Catastrophe of the Day: Plague Survivor
Today's Catastrophe. Catastrophes are obligatory character choices that
involve rolling on tables like the one below. I'm looking for critiques or brilliance that's evaded
me before I subject them upon my test subjects, er, players. This one is tentatively "balanced" to have roughly a 30% chance of a good, bad or mixed result. I've got spreadsheet formulas to compute odds of different results for tables, because that's how I roll. (get it?)
wow, cutting and pasting tables from Word actually works ok.
So, assuming you'd be a player in my campaign and would have to choose one of these catastrophes, would you pick plague?
Here is what you could get as a
Plague Survivor:
D100
|
Plague Survivor Effects
|
01-16
|
Your
constitution saves vs disease are at +2.
|
17-26
|
You have the scars of a plague
survivor. -2 to charisma checks for
Performance or Persuasion and +2 to Intimidation checks. You have advantage on constitution saves
against disease.
|
27-32
|
You are
immune to the plague but still have a dormant infection. Anyone within 50’ of you during a long rest
has a 1% chance of acquiring the plague.
You must complete a pilgrimage before Cure Disease will fix this
condition, as the plague is divine vengeance against the world.
|
33-45
|
You have the scars of a plague
survivor, -1 to charisma checks for Performance and Persuasion, +1 to
Intimidation checks. You learned the
Medicine skill during your ordeal.
|
46-51
|
You have an
aversion to uncleanliness and corruption.
Not only must you attempt to bathe every long rest or be at -1
cumulative to ability checks until you bathe, but you have disadvantage to
constitution saves vs nausea, odors, or corruption (Prestidigitation comes in
really handy as a cantrip here).
|
52-64
|
You have advantage to any
perception, insight or investigation checks to detect the presence of disease
or corruption.
|
65-70
|
Your immune
system is weakened and you are at disadvantage to constitution saves vs
disease until you complete a pilgrimage, gaining you XXX Exp.
|
71-76
|
You gain an enemy who blames you
for spreading the plague.
|
77-82
|
You are
haunted by an abandoned friend or loved one.
Every Long Rest you must make a DC 10 charisma check against fright or
not gain the benefits of that rest.
You must atone to your companion’s spirit or complete a pilgrimage to
overcome this and gain XXX Exp.
|
83-88
|
While you no longer carry the plague,
you still look like you do with all the superficial but non-debilitating
symptoms. You can use spells or the
disguise proficiency to try to hide your symptoms. You must succeed on a DC 15 persuasion or
deception check in order to calm anyone who realizes your appearance matches
that of a plague victim. You can
overcome this condition if you complete a pilgrimage, gaining you XXX Exp.
|
89-100
|
Roll twice,
disregarding conflicting results.
|
Medieval accounts of the plague are interesting. The spiritual aspects are in the forefront of their minds, as is sense that the plague was a divine retribution. Certainly a cleric couldn't use Cure Disease against something their god had intended, correct?
You read accounts like this:
"When this plague was passing from one land to another, many people saw shapes of bronze boats and (figures) sitting in them resembling people with their heads cut off. Holding staves, also of bronze, they moved along on the sea and could be seen going whithersoever they headed. These figures were seen everywhere in a frightening fashion, especially at night. Like flashing bronze and like fire did they appear, black people without heads sitting in a glistening boat and traveling swiftly on the sea, so that this sight almost caused the souls of the people who saw it to expire."
John, Bishop of Ephesus, as quoted in Justinian's Flea.
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