Illness and Disease
Illness and Disease
As characters travel and interact with alien foods, environments, and species, illness becomes possible. Use the Illness/Disease chart to determine severity and duration. These may not use normal damage penalties; GMs can substitute optional effects. Only one penalty should be selected unless stated otherwise. Effects last for the duration or until treated. Healing difficulties are typically Difficult (A) medicine or Very Difficult first aid (one attempt per day).
Illness/Disease Chart
| Level | Damage Effects | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Mild | 2D damage every 12 hours | 1D days |
| Moderate | 2D damage every 6 hours | 1D days |
| Severe | 3D damage every 3 hours | 1D days |
| Very Severe | 4D damage every 30 minutes | 3D days |
| Extreme | 5D damage every 10 minutes | 5D days |
Armor bonuses do not apply to Strength rolls to resist damage from contaminated water. (Then apply the Illness/Disease Results tables as written: stunned, first wound, second wound, incapacitated, mortally wounded, death.)
Illness/Disease Results
Stunned (Roll 1D)
1. Blurred Vision: −1D to vision-based Search checks; −1D to any Dexterity skill rolls that require sight (blaster, melee combat, dodge, etc.).
2. Painful Stomach Cramps: Movement is reduced by 2.
3. Low-grade Fever: −1D to sneak and hide when attempting to avoid heat sensors.
4. Rash: Distracting itch; −1D to Perception and related skills.
5. Dizziness: −1D to Dexterity and Mechanical and related skills.
6. Extreme Hunger: −1D to Strength and related skills.
First Wound (Roll 1D)
1. Minor Infection: Pick any two results from the Stunned effects.
2. Hallucinations: Visual or auditory hallucinations.
• Visual (seeing spots, etc.): −1D to all vision-based attribute and skill checks.
• Auditory (ringing ears, etc.): −1D to all hearing-based attribute and skill checks.
3. Vomiting: Make a Very Difficult stamina check to prevent vomiting. The attack lasts 1D minutes and reduces all skills and attributes by −1D for 3D hours.
4. Attention Deficit: Make a Moderate Perception roll to access short-term memory (recent orders, weather updates, etc.).
5. Loss of Judgment: Difficulty increases by one level for all Perception-, Knowledge-, and related tasks involving snap decisions or interpreting orders.
6. Allergic Reaction: Difficulty breathing or sudden sneezing for 3D minutes; −1D to sneak or hide for the duration.
Poisoning Other Species (Note)
Knowing what kills other species is not as intuitive. When attempting to poison members of other species, the poisoner must make a Moderate first aid roll (or a Very Easy (A) medicine roll) as above. The poisoner must also make an alien species roll and consult the appropriate table to establish the poison's effectiveness. If the first aid roll fails, the poison is ineffective.
Second Wound (Roll 1D)
1. Infection: Pick any two results from the Stunned effects, and one result from the First Wound effects.
2. Internal Bruising/Bleeding: −2D to Strength to resist damage; must receive medical attention before the illness wears off or the character dies.
3. Fear: Make a Difficult willpower roll every round while in combat. Failure means the character panics and retreats blindly in a random direction. Multiple-action penalties apply to the willpower roll.
4. Increased Aggression: Make a Moderate willpower roll to refrain from attacking any nearby target (friend or foe). Character may not use sneak during this attack.
5. Paranoia: The character believes they are the subject of a conspiracy. Make a Moderate Perception roll to refrain from attacking party members. Multiple-action penalties apply.
6. Extreme Dehydration: −2D to all attribute and skill checks; movement reduced to 5. Character may lapse into unconsciousness.
Incapacitated (Roll 1D)
1. Major Infection: Pick any two results from the First Wound effects and one result from the Second Wound effects.
2. Extreme Paranoia: As Paranoia, but requires a Difficult Perception roll to avoid attacking party members. Multiple-action penalties apply.
3. Respiratory Ailment: Movement reduced to 2. If bacta treatment is not received before the effect duration ends, the character suffocates.
4. Stupor: All attributes and skills reduced to 1D for the entire duration unless the character receives immediate medical attention (Heroic first aid or Very Difficult (A) medicine).
5. Blackouts: If the character rolls a "1" on the Wild Die for any attribute/skill check, they blackout for 1D rounds. During blackout, they fall prone and cannot move, see, or hear.
6. Partial Paralysis: Lose use of a limb (GM discretion or Random Hit Location).
• Paralysis in a leg: movement reduced to 5.
• Paralysis in an arm: Dexterity reduced by −2D.
Mortally Wounded (Roll 1D)
1. Catastrophic Infection: Pick one Stunned effect, one First Wound effect, one Second Wound effect, and one Incapacitated effect.
2. Organ Failure: Movement reduced to 0. Requires immediate medical attention or dies in 5D hours.
3. Psychosis/Dementia: Perception, Knowledge, Technical, and Mechanical attributes and skills reduced to 1D for the duration. Character recovers completely after the duration ends (no permanent mental damage).
4. Paralysis: Completely immobile but conscious. If no medical attention is received before duration ends, paralysis becomes permanent.
5. Blindness: Vision-based skill/attribute difficulties increase by five difficulty levels. If untreated before duration ends, blindness is permanent.
6. Tremors/Convulsions: Seizures inflict STR+1D damage. During seizure and for 1D rounds after, all skills are reduced by −3D (minimum 0D).
• Strength is not reduced for resisting damage; armor bonuses apply in this case.
Death (Roll 1D)
1. Permanent Psychosis/Dementia: Perception, Knowledge, Technical, and Mechanical attributes and skills permanently reduced to 1D; cannot be advanced.
2. Nerve Damage: Dexterity and related skills permanently reduced to 1D; cannot be improved.
3. Coma: Character falls into a coma for the duration. All attributes/skills reduced to 0D; movement 0. Must receive a Moderate first aid (or Easy (A) medicine) once per day or enters systemic shutdown (see below). If stabilized, awakens when duration ends.
4. Tissue Liquefaction: Skin tissues break down, causing extreme pain and bleeding. If not treated with a Very Difficult (A) medicine roll before duration ends, death occurs. Attributes, skills, and movement reduced to 0D.
5. Systemic Shutdown: Irreversible physical damage; cannot survive without permanent medical attention (life support, etc.). Attributes and skills reduced to 0D. In the field, can be stabilized by Heroic first aid or Very Difficult (A) medicine; without required care, death occurs when duration ends.
6. Death: Character dies immediately unless placed into life support or bacta immersion. If removed from bacta or life support, death is instantaneous.
Source: REUP