The Plague Campaign

A discussion on a Facebook group about Plague Campaigns piqued my interest. In it there were people talking about how they’ve run plague campaigns and the usual discussions of how societ will break down and blah blah blah. I gave my typical opinion and viewpoint where I don’t believe that a magical society really has to worry about these types of things because Magic and centuries of curative spell items and so on and so forth. Numbers were thrown around, references were made, and a grand debate was had. It was a wonderful discussion. It also inspired me to have another spark of an idea for a campaign that will likely never see the light of day. I also have an Pathfinder Adventure Path to look into called “Curse of the Crimson Throne”, specifically the 2nd book because it apparently breaks down the numbers in a very meaningful way. (Something like a city of 18000 people might have between 12-20 Clerics capable of casting Remove Disease at a time and maybe 180 Divine casters total)

The idea has to exist in a high-fantasy world like the Generic DnD/Pathfinder world. The specifics don’t matter much, but it must be a D20 based system for this to work. The society is a properly outfitted and prepared society where magic exists quite as clearly as science exists to us. This is because humans act like humans and recognize useful tools, even if they don’t fully understand the tools they’re using they will continue to use them and find new ways to improve their lot in life. In my opinion this means that humans will do everything they can to ensure that they can do the best they can to prevent bad things from happening (more or less). In this case it means that someone will use magic to prevent plagues from breaking out.

Imagine if you will a world where magic is real and there is a deity along the lines of DnD 3.X’s Pelor who is dedicated to healing people and preventing outbreaks of disease. The god grants people very real and very measurable amounts of his own power that his faithful can directly use to influence the world. They can fashion magic wands, rings, potions, scrolls, and various other implements that have the ability to help stave off diseases, bolster people’s immune responses, or just remove the disease entirely. They can create wondrous magical fountains that could be capable of performing these deeds for them too and provide it to those who come to their temple. This is in addition to other magics they’ll have at their disposal, like scrying magic that would allow them to detect where a disease is about to strike, or detect who is infected and who isn’t.

Some people countered my thoughts on those with “these are higher level clerics that would have to do this” “there’s no way there’s enough of them to do that” “why would they waste their time, money and spiritual energy (read: xp) on those things”. Which are legitimate points if you’re talking about people thinking rationally about their own benefits; not a millennia old religious order dedicated to the prevention and curing of disease. You look at real world example where our religious leaders aren’t able to coat themselves in glowing magical armor by reciting a prayer and what real humans sacrifice for their religions based upon faith alone. We argue about the existence of deities because we don’t see real, measurable results like “Remove Disease” “Call Lightning” or “Animate Dead”. Imagine what people in the real world would do if their god rewarded their faith with access to a couple 0-level spells. Hell, Jesus displayed abilities equivalent to an 8th or 9th level cleric in a 3.X setting and we proclaim him to be the son of God imagine the world if your region’s Catholic clergymen could perform that stuff on a daily basis.

My point is, that when I look at a potential for a plague campaign there has to be more wrong than there just being a plague that exists. Religions like those dedicated to Pelor would have stockpiles of items with Spell-Trigger completion (that would allow lower level casters to use a spell like Remove Disease) while constantly making a new supply, active plans for dealing with outbreaks, Scryers and Healers working around the clock watching for plague, permanent magical artifacts at their temples that provided some type of healing or disease resistance, monthly cleansing rituals at the temple, and countless other measures that we might not be able to comprehend because we live in the real world. In order for a disease to cause a plague or have a major outbreak would require something different to happen with the disease.

If a disease is to cause an outbreak it either needs to be unusually virulent (Bubonic Plague is “only” a DC17, easily within the power of a low-level caster to help out with), magical in nature (very possible because microbial evolution is a thing. Just think about MRSA and other treatment resistant diseases), or allowed to spread in some way by nefarious people for nefarious purposes.

And now that this groundwork is established, here’s where things get interesting. The campaign idea starts with the PCs being members of one such religious order. They are tasked with taking care of a potential outbreak of some disease. They are sent off by their order into a district quarantined per their standard rules, but something is wrong. Maybe the disease is spreading in an abnormal pattern, or its resists all magical treatment, or maybe something is actively trying to stop them from curing the sick. Eventually the disease will have to escape from the confines of the quarantine and maybe something else is discovered about the situation. Maybe the order’s stockpile of Remove Disease Wands was stolen, broken, or disenchanted. Their magical fountain may have been smashed. Maybe their god disapproves of the city and is damning it for its sins. Is it the work of a doomsday cult? A lich? A mutated bacterial infection that has gained hive-mind sentience? SO MANY OPTIONS!!!

The PCs don’t even have to be just Clerics and Paladins either. Churches have use for all kinds of people with a variety of skills. Maybe a nun used to be a rogue in her pre-convent life. The paladins may be supplemented by regular Fighters and Knights. Oracles and Bards could be there performing their normal functions. Alchemists could Easily supplement the healing supplies. The trips out to cure diseases and help the down trodden could easily be construed as pilgrimages and evangelizing. What better way to convert people than by performing good deeds and curing people of The Plague and promising them further protection by attending your sermons?

For the first time ever I think I actually would want to play a Cleric…

PS: Upon further reading it appears that the spell Remove Disease grants no future immunity to a disease. So if you catch a virus it appears that Remove Disease will cure you but doesn’t allow your body to produce anti-bodies against future exposure to the disease. Interesting but useless trivia!