP damage, this is increased to 10 TBP if they performed the aggravating action at any point.
This damage cannot take them below zero TBP.
Major
At the end of each encounter the victim suffers 2 points of TBP damage, this is increased to 10 TBP if they performed the aggravating action at any point.
This damage cannot be healed until the disease is removed, and can take a victim below zero TBP.
Each disease has one specific aggravating circumstance which triggers the disease to cause more damage. If the victim managed to avoid the trigger they take the lower damage, otherwise they take the higher damage for that encounter. The aggravating circumstance must be reasonably avoidable, it may not be truly impossible or deadly to avoid - such as making the target allergic to air or needing to drink poison.
The specific name and lore of the disease is free for players or script writers to be creative, although mystical fantastical names are recommended to avoid confusion with real life counterparts, either emotionally for potentially sensitive players or observing public who may believe it is real. The following are examples of aggravating circumstances and suggested names for relevant diseases.
Move faster than a walk or fight - Asthma, Tuberculosis, Rust Lung
Wear armour equal to their heaviest proficiency or on most of their locations - Eczema, Salt Plague, Necrosis
Bleeding from any injured locations (after healing) - Leprosy, The Pox, Oozing Doom
Speaking more than necessary - Laryngitis, Blood Cough, Bard Blight
Casting Spells or using Rituals - Magic Vertigo, Spell Blight, Soulfire
Constant movement (avoid by sitting, leaning etc for 30s regularly) - Sleeping Sickness, Idle Fever, Sandman’s Hex
The following disease are discouraged for various reasons:
Montezuma's revenge - potential OC social issues with public if players duck into hedges etc
Amnesia - determined would be better as a specific Loresheet Curse than a disease
Heart Attack, Stroke - potentially upsetting for players or confusing for observing public
Monsters typically only play their role for a single encounter in an entire adventure and don’t have battleboards, so the standard disease format would have little impact. Monsters instead take the following effects immediately from diseases, with no incubation period or aggravating circumstances:
Minor Disease
The victim immediately takes 1 Hit, and a further +1 Hit at the start of each subsequent encounter.
Damage dealt by this disease cannot be cured until the disease is removed.
Moderate Disease
The victim immediately takes 2 Hits, and a further +1 Hit at the start of each subsequent encounter.
Damage dealt by this disease cannot be cured until the disease is removed.
Major Disease
The victim immediately takes 3 Hits, and a further +1 Hit at the start of each subsequent encounter.
Damage dealt by this disease cannot be cured until the disease is removed.
Special: This disease can only affect creatures without battleboards such as monsters or summons - in short, non-player characters.
Monsters suffering from Minor or Moderate disease do not usually die from their afflictions, while a Monster with a Major Disease will probably perish without intervention - in either case this is at the discretion of the Ref.