Twilight Corruption

The boundary between the mundane world and the realms of decay and darkness is usually well-defined and impenetrable. Usually. Sometimes the boundary is weakened, either by some great accidental cataclysm, or by intentional use of dark magics. When this occurs, the first sign is often an outbreak of the Twilight Corruption. This magical disease afflicts any living thing that goes too close to the physical break between planes. The symptoms and effects vary depending on exposure and the relative strength of the break. Since the Corruption affects all living things, be they plant or animal, the first signs often manifest in the local trees and undergrowth. Plants near the break receive constant exposure, making them very vulnerable to the Corruptions effects.

Any living thing that is exposed to the Corruption source should roll on the table below (1d10) for each day of exposure. A Good test of resistance negates the effect of any roll. Note that continued exposure means additional rolls. All effects are cumulative.

1-2	No effect. The creature is safe, for now.
3-4	Wasting Corruption. The creature suffers from a gradual wasting disease, which reduces one of vitality strength or will by one rank each 1d4 days.
5-6	Devouring Hunger. The creature is driven by a maddening hunger for fresh blood. Each day a Good test of will must be made or the afflicted attacks a living creature for their blood. Consumed blood negates the effects of Wasting Corruption.
7	Unholy Mutation. Any plant afflicted with this effect gains the ability to move using roots and branches as limbs. Plants can also use branches as crude weapons, clubbing or entangling their victims. Afflicted animals suffer uncontrolled growth, gaining 50% in size and strength, along with proportional strength. This growth is accompanied by an disgusting corruption of features and flesh, twisting familiar faces into cruel mockeries.
8	Ecoplasmic Form. The afflicted sprouts 1d6 twisting tendrils of ectoplasmic goo from their body. These tendrils corrupt what they touch. Anyone coming in contact with one must roll on this table as if they were exposed to the source of Corruption.
9	Necrotic Flesh. The victim's flesh begins to turn blue-green and decay, emitting a foul odor. Anyone within 10 feet of Necrotic Flesh must make a Good resistance roll or be nauseated for 1d6 rounds, suffering a one rank penalty to all action checks. There is no negative effect to the victim.
10	Berserk Rage. The victim loses their last remnant of sanity and goes berserk, attacking any living thing that crosses their path. The berserker gains one rank of strength and vitality, and becomes immune to mind- or emotion-affecting powers.

Victims of the Corruption can be cured with a Superb test of divine magic (treat as a magical disease to determine appropriate spells or rituals). Each time a victim of the Corruption dies, there is a 25% chance their remains will crumble to dust, a 50% chance they will rise as a crude undead creature (skeleton or zombie), and a 25% chance their corpse will become a seed for a new rift between the planes. If the victim's corpse is treated with a Superb divine magic cleansing these effects will be negated.

Jungle Ghouls and Ghoul Worms

These hideous creatures are found only in tropical environments, where they are commonly associated with primitive ritual necromancy and cannibalism. Jungle Ghouls appear as emaciated creatures, their curiously striated, bluish-gray skin covered with thick deposits of keratin and tiny sores that ooze a gooey black ichor. A foul stench reminiscent of burning sulfur and rotting flesh surrounds the creatures.

Despite the association, Jungle Ghouls are neither undead nor magical. The creatures are created by a parasitic Ghoul Worm with a life cycle that includes gestation and growth within a living host. The Ghoul Worm's sticky eggs are picked up from dead hosts, either by victims attacked by the creatures, or by scavengers feeding on the remains, particularly flies. These eggs eventually dry and fall free. Those that end up on food or in water are eventually consumed by host creatures, any large warm-blooded creature will do, whose body heat activates the hatching cycle. Once they hatch the Ghoul Worms burrow out of the digestive tract and infect the central nervous system, wreaking havoc upon the mind and body of the host.

Creatures afflicted with Ghoul Worms fall under their influence within a week of infection. During the initial week the Ghoul Worms can be removed via a Good test of healing or curing magic. Symptoms during this time include severe fever and chills and a bluish tinge to the skin. After the Worms have established control the victim becomes a Jungle Ghoul, taking on the characteristic appearance and stench as the victim's mind is destroyed by the infestation.

Jungle Ghouls wander at random, though they are drawn to noise. When they encounter living warm-blooded creatures, they attack with whatever natural weaponry they have available. In the case of humanoid Ghouls, this includes clawing with nails and biting. Victims of Ghoul attacks have a Good chance of being infected with eggs. Jungle Ghouls are attracted to each other by scent, and often move in vast packs, leaving a trail of terror and death in their wake.

Jungle Ghouls have the following characteristics:

• Good toughness and Fair attack skill with natural weaponry. The creatures feel no pain and attack with a mindless ferocity. Ghoul Worms stimulate natural keratin growth, turning weak nails and claws into effective weapons.
• Fair tracking. Jungle Ghouls will relentlessly follow any noise to its source. There are some indications that Ghoul Worms increase the sharpness of the infected creature's senses.
• Sickening stench. Anyone within ten feet of a Jungle Ghoul has a Good chance of being afflicted by the reek, reduced to gagging and vomiting for 1-4 rounds.
• Slain by healing. Ghoul Worms can be slain with a Great application of curing magic. Cured Jungle Ghouls are left as mindless husks, incapable of thought or action.
• Infection. Anyone wounded by a Jungle Ghoul has a Good chance of being infected with eggs.

Assuming they are not slain, Jungle Ghouls survive two to four weeks. After this period the Ghoul Worms die off, leaving an egg laden corpse behind.

Grim Monday: Malicious Infection

Today's Grim Monday is all about diseases. Not the fatal sort, I wrote about those a while back. No, today's diseases are of the troublesome, debilitating, but not deadly variety.
Diseases can add an interesting element to a campaign. They can spread, causing problems beyond a simple affliction. Those infected are often shunned or worse. Seeking the cure, assuming a magical treatment is not readily available, can be an adventure in and of itself. Here are three troublesome afflictions ready to infect your party.
Withering Plague
This affliction is spread by physical contact (Poor chance of spreading), usually from goblin races, who are often carriers, but unaffected by the disease. The victim takes on the appearance of advanced age, graying hair, wrinkles, age spots, and a somewhat withered, stooped appearance. They also suffer from an Average penalty to strength tests. If treated within a month of the first onset the visible symptoms disappear completely within a few weeks. Treatment applied after this period leaves the victim with some permanent changes to their appearance (typically age spots and graying hair).
The Withering Plague is believed by some to be a symptom of vampirism. Victims are often treated as outcasts, and sometimes attacked and slain, their remains burned and scattered. Of course strangers already afflicted with the disease will simply appear to be... old.
Nightmare Nails
This strange disease causes rapid growth of finger and toe nails and, to a lesser extent, hair, in the victim. Those affected also crave meat and other high-protein foods to supply their body's accelerated keratin production. The nails and hair of those afflicted grow an inch or more per day. This growth causes shooting pain in the affected areas, causing the victim to suffer an Average penalty to all tests involving manual dexterity. The disease is carried by a variety of biting insects, and can be spread via bodily fluids.
The visible signs of this disease can be controlled in the short term, but over the longer term (more than a few weeks), the disease will have more permanent effects. Nails and hair become thicker and denser, eventually resembling claws and spikes more than nails and hair. Once cured normal growth patterns resume within six months.
Crazy Eye
This affliction of the nervous system is contracted from consumption of poorly prepared fresh water fish. The disease disrupts the victim's vision, causing their eyes to move in a disconcerting independent fashion, which gives the disease its common name. The victim suffers a Great penalty to any test requiring vision, and has a terrible time focusing their gaze. Reading is nearly impossible, and even walking becomes a challenge.
If Crazy Eye is left untreated for more than six weeks the effects become permanent. Those afflicted are often thought to be possessed by demons or devils and treated accordingly.

Deadly Maladies

I found these nasty things in an old dungeon description buried in my files. The Anamab Caverns were deep in a tropical jungle and inhabited by a degenerate race of reptilian humanoids. Enjoy (well maybe not enjoy...)

From the original dungeon description: Characters staying in the complex have a base chance of 3% to be infected with a disease and a base chance of 10% to be infested with a parasite. These base chances increase by 1% per day the character stays in the complex.

Diseases

Creeping Sleep - This disease is spread by insect bites or direct contact with others already infected. The victim experiences increasing tiredness for five days requiring an extra two hours sleep each day. After five days the victims continue to require additional sleep and must make a successful resistance check vs. Fair difficulty or fall into a coma-like sleep for 10 to 15 days. The victim will experience recurring bouts of sleepiness every three months until cured. The disease can be cured with a Fair test of healing during the initial five days, after which the difficulty increases to Great.

Liquid Lung - This disease is caused by an airborne fungus that growns on decaying vegetable matter. The lungs of a victim infected with this disease slowly fill with fluid, causing them to cough and choke almost continuously. Over the course of 15 days the infected victim will suffer a decline in their vitality, eventually choking to death on their own bodily fluids. Curing this disease is a Fair test of healing.

Plum Plague - This disease is spread by biting insects or surface contact with tainted surfaces. It is quick spreading and deadly. Within hours of exposure a purple blotch will appear on the skin of the victim. This blotch spreads quickly, tinting the entire body purple within four or five days. The purple patches cause extreme itching and victims are often tear at their own flesh as the disease takes hold. Curing this disease is a Good test of healing.

Parasites

Nail Worms - These small creatures crawl beneath finger and toe nails and eat away at the tender flesh beneath, causing searing pain after a day's infestation. The pain is so severe that the infested limb is all but useless. Removal of these pests is a Good test of healing. Nail worms are commonly found in stagnant pools of water in warm environments.

Hair Ticks - These pests lurk on branches and low hanging vines. They exude a silky thread which dangles beneath their resting place. Any passing creature that brushes against the thread will pull the tick free and onto itself. Once on a victim the tick will find a nice patch of skin and dig in for a meal of blood. Hair ticks carry both Creeping Sleep and Plum Plague. They can be removed as an Average test of healing.

A Brother's Revenge: Danger Approaches

This is part three of a series of encounters and events involving the NPC group The Bandits of Lope. The previous parts are Early Indications and First Blood. All the encounters and events outlined in this and subsequent posts in the series assume that Juro has been killed or captured through the party's actions.

Inquisitive Neighbors

Within a day or two of Juro's death or capture, Renis and Timon will have either heard of his demise or started looking for him. There are several ways the leaders might hear the news:

• Any survivors of the First Blood encounter will have reported back to camp and informed Renis or Timon of the fight.
• If the party reports the fight to local authorities the story will spread through the militia and from there to the rest of the town. If the party is prone to covering their tracks, a reward for the capture or disposal of the bandits might be in order.
• If the party sells off any recovered gear (weapons, horses, armor), the merchant involved will gossip about the transaction.
• Travelers along the route where the ambush took place might notice signs of a fight (broken arrows, blood stains, trampled undergrowth, a dead horse).

If the party covers their tracks well, it will take longer for the bandits to uncover the perpetrators. Timon and Renis will use the following methods to discover the parties responsible for Juro's demise:

• They will investigate Juro's ambush site and try to discover what happened.
• They will attempt to track the survivors if they can discover a trail.
• Several lesser known bandits will be sent to town to make rounds at the taverns, listening to rumors and gossip. They'll have sufficient funds to buy a few rounds of drinks to assist in this task.

If the bandits are completely frustrated in their attempts to discover the responsible parties, the events below will still occur but they'll be random instead of targeted at the party. Renis will hold the entire locale responsible for this brother's downfall.

The Disappearance

A week after the bandits have discovered all they can about Juro's demise, someone will disappear from the area near town, taken as a sacrifice by Renis's men (if the idea of human sacrifice does not fit your campaign, feel free to substitute a suitable victim). Somewhere near the site of the kidnapping the sign of Yullic (an open hand with ring finger bent), will be chalked on a stone or wall.

If the bandits have discovered the party's involvement in Juro's death the victim should have some tie to the group (a friendly NPC or a member of their family). It is expected that the sacrifice will be carried out, so select an appropriate target.

The bandits will take two days to get their victim back to the bandit camp, using all their woodcraft to obscure their trail. The next day Renis will sacrifice the victim to Yullic, god of disease and decay, seeking his aid in exacting revenge upon those that destroyed his brother. Yullic will grant his aid, granting Renis access to new abilities:

• Choking Spores (Fair difficulty) - The caster hurls a magical puffball of spores at the target. This breaks on impact, creating a dense cloud of poisonous, choking spores. Those within the 10' radius area of effect must resist (Fair) or be blinded and choking for 1-4 rounds.
• Diseased Sending (Fair difficulty) - The caster infects several mundane warm-blooded creatures with Fungal Infection, then sends them forth to hunt down a known target. The creatures will be magically guided to find the target, though they are restricted to their natural travel rate. Once they reach the target, they attack ferociously. Any successful attack by the creatures will infect the target with the Plague of Yullic. If the creature selected is normally a disease carrier, rats for example, the infection gains a bonus to potency (see below for the effects of the Plague of Yullic).
• Seed of Decay (Good difficulty) - The caster ritually plants the skull of a Fungal Zombie in a dark, moist location. In three days the planted skull will sprout, forming a Fungal Brain (see below for details of Brains and Zombies).

Infection

Renis will lose no time in applying his newly granted powers. His first attack will be aimed at the party's friends and allies. Renis will use Diseased Sending to infect known associates of the party. He will focus his attacks on victims whose absence will not be noticed, giving the sending time to take root, going so far as to infect farm animals or wild beasts near the player's base of operations rather than obvious targets. Subsequent articles in the series will outline the players' first encounter will the infections of Yullic.

Plague of Yullic

The initial symptoms of this disease occur a day or two after infection. Faint discoloration around the site of infection, watery eyes and nasal congestion, and overall itchiness mark the first stage of infection. These symptoms could easily be mistaken for a common cold. After a few days the insidious fungus will begin to make itself felt. In stressful situations victim must resist the effect of the infection or fall under its control for several hours. During this period the victim will behave like a Fungal Zombie. Resisting this effect will become more and more difficult each day the infection continues (one rank per day). As time passes signs of infection will become more obvious. Gray patches will appear on the victim's skin, they lose their appetite and curious soft bulges will appear on their torso. After 10 days the victim will completely lose control, becoming a full-fledged Fungal Zombie.
Victims can only be cured by magical means. After the initial phase of infection the difficulty of curing the disease goes up by one rank.

Fungal Zombies and Fungal Brains

Details of these creatures will be provided in the next article in the series. Stay tuned!