How Would You Update Taint to 4E?

[Leliel]

Well, I have that old 3.5 supplement, Heroes of Horror, and I am enthralled by the idea of Taint-no matter how good or evil you are, you always have a risk of gaining the stuff, and given my liking for the idea that your alignment has no bearing on your physical corruption, you could be a wonderful person who's always fearing that last bit of taint, and then being shoved out of your body and watch helplessly as some primal force of evil happily uses it to reap havoc.

Unfortuanately for me, I only know 4E, so...

How would you translate Taint mechanics into 4e?

[Meek]

I wouldn't as I found it to be a god-awful mechanic.

Now, if I was kidnapped and forced to design taint for 4e or I would be subject to something esoteric and horrible as punishment, I would probably make it an environmental condition that has a defined attack bonus, and have it making attacks every once in a while. It gets bonuses after each miss, so eventually it will have a high enough bonus to hit anybody. Then...I don't know what it would inflict, honestly. Probably status conditions such as weakened – since damaging actual ability scores is gone in 4e.