By David Youngberg (teferi@hotmail.com) for the Crown of Thorns
System: The number of success determines how severe the cough is. One success would cause a very mild cough while five successes would make the person cough up mucus and sneeze so much he'd have whiplash. The power lasts as long as the thaumaturge wants, but no more than five minutes.
System: The number of successes determines how long the target feels ill. The table below gives the exact lengths.
Successes | Duration (hours) |
1 | 1 |
2 | 3 |
3 | 6 |
4 | 12 |
5 | 24 |
The target has a +2 difficulty on all physical and social rolls (the undead have a +1 difficulty) and cannot run more than half her normal speed.
System: The number of successes determines the complexity and rarity of the disease. The more successes, the harder it is to cure it, and the longer it will last. One success would call for a difficulty of four on an Intelligence + Medicine roll to cure it and will be active for at least 1-3 days. Five successes has a difficulty of eight to cure and it is active for at least 2-3 weeks. The target also gains the disadvantages of the Uncomfortable power, listed above.
System: The vampire requires something the target once handled or touched in the past 24 hours to start the effect. It could be a glass for dinner or a document or even the armrest of a chair. The thaumaturge must touch the object in question and roll Willpower. The number of successes, like the Illness power, determines the complexity and rarity of the disease.
System: This power cannot target any particular person, only a region. The thaumaturge takes something in a relatively good quantity directly from that area -- a handful of dirt, some local food, a native, whateve -- in her presence. If successful, a handful of random people in that area will gain a highly contagious and fatal disease. The disease is usually a new one, although existing illnesses where little or nothing is known about them are fine, too. All the symptoms and natures of the disease are determined by the storyteller. The number of successes determines approximately how long it will take it discover a cure.
1 | One month |
2 | Four months |
3 | Eight months |
4 | One year |
5 | Four years |
A vampire's successes are limited by the number of dots he has in Medicine. For example, a vampire with Medicine 2 cannot start a plague that will take eight months or more to cure.