Findelwald's Diseases of the Planes

[Eldan]

Ah, yes. Clarified.

[Eldan]

Ravidian Vivifex

After my sojourn to the negative energy plane, I very much had a desire to turn my journeys to more cheerful harbours. Employing a technique taught to me by the Lady Nightfade, Triarchess of Adumbrata, over a cup of spiced tea, I molded a passing handful of darkness into eyelenses and made my way through Fire and Radiance to the Positive Energy Plane, folloing rumours that, in addition to the well-known explosive effects of too much vis vitae, there were more longer-lasting effects.
To my shame, I must admit that, though I spent two weeks on the positive energy plane itself, I did not notice any changes until I return to Sigil, so that the beginnings of the disease itself are lost to me. It was only when I sat down to write that my pen jumped out of my hand and ran away, quickly followed by the piece of parchment I had tried to write on. Suspecting a student prank, I tried to stand up and survey the room, only to be tripped by my own shoes trying to untangle themselves from my feet and then fleeing with a barking sound.
What followed was a very unpleasant evening where I could not leave my rooms for fear of encountering any of my many acquaintances while in a state of dishabillé. It was only when I was once again ready to prepare spells of my own that I could start investigating the afflication and finding a cure for it.

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Ravidian Vivifex
Aka Quickening, Clothesbane, Lifebreath

Infection: Magical, from the environment
Save: Will save DC 14
Incubation time: 2d4 days
Damage: None

This supernatural disease has a chance to manifest in anyone who, while on the positive energy plane, was healed by more than ten points of hit point damage by the ambient energy.
After the incubation time, any object weighing 2 pounds or less that is in direct body contact (mostly, this affects worn clothes, but sometimes also tools used during long and complicated tasks) with the patient for more than ten minutes turns into tiny animated object that will immediately try its best to escape from the patient and hide (for worn or held objects, this is usually a grapple check if the patient tries to hold them back). The animation fades after ten minutes, leaving the object once again inanimate.

Cure:
The disease fades on its own after 1d4 times after its initial outbreak. However, it is also cured if the patient suffers any amount of ability damage or drain or level drain. A break enchantment or remove curse effect also cures it.

[Eldan]

So, an idea I had while making notes on a semi-unrelated homebrew on Hades.

On the Hadean Mindset

Many are, of course, familiar with the many wasting, purely physical diseases one may encounter on the Grey Wastes. Of the mental afflications, however, only one is well known, the draining effect that slowly siphons all volution and desire from the target, leaving them to apathy and despair. There are, as one might expect of the Glooms, many others that are rarer, but perhaps just as bad.
I am thankful to my colleagues Mésmera d'Algarnade of the Bleak Cabal and Shahid as-Sachrat of the Tower of Incarnate Pain, the first for offering herself as a test subject, the second for his invaluable services in getting us into and, more imporantly perhaps, out of the wastes alive.
What follows is some description of what we had the pleasure to encounter.

Chains of Pain and Hatred
This affliction we first became aware off on a trek through a copse of charred, screaming trees, searching for the Night Hag known as Lady Bonetwist, who had been recommended to us as a particularly adept scholar of Hadean diseases. It was there that Mésmera stumbled over a root and fell into a slightly caustic pit of quicksand-like ash, also piercing herself rather badly on a small quanitity of inch-long thorns portruding from what I can only assume was a variety of black sea urchin native to those waters.
The disease manifested itself almost immediately. Black patterns, tattoos reminiscent of both chains and thorny vines, began spreading over her flesh, soon covering her entire body quite densely. Apart from that, nothing seemed to happen for several hours.
The next step of the disease manifested mere minutes before what my pocket-modron assured me would have been midnight on the wider planes. Mésmera blinked several times, then professed that she suddenly had a profound urge to strike me with her fist. In the interest of research, I declined to engage in pugilism. Refraining to do so seemed to put considerable strain on Mésmera and after a few minutes of strenuously concentrating on not striking me, her eyes rolled back into her head, and she fell to the ground, screaming and thrashing continuously for the next hour.
The same process proceeded on the next day, though this time, I permitted her a single punch. Doing so seemed to bring her immedate relief, while also having the effect of spreading the disease to myself. It was only thanks to a passing lich soulmerchant and a well-placed bribe that we were finally able to end the disease.

Spoiler

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Chains of Pain and Hatred
Infection: Magical, injury
Save: Will save DC 18 (special: immunity or resistance to disease does not help, this is a mind-affecting compulsion effect). This disease is supernatural and two consecutive successful saves don't end it.
Incubation time: None

This supernatural disease might potentially infect anyone who takes any amount of hit point damage from an environmental hazard of any kind while on the Grey Waste.
Five minutes before midnight on every evening, the target must make another will save (DC 18). If they fail, they immediately feel a deep urge to punch the nearest uninfected creature they can perceive. If they do so (successfully hitting), the creature struck becomes infected and the infected suffer no other effect for the rest of the day. If they succeed on their will save, or do not find anyone to strike, they must make a fortitude save (DC 18) at midnight, or immediately be wracked with terrible pain for the next full hour, falling prone and becoming nauseated for that time.

Cure: At any point before the victim has struck another and thereby spread the disease, it can be cured by application of a simple remove disease spell. A calm emotions spell, applied in the five minutes before midnight and the onset of the pain will delay its effects for one day.
If the victim has spread the disease to any other, they must first honestly apologize to all creatures they have spread the disease to, then be the target of an atonement spell, before the disease can be cured.

[DracoDei]

Interesting one. Somewhat minor(A single punch?) at least on the surface, but very flavorful.
The fact that the targets it would spread to don't get a save to prevent infection, plus the possibility of random encounters (or wise creatures who know about the disease and time it right) in that hour bring make it scary mechanically, and I like the fact that it is subtle in its effectiveness like that.

Refraining to do so seemed to put considerable strain on Mésmera and after a few minuts of strenuously concentrating on not striking me, her eyes rolled back into her head, and she fell to the ground, screaming and trashing continuously for the next hour.

I believe you mean "thrashing" and "minutes".

[Almarck]

Certainly an interesting disease, one that encourages its spreading in a unique way. Gah, imagine what kind of mess that can pull on a city. Roiting might go out of control as people try to escape the pain, even if for one night. The town guard would stand a reasonable chance of being infected just by trying to surpress the incident.

[DracoDei]

Incidentally, is mundane recovery (By making two will saves in a row?) not possible?

[Eldan]

I should add that it is not possible, and also that the disease is supernatural. Also, thanks for the corrections, this was typed up quickly during a lunch break.

And yes, a single punch. I was first considering "a lie" and "an insult" or just that the violence has to be worse every night, but this works quite well.

I like that it's deceptively easy to end the suffering, just for a little while.