Rabies

Uncommon Disease

Lethality: Extreme

Transmissibility: Low

Given the complexity and multitudinous symptoms of Rabies, Infection, Symptoms, and Treatment are each covered in the following detailed subsections.

Infection: Contracted from the saliva of an infectious m’l’ykkri or from any other creature that has contracted Rabies. While Nalatheshi experimentation has created many breakthroughs in neutralizing dangers from m’l’ykkri attacks, surviving pathogens are more severe and more resistant to treatment. Animals known to be susceptible to Rabies include dogs, wolves, bats, and bears, but be wary of any mammal, alive or undead, that can bite, scratch, or otherwise break your skin.

Outbreak: The odds of contracting Rabies vary depending on the creature that bites the target. Roll the following dice based on the nature of the attack if any creature takes a biting attack, or a scratching attack in the case of animals with claws.

• M’l’ykkri: 1d4 per attack. Contract Rabies on 1.
• Animal: 1d12 per attacking creature. Animal has and transmits Rabies on 1.
• Humanoid: 2d100 per biting humanoid. Humanoid has and transmits Rabies on 2.

This information is for the MC. Players should be aware that it is possible to contract Rabies from attacks of these kinds, but they should not learn during the attack whether a specific creature has Rabies unless the attacking creature is visibly rabid.

Symptoms: Following initial infection, the disease remains dormant for 3d20+30 days. The carrier is infectious during this time, and may spread Rabies to other creatures by biting them. Because prolonged infection ultimately restructures the victim’s nerve and brain tissue into new M’l’ykkri Flesh Worms, Rabies becomes more difficult to cure as it progresses and is universally deadly.

When the disease becomes active, there is a rapid onset of symptoms. Begin at Symptom 1. After 24 hours, review instructions to “Advance” next to the symptoms. Roll the appropriate die, if instructed, and move forward on the list of symptoms according to the die roll.

Symptoms are cumulative. The creature will retain the previous symptoms and add all new symptoms, up to and including the result of the roll. After another 24 hours, advance again.

1. Mild fever, headache. Gain the Chilled condition. Advance 1d4.
2. Gain the Fatigued condition. Advance 1d4.
3. Pain in the bite or scratch location. Gain the Shaken condition. Advance 1d4.
4. Sore throat. No mechanical effect. Advance 1d6.
5. Nausea. No mechanical effect. Advance 1d6.
6. Vomiting. Gain the Sickened condition. Advance 1d6.
7. Increasing fever, muscle aches. Gain the Staggered condition. Advance 1d8.
8. Severe headache, aggression. No mechanical effect. Advance 1d8.
9. Excess saliva production, confusion. No mechanical effect. Advance 1d6.
10. Severe insomnia, agitation. All benefits from Taking a Rest are halved. Advance 1d6.
11. Difficulty swallowing. Appearance of “foaming at the mouth.” No mechanical effect. Advance 1d4.
12. Hydrophobia, aerophobia. Approaching water or being asked to drink liquids trigger muscle spasms and the Phobic status. Advance 1d4.
13. Hallucinations, rapid heartbeat. Gain the Dazed condition. Advance 1d4.
14. Uncontrolled limb movements, hyper-aggression. No mechanical effect. Advance 1d4.
15. Encompassing aggressive delirium. No mechanical effect. Advance 1.
16. Seizures. Gain the Suppressed condition. Advance 1.
17. Coma. Gain the Unconscious condition. Skin begins to necrotize and peel. Advance 1.
18. Death. Victim becomes a M’l’ykkri Fleshling infected with Rabies. All Status effects removed. 2d4 M’l’ykkri Flesh Worms infected with Rabies emerge from the corpse.

Treatment: To prevent death from Rabies, treat the infection as soon as possible after receiving a bite or scratch, before visible symptoms of Rabies present. Required treatment includes wound care, medical treatment, and four doses of specially prepared elixir.

• Wound Care: The wounded creature or any assisting creature may make an INT/Medicine check of DC 10 to wash the wound and perform basic first aid. Treating the wound with an herbal poultice to prevent infection requires herbs worth at least 30 sc and an INT/Medicine check of DC 20. Creatures treating the wound with an herbal poultice receive +2 to later treatment checks. Creatures with no successful first aid for the wound receive a -2 penalty to later treatment checks.

• Research: (Optional) If the heroes are able to capture the creature responsible for the attack or retain a mostly intact corpse, they may ask someone with the Medicine skill to identify whether the attacking creature has Rabies. This requires an INT/Medicine check of DC 25. The creature assessing the attacking creature may only make this check once. If the check is unsuccessful, the heroes must decide whether to proceed with treatment without knowing if the patient has been exposed to Rabies or not.

• Medical Treatment: Beginning with the day the creature is bitten, they may receive medical treatment once per 8 hours. Medical treatment may come from a creature making an INT/Medicine check, or from any creature able to cast healing magic of sufficient strength. Add all healing attempts for the day together to determine whether they meet the required target.
  • Medicine DC on the day of the bite is 20.
  • Each day after the bite is +1 to the DC.
  • Magical healing must cure 10 HP or more to be effective.
  • Each day after the bite is +2 to required HP.
  • When a hero receives this treatment but is still infected, their symptoms do not progress on the day that they received treatment.

• Elixir: An alchemist must prepare four doses of a concentrated tincture made from ginger, skullcap, brownwort, distillment of woad, algae extract, a few alchemical secrets, and one variable ingredient. The base ingredients are available from any market in the necessary amounts for a total of 400 sc per dose, but the elixir’s three potential final ingredients are more difficult to acquire.
  • A plague doctor with the Alchemical Treatment talent may use the blood of the attacking creature. DC 25.
  • Any alchemist may use one quarter of a piece of Wall Chicken or one piece of Floor Chicken to make one dose of elixir. All four doses require a whole piece of Wall Chicken or four pieces of Floor Chicken. DC 30.
  • If neither of these is possible, a talented alchemist may be able to use a Lingzhi Mushroom , a rare ingredient valued at 2000 sc. While specialty markets or herbalists may stock them, or noted alchemists may keep a few around, the heroes may also need to place a special order. This has the intoxication effect of a Grand Healing Elixir. DC 45.
  • For each untreated day after the bite, the elixir must be more potent. +1 to the DC.
  • When a hero receives this treatment but is still infected, their symptoms do not progress on the day that they received treatment.

Treatment Summary: The creature must receive 15 total days of healing, and must receive four doses of elixir within those 15 days. The creature must wait two days and Take a Rest between doses of elixir. If the patient will not drink the elixir, creatures may administer it with a syringe or as a powder dissolved on an open wound and bandaged in place. Healing causes symptoms to stop advancing if they have begun. Each day of healing in this way causes symptoms to regress by two levels until the patient is asymptomatic. One day without healing will raise treatment DC. Further days without healing will also cause symptoms to advance.

Cured Status: Once cured, the creature is Immune to Rabies for 3 years. Patients that survive despite reaching coma symptoms will live with life-long pitted scarring from loss of necrotized tissue and irreversible damage to the brain. Without supernatural healing such as the Greater Restoration spell, they will always have a Dazed condition.

Example: 43 days after receiving a bite from a bat, a hero is suffering from a rapidly worsening fever, muscle aches, nausea and vomiting, pain radiating from the healed-over bite mark, and a severe headache. Party members notice that the hero has begun to produce an unusual amount of saliva, seeming to constantly drool or spit, and they are noticeably more aggressive than usual, threatening and attacking others with little to no provocation. They realize the bat that attacked the hero must have carried Rabies.

Because it has been 43 days, the creatures must perform up to 3 INT/Medicine checks daily with a cumulative DC of 63 (20+43). If using magical healing, they may use up to 3 magical healing spells or rituals daily with a cumulative healing requirement of 96 HP (10+(2x43)). The heroes cleaned the wound with a poultice, so every INT/Medicine check receives +2, or every healing spell receives +2 HP.

As long as they succeed at these goals every day, these targets remain the same. If they miss one day, the next day’s target increases to DC 64 or 98 HP, and so on.

The heroes cannot recover the infected bat to create the elixir, so they purchase 4 pieces of Floor Chicken and 1,600 sc of other necessary alchemical ingredients for healing elixir. Because treatment began 43 days after the bite, brewing each dose requires a cumulative DC of 73.

This DC will remain the same as long as treatment meets all goals. If treatment fails for one day, the DC becomes 74, and so on. Waiting 2 days between doses, the infected hero must take a total of 4 doses of this elixir.