Poison and Disease

Weapons can break the body, magic can transform or burn it, but perhaps nothing provokes so much dread and horror as the subtle and invisible effects of poison and disease.

Poison

The paste gleaming on a hidden dagger, the powder slipped into an innocuous drink, the venom dripping from a beast’s fangs; poison is an everyday part of the life of an adventurer. Some use them, some only suffer their effects, but everyone encounters them from time to time.

Poison Traits

Every poison has the following traits:

• Form: The form the poison takes. Most poisons are ingested liquids, which must be drunk (or added to someone’s drink) to take effect, or blade venoms, which are applied to a weapon and grant the wielder a suitable poison call. Other poisons take the form of powders, creams, or contact poisons, with special rules for use given in the recipe.
• Onset: The time the poison needs to take effect, from the moment it is applied (drunk, eaten, inhaled, inflicted via a blade, etc.).
• Duration: The length of the time that the poison’s effects last. Instantaneous poisons take effect all at once after the onset ends, and permanent poisons remain in effect until purged.
• Effect: The actual effects of the poison, including damage and other effects.

Using Poisons

Every poison is accompanied with a tearable card giving the name of the poison and detailing its effects..

To use a poison, the poisoner tears the card, roleplays applying it as appropriate, then informs their victim which poison they have used and its effects. Depending on the circumstances, the poisoner may prefer to ask a referee to facilitate the poisoning.

Two special rules apply:

• Combat Poisons: Poisons with the combat keyword have a standard damage or effect call, so that the subject can take the effects without requiring the poisoner or a referee to convey them.
• Passive Poisoning: If a character adds a poison to a drink, applies a contact poison to their victim’s personal possessions etc., the poisoner must remain within sight of the drink to facilitate its effects, or request a referee to remain. If the poison is left unattended, it is assumed to have lost effectiveness.

All poisons can be resisted with the skill Resist Poison, even magical poisons.

Common Poisons

Beggars Poison	Fool's Draught	The Shakes
Bitter Kiss	Itching Powder	Tongue-Tying Tincture
Blinding Powder	Sleeping Draught	Truth Potion
False Balm

Disease

Diseases are common in the world of Renewal, especially flourishing in large cities and places ravaged by war. The powerful healers of the warhost tend to stamp out disease when it arises, but when people travel from nations around the world to gather in crowded camps, infections can all too easily spread.

Disease Traits

Every disease has a contagion level, which represents how easily it can be contracted.

• Highly Contagious: The disease is contracted after 10 seconds of physical contact or 1 minute of close proximity (i.e. within about 5ft/1.5m).
• Contagious: The disease is contracted after 1 minute of physical contact or 5 minutes of close proximity.
• Mildly Contagious: The disease is contracted after 3 minutes of physical contact or 15 minutes of close proximity.
• Not Contagious: The disease is only contracted by a single method (e.g. bite or claws); casual contact with a victim will not transfer the disease.

Other features are detailed in the disease descriptions.

Common Diseases

Capricious Rot	Grinning Fool
Corrupted Wound	Magebane
Fungus Skin	Trembles

Magical Diseases

Grave Rot

Lycanthropy

Curing Diseases and Poisons

Poisons and diseases with instantaneous effects do not need to be cured – the effects (usually damage) can be healed normally. But if their effects linger for any length of time, they may be cured, as described here, in order to end the effects early. And permanent poisons and diseases must be cured to end the effects.

There are several routes to curing diseases and poisons, depending on the specifics of the affliction and the circumstances.

Cleaning Wounds

Any non-magical poisons or diseases inflicted by a single weapon or claw attack can be cured instantly by cleaning the wound.

This can be done via the spell Cleanse Wound or via field surgery by a surgeon at a cost of one bandage and one charcoal.

This doesn’t require the healer to know what disease or poison the patient is afflicted with.

Diagnosis

If there is no wound to clear – or the wound has already been healed – but the effects continue, a healer must determine what disease or poison their patient is afflicted with in order to heal it.

The spell Diagnosis, or the equivalent surgery ability, will reveal what disease or poison someone is afflicted with, along with its effects (including a disease’s contagion level) and whether it is likely to be fatal. If it isn’t a standard disease or poison, they will recognise it if they encounter it again.

They don’t have to perform a diagnosis every time – if they have a group of patients with the same symptoms, for instance, they may decide to diagnose one patient and assume they’re all suffering from the same thing. Of course, they may be wrong, and at risk of wasting their healing!

Curing

Once a healer knows what disease or poison their patient is suffering from, they can attempt to cure it. There are three standard methods.

• Corporeal Magic: Any corporeal spellcaster can heal any non-magical disease or poison with a single casting of the spell Cure Disease or Purge Poison, respectively. They must specify which disease or poison they are curing.
• Surgery: A surgeon with the Physician skill can surgically treat the most common diseases at a cost in work units and ingredients with the Cure Common Disease procedure. They can also research cures for non-standard diseases.
• Alchemy: An alchemist with the Antidotes skill can improvise an antidote to any non-magical poison with health-giving ingredients.

Other approaches exist, of course: an alchemist can research reliable antidotes to specific poisons (or curative potions for specific diseases), ritualists can cure them in the circle, etc.

Magical Diseases and Poisons

Some rare magical diseases and poisons are sustained by an independent force, such as a curse or the will of a god, and cannot be dispelled by normal means (e.g. by the spells Cure Disease or Purge Poison) alone.

Conditions for dispelling a magical affliction vary in difficulty or complexity – as simple as “dispelling the effect under moonlight,” or as challenging as “brewing a potion from the tears of a stone, the shadow of a cloud and the hair of a snake.” These conditions may be revealed by various means, including ritual divination, plot interaction, the Analysis rite, etc.

Example

Winter’s Lament is a magical blade venom that puts its victim into an unwakeable slumber. It cannot be purged until the wound has been bathed with a flask of Pure Water into which three “Sun Berries” have been crushed.

In the event a magical disease is in play, there should always be a referee in attendance to convey any relevant effects or to oversee efforts to cure them.

Note: Magical diseases and poisons can be resisted normally; the restriction only applies to curing them if not resisted.