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Talyn
2015-07-09, 08:46 PM
There are a few classes, the Paladin most prominently, which become immune to disease as they level up. Obviously, in game terms, that means any effect with the "Disease" subtype doesn't effect them. However, I'm curious as to how people interpret that ability outside of combat.

There are a number of things which, depending on your definition of "disease," might be affected.
Does a paladin never get tooth decay? STDs? What about dependency issues, like alcoholism? Are paladins immune to acquired psychological sicknesses like post-traumatic stress disorder?

In the (admittedly unlikely) event that a paladin lives long enough to retire, will she never get senile dementia? Cancer? Osteoporosis and arthritis? Can she get heart attacks?

D&D has people die of "old age," but that doesn't actually kill you - your body simply weakens until some disease or another kills you. How does that factor into disease immunity?

Keltest
2015-07-09, 08:52 PM
I would say that Paladins are immune to things like PTSD because of their fear immunity, not disease immunity.

holywhippet
2015-07-09, 09:59 PM
The simple answer is that those things don't exist in D&D. Even if you tried to add them, you could argue most of them could be cured by simple clerical magic or even just the heal skill. PTSD would be a bad idea to introduce. If you think about it most adventurers are going to have a lot of near death experiences. You don't want level 20 characters who curl up into a sobbing ball when they see a kobold.

ShaneMRoth
2015-07-10, 12:11 AM
Paladins are immune to all diseases as defined in the rules.


When a character is injured by a contaminated attack, touches an item smeared with diseased matter, or consumes disease-tainted food or drink, he must make an immediate Fortitude saving throw. If he succeeds, the disease has no effect—his immune system fought off the infection. If he fails, he takes damage after an incubation period. Once per day afterward, he must make a successful Fortitude saving throw to avoid repeated damage. Two successful saving throws in a row indicate that he has fought off the disease and recovers, taking no more damage.

If it is a communicable disease that requires a Fortitude save to avoid or mitigate, then the Paladin really should be immune to it.

The more grey area issues in the OP are within DM discretion, but seem like they should be informed by the rule that Paladins who are in grace enjoy virtually perfect health.

In my campaigns, this means all diseases. Mental health, dental caries, cancer, addiction. These are all diseases, so Paladins are immune to them. They retain absurdly good health right up to the day they die, assuming they stay in grace. This decision doesn't seem game breaking, unless I chose to have the party encounter a Floss Golem or something.

goto124
2015-07-10, 12:16 AM
Floss Golem

I need to find a way to stat this and add it to my list of homebrew monsters.

ShaneMRoth
2015-07-10, 12:31 AM
...
There are a number of things which, depending on your definition of "disease," might be affected.
Does a paladin never get tooth decay? STDs? What about dependency issues, like alcoholism?

Are paladins immune to acquired psychological sicknesses like post-traumatic stress disorder?

In the (admittedly unlikely) event that a paladin lives long enough to retire, will she never get senile dementia? Cancer? Osteoporosis and arthritis? Can she get heart attacks?

D&D has people die of "old age," but that doesn't actually kill you - your body simply weakens until some disease or another kills you. How does that factor into disease immunity?

If you are really trying to parse this out, just remember this...

In the context of D&D, if it's an affliction and a Paladin isn't immune to it... then it's not a disease.

If the affliction is not supernatural, and can be removed with a Remove Disease spell then it qualifies as a disease for the purposes of the game. And by that virtue, a Paladin should be immune to it.

Still, DM discretion trumps everything I just said.

goto124
2015-07-10, 12:54 AM
To be honest, being immune to non-biological conditions (such as psychological disorders) is a bit of a stretch.

Psyren
2015-07-10, 01:56 AM
IIRC, many games (including D&D/PF, unless I'm mistaken) consider alcohol and drugs to be poisons, rather than diseases. (Addiction to one or both of these, however, would be a disease.)

NomGarret
2015-07-11, 01:51 PM
IIRC, many games (including D&D/PF, unless I'm mistaken) consider alcohol and drugs to be poisons, rather than diseases. (Addiction to one or both of these, however, would be a disease.)

In other words, the paladin can get drunk, but not be an alcoholic. This is up until the paladin drinks enough to violate their vows (if applicable) and fall from grace.