Disease in The Morrow Project

By Chris Van Deelen

Introduction

The following article was written, using a modified disease system from FGU's Aftermath game system. It has been converted to be used in The Morrow Project.

For game purposes, a disease is defined as follows:

1. The disease can be broken down into three basic formats: acute, episodic, and chronic. For game terms it will be (A), (E), or (C).
2. The disease will have up to four different vectors, or methods of infection. They are Aerosol, Subcutaneous, Gastric, and Dermal. For the game, they will be listed as AE, SU, GA and DE.
3. The disease will have a virulence number. The higher the number, the more powerful the disease.
4. The disease will have an incubation period. This could be anything from instantaneous, to several months or years before the disease begins to take effect.
5. The disease will effect a certain attribute, or number of attributes, such as Dexterity, Constitution, etc. The attributes act as a guage on how long the disease will effect the character.
6. The disease will have a cycle time. This is how long the time is between attacks on the characters constitution.

Virulence

An acute (A) disease will subtract its dice modifier from the affected attribute at the end of each cycle. The character must then work with the attribute at its reduced rate. When the attribute reaches 0, the crisis of the disease is reached.

In Episodic (E) disease, keep track of all the dice modifier rolls. Once the total surpasses the Attribute score, an episode occures. Reduce the target attribute by 25% each time. Once the attribute reaches 0, the crisis stage is reached.

Finally, with a chronic (C) disease will take effect at the end of its incubation period. This effect will remain until the character throws off the disease, or the time limit on the duration of the disease runs out. If a target attribute is specified, it will be decreased by the Virulence dice modifier for the duration of the disease. The attribute will return to normal at the end of the disease.

Vectors

The vectors are as follows:

• Aerosol (AE). The infection is airborne. Any character within a number of meters equal to the virulence group who breaths the air is subject to infection
• Subcutaneous (SU). The infection must be gotten under the characters skin by such means as an animal bite, wound, injection, etc.
• Gastric (GA). The source of infection must be taken internally through such things as contaminated drink or food.
• Dermal (DE). Simple skin contact is required. A garment that protects a character from the initial source of infection may later contaminate the character if it still carries the contamination from the original contact.

Dealing with the Disease

When a character is first exposed to a disease, a Constitution roll is required. Roll a D20, and add the disease's virulence group number. If the roll is equal, or less than the characters constitution, the character has avoided contracting the disease. If the roll fails, oh boy.

Once infected, the character has a chance to throw off the disease during the incubation period. the attempt requires the character to make a successful treat disease roll. It is subject to the same modifier as the constitution roll. Take the virulence group, and multiply it by five. Thus, if the disease is virulence 3, it adds +15% to the skill roll. If the treat disease roll is successful, the character is allowed a second, unmodified constitution check to see if they are able to throw off the disease.

If the character takes Universal Antibodies, subtract the virulence group times 5, and then roll the dice. Again, a virulence group 3 would subtract 15% from the Universal Antibody's roll, bringing it from 80% to 65%. If the roll succeeds, the disease is thrown off.

At the end of the incubation period, the first effects of the disease will appear. If the disease has no cycle, these effects will remain in force until the character makes a con check against the disease , or the disease has run its course. A con check may be made at the beginning of each day. Once the disease is no longer active in the character's system, the effects of the disease will disappear or he will be able to start healing the effects. The exact result will be dependant on the exact disease.

If the disease has a cycle, the character is allowed to make a con check at the end of the cycle time before the disease's advance is determined. If the die roll is successful makes it by more than half the required amount, the disease is thrown off. Example A character with a Con of 16 is infected with a virulence group 3 disease. He rolls a 1 on a D20. This is more than half (hell, he made it by 13 taking into account the disease's virulence group). If it falls into the range between half, and exactly the roll he needed, the disease is held in check. Example, the same character with a con of 16 rolls a D20 and gets 12. This is above half, but below the target number of 13. The disease is held in check. If the roll fails, the disease runs its normal course. Once the disease is thrown off, the character can then go about recovering from the disease.

When a victim is making his con check at the beginning of a day, or at the end of a cycle, he will receive modifications to the number needed for a successful check as follows:

• if a character makes a successful treat disease roll, modified as usual by the disease's virulence group, a +1 bonus is recieved to the characters con.
• If a broad band antibiotic is administered, a plus equal to its strength is recieved.
• If a specific antibiotic is administered, a plus equal to the specific efficiency against the disease is received.
• If the character is wounded badly (more than 25% of its SP/BP) a penalty of -1 is added to the characters con check.

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Day's Advance

This is the total number of points gained from the virulence group in a twenty four hour period. Example, a virulence group 3 disease with a cycle period of 6 hours advances 8 points (4 1D4 rolls during the twenty four hour period).

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Crisis Point of the Disease

When an acute disease has reduced its main target to zero or below, when an episodic disease has a cumulative total of its dice rolls that exceeds the character's score in the disease's main target, or when a disease reaches a specified stage with a chronic disease, the patient has reached the crisis point of the disease. The character is allowed one last con check to eliminate the disease, at the cons value cut in half, - the virulence factor. No modifications are allowed. If the character fails the roll, he has died of the disease. If the roll is successful, the character may begin recovering.

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Disease Symptoms

This section presents typical disease symptoms and the effects on the character with the disease. Not all diseases will have symptoms as severe as these. Many disease will have these type of symptoms but their effects will not be great enough to warrent an effect on the character.

Dizziness

When the disease's advance is greater than 1/3 of the characters con, the character's movement is at half value, and if the character is on treacherous ground (rubble, ice, etc) the character must make a Dex check every minute game time to avoid falling down

Dystopia

When the advance is greater than 1/3 of the characters con score, the effective light level for that character is reduced. Example, good light becomes dim, dim light becomes poor, poor light becomes no light.

Fainting

Strenuous activities such as combat, running, climbing etc will require a Con check after a number of rounds or minutes equal to 25% of the characters Con. Example. If a character has a con of 16, he/she will be able to fight for 4 rounds before having to make a Con check. If the character fails, he falls unconcious for a number of minutes equal to the virulence group of the disease. If the character does make the check, they can continue to act for another amount of rounds equal to 25% of the characters Con.

Lesions

The day's advance of the disease is the chance in 10 of lesions developing on a random location. Any damage taken on that location will expose the character to infection.

Nausea

Exertion as described in fainting or a successful attack on the torso, throat or head will require a Con check to avoid a fit. The character experiencing a fit of vomiting will be unable to perform any action for a period in minutes equal to the virulence group of the disease. The character will remain incapacitated until he/she makes a successful Con check. Dry heaves are a bitch!

Pain

The disease's advance for that day act as a negative percentage to all skill and attack rolls attempted by the character.

Paralysis

The specified extremity will take damage equal to the day's advance of the disease. This damage is not permanent, or real. When the total DP of the extremity are exceeded, the extremity is paralysed and cannot be used. When the disease is cured, the character regains use of the extremity.

Puerpera

The character's blood is slow to clot, though not so bad as a case of haemophilia would make it. But he will tend to bleed from open wounds and suffer severe bruising from non-cutting blows. Basically, when the character suffers a puncture, or a cutting wound, the character will lose 50% more BP per turn than normal.

Rhuematoid Condition

The effects of this symptom vary by the location affected. If it affects the legs, the characters base movement is cut in half. If the disease's day's advance is greater than 1/2 the characters con, the movement is reduced to 25% of normal. If the symptom effects the characters arms or hands, all skills requiring the use of the hands are reduced by half. If the total of the day's advance surpases half of the characters current Con, the skills are reduced to 25% of normal.

Tinnitus

The day's advance of the disease is the percentage times two reduction to any skills the character tries to use, due to ringing in his or her ears. Example, a character suffers 7 points advance during the day, so the character suffers a -14% to any skills.

Ulcerations

The day's advance of the disease is the chance in 10 that the character iwll develop ulcers on a specific location. This should be determined by making a hit location roll. If the character receives any damage to an ulcerated location he must make a Con check, or the pain will cause him to faint (see fainting). The character is also exposed to infection.

Weakness

When the disease advance is greater than the 30% of the characters Con., his STR. and Dex. are reducued by 25%, and suffers a 20% negative to any skill rolls. When the disease's advance is more than 50% of the Characters Con, the stat reduction is 50%, and the negative to skill rolls is now 40%.

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Recovery from Disease

When a character throws off a disease or survives a disease because it has run its course, the character will receive 1D10 points per virulence point of phantom damage. this damage is just from exhaustion and general weakness. For every 1 hour of full rest, the character regains 1 point of this damage. It is just a measuring gauge to see how long the character takes to fully recover.

Symptoms will be recovered from in a number of days equal to the disease's virulence group. Symptoms such as lesions and ulcers cause actual damage (1D3 dp per ulcer or lesion) and these will heal as a normal wound would.

Attributes that have been reduced by the disease will recover at a rate equal to 30% of the Characters Con score per week. Example, a character with a Con of 18 will regain up to 6 lost attribute points per week.

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Infection

A character may be subject to infection if he takes damage from the bite of an animal, or wounds suffered from a dirty weapon, or if the character doesn't take the time to keep him or herself clean.

Once the character is exposed to an opportunity for infection to set in, the PD makes a secret Con save for the character. This throw should be made if the character hasn't been properly treated after taking the wound (example, first aid, or cleaning the wound and then covering the wound with a steril bandage).

Once the character is infected, recognizable symptoms will appear once the character is supposed to heal a wound.

First, the wound will become inflamed and pussy. The character will not heal any damage at this time. At the end of each twenty four hour period, the character is allowed another Con check to see if they are able to throw off the infection. If it succeeds, the character has beaten the infection, and can begin to heal normally. Administering antibiotics will allow the character a +3 to their Con check to throw off the infection. On top of that, the wound must be kept clean, and the bandages must be changed at least twice a day. If this isn't done, the character suffers a -1 to his or her Con check.

If, during this time the character is unable to throw off the infection, and he or she rolls a 20 on the Con check, gangrene will set in. Gangrene negates the characters ability to make Con checks. Gangrene has an initial virulence group of 1 which will increase by one each day. Each day, the PD will roll the virulence dice. When the total of the dice rolls exceeds the characters total Con, the character dies.

Each day a character with Treat disease may attempt to halt the progress of the disease. The skill check is reduced by half unless a number of medical units equal to the virulence group are used during the treatment of the disease. If the check succeeds, the gangrene is halted, and reversed. The character can then begin healing the damage normally. At this time, the points accumilated from the virulence dice are taken as normal damage, and must be healed normally.

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Immunity from Disease

Any character who has once had a specific strain of an acute or episodic disease will be immune to that strain in the future. In game terms, this means that a character who has made his Con check after the first effects of the disease have evidenced themselves will automatically make his Con check when exposed to the same disease.

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Specific Disease's in The Morrow Project

When PSI is called for below, it is because TMP dosen't have an attribute for either Intelligence, or Willpower. It is just a quick fix until the third edition comes out (if ever). My reasoning behind this is that Psi is a good gauge for a character's will power.

With the above rules, the disease will be described in the following method:
Vector(s)-format-target(s)-incubation period-virulence group-cycle time.

1. Anthrax
   DE, AE-(A)-CON-1D3 Days-3-2 days
   Symptoms: Lesions, Nausea, Pain
   There is also a chance that the disease will cause the loss of facial and head hair. When the disease is cured, roll a Con. check. If it fails, the character is permanently bald. Once this disease has been overcome, the character is immune to it.
2. Pneumonia Plague
   AE-(A)-CON-2D6 Hours-3-3 Hours
   Symptoms: Nausea, Weakness, Fainting
   Once the disease passes the 30% of the Con score. in its advance, the victim will just go into delirium until death or healing takes place.
3. Pneumonia
   AE-(A)-CON-1D3 Hours-3-3 Hours
   Symptoms: Pain, Weakness
   The victim has a chance of infection if exposed to any kind of wound while suffering from pneumonia. There is also a much milder form of the disease, with a Virulence of 1 and all the time periods above given in days, not hours. This is often called "Walking Pneumonia."

Victims of exposure or damage to lung tissue can develop the disease without any apparent exposure to a carrier, as most humans carry the pneumococcus dormant in their lungs, ready to become active if the immune system of the victim is weakened.

4. Rabies
   SU-(E)-DEX-1D3+5 Days-5-1 Day
   Symptoms: Rheumatoid condition of arms and legs, Nausea, Pain
   Rabies is transmitted by the bite of a rabid animal.
5. Hepatitis
   GA, AE-(E)-STR-1D3 Days-3-1 Day
   Symptoms: Weakness, Nausea, Dizziness.
6. Brain Lighting
   AE-(A)-PSI-2D6 Hours-3-1 Hour
   The sufferer will complain of hideous headaches once the advance has wiped out half of his will score. He will become insane and require restraint if he is not to run madly about at random once the disease has reduced the Attributes below 30% of its value.
7. Eyeburn
   SU-(E)-PSI-1 Day-2-12 Hours
   Symptoms: Dystopia
   If the Crisis is not survived, the character is still alive, but his optic nerve has been destroyed, leaving him permanently blinded. The disease is transmitted by the bite or claws of infected animals. It seems to be a mutant form of Rabies, which has become specific to the tissues of the optic nerve.
8. Zombo Plague
   DE-(A)-PSI- 24 Hours-2D2-24 Hours
   Symptoms: Dizziness
   When the characters PSI reaches 0, the character becomes a Zombo, unprogrammed. This disease is not lethal in itself. If the character does not throw it off at the crisis point, he will become a Zombo. The character has no intelligence, no skills, and must be retaught everything from eating, walking, using the toilet, etc.
9. Littleton's Bane
   AE, DE-(E)-STR-1 Hour-3-1 Hour
   Patient experiences fits of homicidal mania and will seek to kill anyone present during the fit. Victims show a tendency to prefer hand to hand attempts on their victims. If no others are present, the victim becomes suicidal.
10. Spotted Plague
    GA-(A)-DEX,-48 Hours-2-24 Hours
    
11. Botulism
    GA, SU-(-)-DEX, CON-1D3 Hours-10-10D6 Minutes
    Symptoms: Pain, Nausea, Dizziness, Paralysis
    Botulism is contracted from eating contaminated food or drinking contaminated water. Boiling or cooking these thoroughly before consumption destroys the bacteria. The bacteria is not in itself poisonous, but it produces an extremely strong neuro toxin. Even application of the serum only reduces the virulence of the disease to 5.
12. Brucellosis
    GA, SU-(C)-STR-1D3 Weeks-2-1D3 Weeks.
    Symptoms: Nausea, Weakness
13. Diptheria
    GA-(A)-CON-1D6+1 Days-3-1 Day
    Symptoms: Nausea, Pain, Ulceration in throat
14. Amoebic Dysentery
    GA-(E)-CON-1D6 Days to 1D6 Years-2-1 Day.
    Symptoms: Diarrhea
15. Bacillary Dysentery
    GA-(E)-CON-1D6 Days-3-1 Day
    Symptoms: Diarrhea, Nausea, Rheumatoid pain in arms and legs.
    Dysentery acts like cholera by fluid loss.
16. Glanders
    GA, AE-(E)-CON-3D6 Days-4-1 Day
    Symptoms: Rheumatoid pain in joints, Ulcers
    Material from Ulcers can infect dermally.
17. Smallpox
    AE, GA-(E)-CON-2D6 Days-4-1 Day
    Symptoms: Pain, nausea, lesions
    The disease is often accompanied by raving fits. The lesions often leave unsightly scarring.
18. Typhoid
    GA-(E)-CON-4D6 days-2-1 Week
    Symptoms: Weakness, Diarrhea, Pain
19. Typhus
    SA-(E)-CON-3D6 Days-4-2D3 Days
    Symptoms: Pain, Weakness
20. Death's Plague
    AE,SU,GA,DE-(A)-CON-1D3 Hours-10-10 Minutes
    Symptoms: Lesions, Pain, Rheumatoid pain in joints, Sensitivity to light, Paranoid Rage (in that order)
21. Lugo Fatigue
    AE-(C)-STR-1D6 Days-2-1D3 Months
    Symptoms: Ulceration on throat, Weakness
22. September Fever
    AE-(C)-CON,STR-1D3 Days-1-2D6 Days
    Symptoms: Dizziness, Nausea, Weakness, Pain
23. Toledo Infection
    AE, DE-(E)-DEX,STR,CON-1D3 Days-8-1D3 hours
    Symptoms: Fainting, Lesions, Nausea, pain, Weakness

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Disease Mutations

The following tables represent possible mutation of the disease resulting in any number of changes.

Chance of Disease Mutation
Roll	Change
01-80	No mutation
81-00	Mutation

Disease Mutation
Roll	Change
1	Format
2	Vector
3-4	Virulence
5-6	Incubation/Cycle time
7	Symptoms
8	Antibiotic Modifiers
9	Roll once more
10	Roll twice more

Roll	Format Change	Roll	Vector Change
1-7	Acute	1-2	Aerosol
8-14	Episodic	3-4	Subcutaneous
15-20	Chronic	5-6	Gastric
		7-8	Dermal
		9-0	Roll once more

Roll	Incubation/Cycle Period Change	Roll	Symptoms Change
1	Decrease period by 75%	1	Add 3 Symptoms
2	Decrease period by 50%	2	Add 2 Symptoms
3	Decrease Period by 25%	3-5	Add 1 Symptom
4	No Change	6-8	Remove 1 Symptom
5	Increase Period by 25%	9	Remove 2 Symptoms
6	Increase Period by 50%	0	Remove 3 Symptoms
7	Increase Period by 75%
8	Increase Period by 100%

Virulence Modifiers		Antibiotic Modifiers
Roll	Result	Roll	Result
01-10	-1D10 (minimum 3)	O1-10	+1 Per 1D6 Doses
11-25	-2	11-25	+1 Per 3 Doses
26-45	-1	26-45	+1 Per 2 Doses
46-55	0	46-55	0
56-74	+1	56-74	+3 Per 2 Doses
75-90	+2	75-90	+2 Per Dose
91-00	+1D10 (MIN. 3)	91-00	+1D6 Per Dose

Symptoms
Roll	Result
1-2	Dizziness
3-4	Dystopia
5-6	Fainting
7-8	Lesions
9-10	Nausea
11-12	Pain
13	Paralysis
14-15	Puerperal
16	Rheumatoid
17	Tinnitus
18-19	Ulceration
20	Weakness

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Resources

• Medical Equipment
• Medical Drugs

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