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View Full Version : Pathfinder Tetanus Reimagined~



FinetalPies
2016-04-03, 07:17 AM
Hello and thanks for reading. I was designing a creature that was particularly dirty and decided that inflicting Tetanus with its bites would make things a bit more interesting. Unfortunately most of the rules for disease and poisons are so simple as to be unrealistic, and boring. (I'll edit that to be a link to the d20pfsrd tetanus page if/when my post count exceeds 10) What I propose below approaches realism, I think, but the real goal is to make it something more interesting and more threatening. Without being too much of a hassle to my players. Anyway, here it is.

Disease
Tetanus:
type injury; save Fort DC 14; onset 2d6 days; frequency 1/day; effect 1 Dex Damage, advances 1 step along the following chart:
1- mild lockjaw: it becomes difficult to eat or speak
2- neck stiffness: -4 initiative, can no longer get full night's rest
3- lockjaw: cannot speak or eat
4- leg spasms: half movement speed, 50% each round to fall prone when running
5- fever: 1d3 Con damage
6- fullbody spasms: 1d6 rounds into any encounter a seizure occurs, hospital recommended
6+ heart palpitations: 1d4 Con damage;
cure a successful save means nothing happens the victim stays in the same place on the symptom chart but does not suffer any ill effects; every successful save gives a stacking +1 bonus against future saves against tetanus. When this bonus is equal to the DC of tetanus minus the hero's Fort Save bonus, the character is cured. This save bonus is retained and decreases by 1 every year. Cured characters revert back down the symptoms chart 1 step a day until fully recovered.

I could explain in more detail but these are my rules as written so far. (Step 6 along the track is definitely shortened for simplicity) In terms of feedback I'm definitely looking for balance complaints/suggestions, but most important the legibility of the rules themselves, and just how cool you think these rules feel compared to the usual 1d4 Dex Damage per day.

Thanks again for reading.