My game focuses on a group using a magic plague to kill people. The magic of the plague is necromatic, and animates the corpses of those it kills into undead. Such as shadows, or zombies. What would the stats of a disease like this be?
Use the rules for Sewer Plague, up the difficulty, and then tack on something like a Shadow or Wight rider upon death.
Sewer Plague
Sewer plague is a generic term for a broad category of illnesses that incubate in sewers, refuse heaps, and stagnant swamps, and which are sometimes transmitted by creatures that dwell in those areas, such as rats and otyughs.
When a humanoid creature is bitten by a creature that carries the disease, or when it comes into contact with filth or offal contaminated by the disease, the creature must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or become infected.
It takes 1d4 days for sewer plague’s symptoms to manifest in an infected creature. Symptoms include fatigue and cramps. The infected creature suffers one level of exhaustion, and it regains only half the normal number of hit points from spending Hit Dice and no hit points from finishing a long rest.
At the end of each long rest, an infected creature must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the character gains one level of exhaustion. On a successful save, the character’s exhaustion level decreases by one level. If a successful saving throw reduces the infected creature’s level of exhaustion below 1, the creature recovers from the disease.
A humanoid slain by this attack disease rises 24 hours later as a zombieunder the wight's control, unless the humanoid is restored to life or its body is destroyed. The wight can have no more than twelve zombies under its control at one time.
If a non-evil humanoid dies from this attack disease, a new shadow rises from the corpse 1d4 hours later.
How fast-acting is the disease? What's the delivery method
Assuming the disease works on a fast clock, you could do something like the following:
"When a person contracts this disease, he or she must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw every time he or she finishes a long rest. On a failure, the creature takes 5d10 necrotic damage and its hit point maximum is reduced by the damage taken. If this disease reduces a target's hit point maximum to 0, the target immediately becomes a [undead creature type here]."
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My game focuses on a group using a magic plague to kill people. The magic of the plague is necromatic, and animates the corpses of those it kills into undead. Such as shadows, or zombies. What would the stats of a disease like this be?
Use the rules for Sewer Plague, up the difficulty, and then tack on something like a Shadow or Wight rider upon death.
How fast-acting is the disease? What's the delivery method
Assuming the disease works on a fast clock, you could do something like the following:
"When a person contracts this disease, he or she must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw every time he or she finishes a long rest. On a failure, the creature takes 5d10 necrotic damage and its hit point maximum is reduced by the damage taken. If this disease reduces a target's hit point maximum to 0, the target immediately becomes a [undead creature type here]."
Partway through the quest for absolute truth.