Disease in RPGs (especially D100)

[Lofgeornost]

The WIR Aqelarre thread currently ongoing has me thinking about how RPGs deal with disease. Most don't at all, I think, and there's no reason that they necessarily should. For a lot of genres and many tables it would be an unwanted complication, at best.

But, for some games--mainly fairly realistic historical ones--including rules for disease makes some sense. I want to make it clear that I mean natural diseases here, not ones caused by some spell, monster, or other game effect. Those frequently appear in RPGs.

So, what rules have you seen for dealing with natural diseases in RPGs? What works, what doesn't? I'm particularly interested in D100 systems, but I'm happy for any insights.

 

[Baragei]

"You've caught the plague. Now roll initiative - but with a penalty!"

 

[Ravenswing]

This is a surprisingly underused element in RPGs, and it should be a lot more common than it is. Adventurers (at least in low-tech settings) are out in all sorts of weathers. They poke around in filthy tombs and dungeons. They're frequently wounded, often critically. Disordered sleep is routine. Their diet, to put it charitably, sucks. And they hang out in disease-ridden, unhealthful cities as a matter of course.

GURPS has disease rules, but I work it a bit more simply. Every now and then, I ask everyone to make a roll against HT on 3d6. Blow it, you've got a head cold or some manner of aches and pains, which carry a small penalty. Blow it badly, and you've come down with something nasty, and you're -2/-3 on everything. Make a further HT roll every day thereafter. If you take care of yourself, restrict yourself to bedrest and/or you're under a physician's care, you get bonuses on that roll and the penalty reduces until you're well. Don't take care of yourself, and there are penalties to that roll, and you start taking damage. Keep it up, the disease gets worse, and you're in big trouble. Permanent effects can follow: it's well known that getting a serious bout of malaria invites relapses all your life. Heck, I had a serious case of bronchitis in 1988, and this past winter is the first winter since then where I haven't been laid up for at least a week with respiratory problems.

TLDR: if you're a full time adventurer, taking a HT of 10 or less is not a bright idea.

 

[soltakss]

So, what rules have you seen for dealing with natural diseases in RPGs? What works, what doesn't? I'm particularly interested in D100 systems, but I'm happy for any insights.

Legend, Mythras and Revolution give diseases some kind of potency, you roll it against a Toughness, or similar, skill in an opposed roll and failure gives you the disease. Merrie England has some common diseases written up, so you can die of diarrhoea.

 

[Silent Green]

Space: 1889 has Fever as a hazard in the Land Travel rules, although it's more of a nuisance causing delays. Travelling characters have to make an Endurance roll every day against an initially low threshold which can go up quickly due to pushing too hard, encumbrance and environmental effects. Failure gets you Fatigue Levels which are deducted from your physical attributes and can be removed by resting. Once a week, you need to do roll that week's lowest Endurance against a fairly low threshold, and if you fail, your character comes down with a fever. Then roll 2d6-2 each day, less-or-equal to original Endurance means the fever breaks. As the book puts it: “(Many explorers died from fever; player characters in this game do not.)”

Drugs don't enter into it, not even Quinine. Aspirin and antibiotics are mentioned in the inventions chapter, but come without rules for using them. GM's will have to wing it.

It's pretty pulp-y and cartoonish, matching the emerging medical science of the day. Also probably matches the Victorian stories, after all, the explorers who succumbed to fever didn't get to write books about it.

I've yet to see interesting and engaging rules for diseases in RPGs. And if I ever do, I'd promptly forget all about them running a game.