d20 4e Expeditious Retreat Press Plague.pdf

Plague

Written by Creighton Broadhurst

Cover Art by Jeremy McHugh

Editing by Joseph Browning

Layout by Suzi Yee

Playtesters: Dr. Karen Broadhurst, Andy Hodges, Eric Menge,

and Sam Weiss.

Table of Contents

Foreward..............................................................................2

Chapter One: Plague Genesis ..............................................4

Chapter Two: In Plague’s Grip.............................................9

Chapter Three: Aftermath..................................................13

Chapter Four: Player’s Toolkit...........................................17

New Equipment..........................................................17

New Magic Items........................................................17

New Rituals................................................................20

Chapter Five: GM’s Toolkit...............................................22

A Torrent of Death......................................................22

Skill Challenges..........................................................24

New Templates...........................................................26

New God.....................................................................29

New Artifact................................................................30

New Monsters.............................................................31

Plague Locations.........................................................33

Plague NPCs...............................................................37

Glossary .............................................................................39

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Foreword

he Great Pestilence. The Black Death.

The Great Mortality. Few events in

the history of the world awaken such

feelings of dread, fear, and impending

doom as the arrival of plague.

Plague can ravage whole nations or

continents, devastating populations,

annihilating communities and shat-

tering the rule of law. In the grip of

a truly virulent contagion, economies

crumble, chaos reigns, and society

irrevocably changes as the survivors emerge into a quieter, emptier

world. Particularly savage outbreaks can topple city-states, kingdoms,

and even empires, plunging whole regions into anarchy and war.

Plague is a killer on a truly epic scale, responsible for more

deaths, misery, and suffering than all but the most genocidal and

hard-fought of wars. Even the foulest atrocities of the most energetic

and black-hearted of tyrants pale into insigniicance compared to the

destructive might of the plague.

A society gripped by plague descends into a nightmare from

which death is the most common deliverance. The sick are shut up in

their homes to die, graveyards overlow, neighbors turn against one

another, and parents abandon their infected children to die. Trade and

industry cease as survivors limit their exposure to the aflicted in a

desperate bid for survival. Taverns, pubs, and other places of public

assembly close while those lucky enough to escape infection pray to

the gods for deliverance. In short order, public services – such as they

are – are overwhelmed and collapse. Law and order breaks down,

refuse and the bodies of the dead litter the streets, and the essential

business of the land grinds to a halt.

As the plague rampages through the streets, the aflicted die in

ever-increasing numbers. As is typical in such situations, it is the poor

that suffer the most, dying in their thousands. Those with the funds, or

the means, lee; some already carry the contagion and spread it into the

surrounding countryside gifting previously untouched settlements with

misery, suffering, and death. The rich retreat to their country estates,

pay clerics to provide the much coveted Remove Disease ritual, or

isolate themselves behind high walls, praying for deliverance.

Hysteria, persecution, and bigotry stalk the streets. The strain

of living in such conditions drives many unfortunates mad, while

others seek scapegoats upon which to vent their anger and frustration.

Minority groups and followers of certain gods are both fair game to

such people. Public lynchings and murder become commonplace as

people seek to protect themselves, placate the angry gods responsible

for this terrible pestilence, or take advantage of the chaos to right old

wrongs or use it as an excuse for personal gain.

In the bleakest depths of this nightmare, charlatans offer hope

in the form of expensive elixirs and cure-alls guaranteed to heal the

imbiber, if only the purchaser can afford it. Alongside such odious

individuals the few clerics and apothecaries that have not led labor to

control the outbreak and to cure the infected. Without an understanding

of basic hygiene and virology, however, such efforts are all but useless.

Without restorative magic, most of the aflicted are inevitably doomed

to suffer a lonely, drawn-out, and agonizing death.

Eventually the contagion burns itself out or moves on, leaving

shattered villages, towns, and cities in its wake. The survivors emerge

to a completely different world. In cases of severe plague, the old

social order disintegrates. Fields lie fallow, cattle wander untended,

villages are slowly abandoned, food is scarce, and the survivors’

For four years between 1347 and 1351, the Black Death

stalked across Europe mercilessly savaging villages,

towns, and cities. In its wake, it left a trail of death

and suffering unparalleled in human history until

the titanic battles of World War II six centuries later.

Europe became a charnel house. Over the next hundred

years or so, as successive waves of disease savaged the

continent, millions died either by contracting the

plague or as a direct result of the chaos and social

upheaval that followed. Conservative estimates place

Europe’s death toll at somewhere between one-third

and one-half of its entire population, while other, more

apocalyptic accounts suggest that up to 75% of the

population died. In China, during approximately the

same period, the population fell from approximately

120 million to 60 million.

quality of life plummets as they struggle merely to survive. In such

conditions, opportunists are quick to strike, staking claim to, or buying

up at ludicrously low prices, vast swathes of land. Such developments

can spell the death knell of the established order as the balance of

power within society shifts.

Plague is also a catalyst of change, and some good can come

from the unspeakable suffering and torment. Epidemics and

pandemics are often followed by periods of unbridled creativity and

advancement. Technological and magical advancements improve the

lot of the common folk, while society often enjoys something of a

renaissance as the old ways are cast aside in favor of new traditions,

laws, and values. Wealth and land are redistributed into fewer hands,

meaning that after some short-term deprivation the general standard

of living increases dramatically. During such times of change,

opportunities abound for social advancement or general enrichment.

When the plague struck, PCs could be but landless adventurers no

different than many thousands of others roaming the land. After the

plague relinquishes its ebon grasp, however, they could have risen to

prominence perhaps becoming great merchants, renowned champions

of good, or even nobles holding high title and great estates.

Three Caveats

Plague explores the effects of a powerful contagion upon a fantasy

medieval society and provides GMs with the tools for using a plague

as an exciting backdrop or as the driving force in a campaign.

However, when reading this sourcebook, the GM should keep three

things in mind.

Caveat One

This sourcebook is not an in-depth treatise on the epidemiology of

plague. Rather it streamlines the concept of plague to enable fast and

enjoyable game play without bogging the GM down with such details

as the exact species of rat believed to carry the plague-carrying leas or

the reason why one kind of plague mutates into another.

For example, during the Black Death different varieties of the

plague – bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic – had different mortality

rates, infection methods, and origins. While the exact bacterial

differences between the various types of plague is no doubt fascinating,

this level of realism is not required, or even desirable, at the game

fail often leaves a bad taste in the players’

mouths. That said, plague is also an agent

of change. If you want to shake up your

campaign or prepare for a new game

system or edition, a plague can be just the

thing to explain the mechanical changes

“in game.”

How To Use This

Supplement

To make full use of Plague , the GM

needs the D&D 4 E P LAYER ’ S H ANDBOOK ,

D&D 4 E D UNGEON M ASTER ’ S G UIDE ,

and D&D 4 E M ONSTER M ANUAL while a

players needs only the D&D 4 E Player’s

Handbook . A short glossary (page

39) presents brief deinitions of the

plague-speciic terminology used in this

sourcebook.

This supplement comprises ive chapters

each of which deals with a separate aspect

of plague. Throughout the work are

sidebars with germane historic incidents

illustrating the effects of plague in the

real world as well as helpful tools to use

in conjunction with this work.

• Chapter One presents information on how plagues

spread across a continent.

• Chapter Two provides a view of how the onslaught of a

virulent plague affects a society.

• Chapter Three details the aftermath of a plague; how it

changes the structure and ethos of a society, and so on.

• Chapter Four presents new equipment (both magical

and mundane) as well as new rituals.

• Chapter Five details a number of fully leshed out

encounters and NPCs for use in a plague campaign as

well as presenting ive plagues; new monsters; templates;

and a new god – The Mottled Lord – and his fell artifact,

the Ebon Shroud .

table. Having an outbreak of septicemic plague, widely regarded

as the deadliest of plagues, because “that’s what would happen in

the real world” is not the best reason to inlict such an outbreak on

your campaign. While it has its place in the game, a contagion with a

mortality rate of nigh 100% and the ability to kill its host in less than

24 hours is not something to which you would necessarily expose a PC

(short of terminally stupid where the PC deliberately exposed himself)

unless you are seeking to transition your campaign in a major way.

After all, falling before the mighty blows of a ire giant king, while not

ideal, is acceptable to many players while dying because you failed at

a number of very hard Endurance checks is not.

Caveat Two

A certain amount of controversy in academic circles currently

surrounds the exact nature of the Black Death. The overwhelming

weight of scientiic argument blames leas carried by rats as the

carriers of the deadly contagion, but Susan Scott and Christopher

Duncan in their book Return of the Black Death recently argued that

the Black Death was in fact an outbreak of haemorrhagic plague. This

sourcebook does not attempt to weigh the validity of these opposing

arguments. Rather, it shows how you, the GM, can introduce a plague

into his campaign in an exciting and quasi-realistic fashion. For

GMs who seek even more versimilatitude, or who want to do further

background reading to make their own minds up on the rights and

wrongs of the various arguments, a list of good books on the subject

appears in Further Reading.

Real World Knowledge vs. Game Play

It is possible that your players’ real-world knowledge

may inluence their in-game actions; for example,

when the plague strikes perhaps “inspiration” strikes

and they start to slaughter all the rats they can ind

in a given community. This isn’t necessarily a disaster

because the GM is under no compulsion to have the

plague savaging his campaign world be an exact

carbon copy of the historical plague. Thus, while it

is a generally accepted fact that bubonic plague was

spread by leas carried on rats, in the GM’s world it

could be the leas of the common housecat or dog. In

rural communities, horses, cattle, or even pigs could

carry the deadly leas. Indeed, in a fantasy campaign

dense patches of rotten air or a rare alignment of

celestial bodies could spawn plagues. Remember this

is a fantasy game; don’t let real-world biology dictate

in-game fun (unless it suits your tastes!)

Caveat Three

A GM should be extremely careful before unleashing a plague into

his campaign world. While initially it can seem like a really cool idea,

if left unchecked through PC inaction or quest failure, it can destroy

years of careful campaign building or require a massive amount of

deus ex machine on the part of the GM to put matters right. Consider

the implications carefully as having NPCs save the day after the PCs

Chapter One: Plague Genesis

lague can enter a society through

one or more of the following routes:

migration, natural disaster, trade, war,

or magical attack. In many cases,

a combination of events triggers

an outbreak. For example, perhaps

an earthquake or volcanic eruption

triggers an outbreak of plague, which

the survivors then transmit to visiting

merchants. Those merchants return

home and spread it to their families

who in turn infect their acquaintances. As the tide of infection ripples

outwards in many cases it is impossible to tell how a plague takes hold

in a given family or neighborhood. This chapter discusses each of the

infection methods in turn.

With the exception of a magical plague deliberately introduced

into a society, plagues do not simply spontaneously erupt. Naturally

occurring plagues (that is those not created by magic) often start out in

some remote area of the world before slowly migrating across nations

and continents savaging all in its path.

As the irst rumors swirl around taprooms and marketplaces

describing terrible events in far off lands, few show any real concern.

After all, how could events hundreds, or even thousands, of miles away

affect life in the locality? In societies where most people live and die

without travelling more than a score of miles from their home, nations

hundreds or thousands of miles away seem impossibly distant and all

but unreachable. However, as the plague approaches a community,

the level of concern it spawns increases. While it may take many

months – or even years in some cases – for a plague to reach a given

community, there is little that the populace can do to prepare for its

assault beyond leeing. Before the plague itself reaches a community,

survivors of villages and towns already ravaged by it may arrive like

harbingers of doom. In many cases, this is the means by which plague

enters an otherwise uninfected settlement. The lurid tales of death and

suffering on a terrifying scale serve to further inlame the populace’s

fears perhaps leading to riots, persecution, or mass hysteria.

In general, when considering how to introduce plague into your

game world, keep in mind that a contagion (with the exception of those

created by magic) requires a host to transport it. This principle remains

the same whether the plague has a particularly long incubation period

(in which case humans can carry it long distances before succumbing)

or if it kills relatively quickly (making its progression across a continent

far slower). In many cases, both humans and a particular kind of animal

(or its leas) can spread the disease. Of course, plague travels much

further if it manages to take hold in a seaport. In campaign with high

levels of magic, hubs of magical transport – locations with permanent

teleportation circles and such like – serve to spread plague over huge

distances extremely quickly.

Although the plague progressed quickly through the

countryside, a wave of people leeing its effects often

gave warning to communities in its path days, or

even weeks, before it actually arrived in all its malign

glory. With little practical preparations to make, those

dwelling in its path had little to do but wait, worry,

and pray.

In European history, the main conduit for plague

into mainland Europe was the siege of the Genoese city

of Caffa in the Crimea by a Tartar army in 1347. While

the plague almost certainly entered the continent in

other places around the same time, the savage ighting

in the Crimea served as the catalyst for the plague to

burst into Europe.

While no complete accounts of the ighting survive,

legend has it that the siege of Caffa saw one of the irst

ever instances of biological warfare when the Tartars

catapulted corpses of their plague-dead into the city.

The survivors of that terrible conlict took to their

ships and retreated to the European mainland bring

with them tales of slaughter and death. Unbeknownst

to them, they also brought with them plague.

When oficials made the connection between

Genoese ships sailing from Caffa and the outbreak

of plague they took strenuous measures to expel

said vessels from their harbors. In many cases, their

precautions came too late with plague beginning to

ravage the population shortly afterwards. Expelled

vessels wandered the Mediterranean moving from

port to port until inattentive harbormasters granted

them entry or until all their crew were dead. Some

of the vessels were found washed up and abandoned

along Europe’s coastline while others disappeared into

legend, their fate unknown.

by the enemy or destroyed. Displaced persons, deserters, or stragglers

wander the countryside looking for food or a safe place to rest

War also disrupts the essential business of the harvest and brings

trade to a virtual standstill (both of which can lead to widespread

starvation.) Additionally, numerous studies have shown that high

levels of stress - endemic during times of war – can depress immune

systems, making such individuals more susceptible to disease.

Land-based Trade

Trade is often the engine that spreads plague. Well-established

trade routes running through peaceful areas provide the means by

which infected persons or goods can travel long distances in relative

safety. Only merchants trading highly portable, valuable items such

as precious gems, spices, and so on use magic to speed their travel.

Those dealing in heavier or bulky items, though, travel only at the

speed of a horse-drawn cart. This means that plague travels slowly and

predictably along such routes, devastating one village or trade stop at

a time before spreading out along the network of secondary roads and

tracks to shatter surrounding communities.

Such slow progress gives plenty of time for communities in the

path of the plague to prepare for its arrival, if anyone actually heeds

the warnings carried by surviving travelers. However, many if not

War

War is an eficacious catalyst for plague. Not only are the agents of

war are a mobilized force that travel long distances, war has a habit of

creating many of the ideal conditions in which a contagion can spread.

Dead bodies litter the countryside as skirmishes and battles drive large

bodies of people back and forth across the landscape. Other people

are forced to live in conined spaces when attackers besiege castles or

settlements. Buildings – and in exceptional circumstances entire villages

or towns – are damaged or destroyed and food supplies are either seized

In medieval Europe, it took 8-12 months to travel from

China to the Crimea, but within a decade the plague

had visited almost every region of Eurasia. Although

the plague slowly crept across the sparsely inhabited

steppes, once it reached Europe’s densely populated

heartlands it raced through the populace.

A Magical Society: Silk Road by Suzi

Yee presents in detail how a trade route operates,

what factors engender great overland trade routes,

what elements accompany their existence, and how

caravans function on historic and fantasy terrains.

A Magical Society: Silk Road (also produced by

Expeditious Retreat Press) is available as a book at

FLGS and at www.XRPshop.citymax.com, as well as a

PDF from www.YourGamesNow.com.

stampede of peasants intent on carrying away anything of value. Even

when the irst eager looters clamber on board they may not realize

that something is terribly wrong. As they move through the vessel,

however, they inevitably come across bodies of the plague dead,

possibly becoming infected themselves. Even then, unobservant,

stupid, or desperate looters may still remove trade goods, personal

possessions, and so on from the ship further increasing the chance of

their own infection.

all communities on a trade route rely on the travelling merchants

for their very survival. Such communities – except in the direst

circumstances – are unlikely to turn away a seemingly healthy

merchant and his entourage. The demand for rare and exotic goods

and the greed of merchants may stymie oficials from enacting any

truly effective countermeasure until too late. Even when the danger

is fully recognized, avarice or vested interest may foil attempts to

enable sensible or effective preparations. There are always those in a

community ready to bend or break quarantine for monetary gain. Once

the plague gets a foothold in a community there is rarely anything that

can be done to halt the ensuing onslaught of death and suffering.

Migration

Migration can carry plague extremely long distances. Wherever large

groups of people move, disease lurks ready to strike, especially if the

migration results in the co-mingling of people from two different

germ pools. In particular, if the migrating people have a full or partial

immunity to the disease they carry, they can travel incredible distances

before they succumb to the contagion (if they ever do).

Migrating peoples, particularly if they travel in large numbers,

have an imperative to reach land upon which they can settle quickly;

thus, they move as swiftly as possible. Large groups can also strip

bare the countryside of food and other consumables. Such activity is

a powerful incentive for them to move quickly to their destination, as

is the ire of those already dwelling in the area whose livelihoods they

endanger. Remember, migration is often the impetus and result of war,

which further improves the conditions in which plague revels.

Migration is also an excellent way to introduce new races and

cultures into your campaign. A new race could suddenly appear in

the borderlands of an established kingdom after leeing some terrible

enemy or cataclysmic natural disaster. Migration, for the same reasons,

can also happen across the planes giving the GM the opportunity to

introduce more exotic races into his campaign (such as tielings or

dragonborn) if he so wishes.

Sea-based Trade

The passage of merchant vessels is far less predictable than that of

land-bound traders. Once a vessel sets sail it can essentially end up at

almost any port. Vessels carrying plague, however, tend to be limited

to ports within relatively short sailing distances. This is because there

is a limit to how far an infected crew can sail a ship before there are

not enough healthy sailors left to crew the vessel. In such a closed

environment, it is virtually impossible to escape infection for any

length of time.

Travelling aboard ship, plague can leapfrog along a continent’s

coastline possibly even infecting multiple ports before infection

renders the crew incapable of further progress.

Even when the crew is all dead, the ship can still infect others.

Vessels run aground are traditionally a rich source of loot for those

living in nearby communities. News of such a ship likely results in a

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