My pc will encounter an illness in a village on Dusk they are "checking". Had a hard time coming up with one that is not "Nurgles Rot".
Input welcome!

Cold Fevercough
Starting like the common cold, the cold fevercough rapidly turns into a very heavy cough with cold sweat. A little later, the sick person gets the shakes and the coughing is accompanied by the sputurn(?correct word: german " Auswurf "?) of a greenish slime.

Infection:
Droplet Infection. In in contact with infected persons, an ordinary* toughness test must be passed each day (modified for "taken measures" and severity of the contact).

Duration & Course:
The illness takes its course over (14-TB) days. Each day, the sick person must take an ordinary toughness test. Failure results in the loss of 1d5 points of Toughness (+1 for every level of failure). After the first test is failed, the sick persons suffers from fits of painfull coughs, the described sputurn and shakes, resulting in a (5-TB) penalty on all roles (second stage of the illness). After three failed tests, the sick person is prone to rapid exhaustions (Toughness test after TB-Minutes of strenuous activity and after every combat; if failed, a level of fatigue is gained) (third stage of the illness).
If the figure is in the second or third stage of the illness, three tests passed in a row will bring the figure back to the previous stage.

Recovery:
Once the illness is over, a number of toughness points equal to figures TB is recovered after each day.

Sputum looks correct to me

Have you considered using Fatigue as the main effect of the illness? Sleep allows them to get rid of one less level than normal, 'cause they can't sleep properly with all the coughing, and the negative effects of the Fatigue will be enough to make the PCs take notice of thier ailment, I'd think

Hi Tuillo,

thanks for the reply.

"Talking fatigue": I wanted something "heavier" then fatigue lost. The illness is part of an adventure of mine.I wanted the toughness effect since it makes it possible to die from the illness. In my adventure, a cult of nurgleth is underway. Those praying their corrupted prayers do not suffer the second and third stage of the illness and gain a +20 bonus on their roles... but the illness does not end, they are or infective (+10) and they suffer corruption of the soul. And, if they day, they will rise again after seven days as plague zombies.

Had to post that's a very cool illness- its brutal, but its lenient after its run its course. There are so many ways to rob acolytes of their hard earned stats, but no ways to give them back, so its cool that the toughness lost actually comes back gradually once they are healed: won't leave a bitter taste in their mouths after the adventure's done.

Name: Swamp fever
Infection: The most common carriers of a swamp fever infection are the bloodsucking insects of the swamp. Anyone travelling through a swamp for at last three hours or who lives to close to one can get the infection. Normally, each day the conditions are met and the pc are exposed to a suitable amount of bloodsucking insects (GM´s choice) the (n)pc in question has to pass toughness test. The difficulty ranges from +30 (mild exposure to such insects) to +0 (midst of a swamp in the insects main season). Boni can be granted for protective measures against insect (unguents, special clothes, etc.). Sleeping under a suitable netting grants +10 or +20 (depending on the exposure during the day).

Course of the illness:
Each day after the infection, the pc will feel weak, hot and/or cold, will sweat and suffer from other symptoms which might include shakes, impaired senses and perhaps hallucinations. The (n)pc in question has to check toughness+10 each day (+0 if not resting and –10 for exhausting activities!). On a failure, s/he suffers one point of temporary attribute damage and another for every level of failure. In addition, s/he will lose one level of fatigue and another one for every two level of failure (one during noon, others 1d5 hours after standing up and/or after noon).
If a test is failed by five levels or more, the pc suffers from 1d5 fits of hallucinations over the course of the day. Role on the table for Hallucinogen Effects (core rules p.137) and apply the results for

Swamp fever lasts for (8-TB) days after which stats are regained one point per hour.

Option: Heavy/Light Swamp fever
Feel free to tinker with the difficulty of the toughness checks involved.

Option: Wasting fever
Every 5th (or 3rd!) point of toughness damage is permanent.

Option: Nightmare fever
The fits of hallucinations start as soon as three or more level of failure occur. The n/pc in question even might need to pass an easy(+30) willpower check each day with hallucinations or gain one point of insanity for that day (due to the very vivied form of the experience).

Name: Dampmite cough
Infection: The infections is not due to a virus or bacteria, but due to vermin known as “damp mites”. These are very tiny, flying creatures the life on decaying/rotting plant and/or textile material and are quiet common on Dusk. The small mites are light enough to be carried away by a breeze, so movement in an heavily invested area will result in clouds of dampmites. The infestation is automatic, breathing through clothing or other protection helps. However, recognizing an infestation before the coughing starts is rather difficult [Perception –10; n/pc has to be in the know about dampmites (CommonLore-Dusk+30)].

Course of the illness: Depending on the severity of the infestation, the coughing starts after one to three days the n/pc spend in the infested area. While the mites are hardy, they will eventually die inside a body. The cough will last between one to three days after the n/pc stopped breathing dampmites. Till then the n/pc suffers must pass a toughness+30 check each day. If he fails, the coughing is so bad that he is –3 on all non-combat physical test and his movement counts as one point lower for the purpose of long term travel. Otherwise, he just coughs a lot (easy test for willpower or toughness if he is not to cough for a period of [matching attributes bonus x2] minutes

i gotta say gregarious i love your posts as much as luddite or that old varanius tybalt, they are litterally chock full of great stuff. might i add the suggestion that if you want inspiration crack open a medical book. they would probably be the best source and you can look for particular types of diseases you want based on symptoms or causes. Just made sense to me.

Thanks a lot, doctor . While the advise is really good, I don´t think I will pick up any (other) books soon. Just so much things to do... and one does not need -that- many diseases, after all

At the moment, I use a copy of the 2nd edition WFRP core rules and one of the supplements ("Barony of the Damned"). Very worthwhile reading for a DH player, espcially the rules for illnesses.

If I will end up with more illnesses, I gonna "clean the gramma mess" up and wrap them into a pdf for download.

Again, thanks for the "thumbs up", this kind of moral boost is alway welcome to me.