As I sat here thinking I should get back in bed, and not post, I wondered how many DMs actually use mundane sicknesses in there campaign? I can't recall if there is a chart in the AD&D 1E for mundane illnesses? Would it even be a good idea? Sorry, you're at a ( insert appropriate modifier )
Then again in a fantasy campaign you have certain resources that will nip most diseases in the bud. I can imagine that the Cure Disease spell, or a lesser form of it, was created for these situations. Cold and flu, etc. being more common than mummy rot. Then there are always herbal cures.
Anyway, enough for now. Back to bed for me. I think my OTC pain medicine is kicking in. No dungeon delving, errr... dungeon creating for me tonight.
Ooooooo... space monkeys.
The closest we ever got to illness are things like Filth Fever from giant rats.
ReplyDeleteOne of my characters is facing what she thinks is a sickness, but OOC I know it isn't... it's interesting to say the least.
ReplyDeleteI think when I am engaging in a flight of fancy (or fantasy) I usually want to leave out things like a cold.
ReplyDeleteThen again, I have a high Constitution, so it probably wouldn't matter.
I don't have any proof, as I would have to dig out some old boxes, but I am almost positive that Dragon magazine (many years ago) covered your query...
It only happened in one game I played in. A PC wanted to check a barrel that had filthy water in it for treasure, i.e. he was going to dump it out. Me and the rest of the players made sure we were not nearby when he did this. It was a good thing to, because the PC caught dysentary. At first he was laughing at us, and of course we told him he should have listened. There was no treasure, unless you count catching a disease as treasure.
ReplyDeleteI would put playing diseases in the "Handy Tricks Up The DMs Sleeve" category.
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