IDEA: [PLAGUEBORN] or - Typhoid character

[Pheade]

On my way home from work this evening, I had a thought, and forgive me if this has been proposed before (if it has, I apologize! I wanted to write it down quick before I forgot).

I've been watching the player-quest mods like PSQ, and Call of the Wild, and I thought it would be an interesting turn of the game to make {and by 'make' I mean someone else, with scripting/modeling talent} a Typhoid Mary (or Typhoid Manly) player quest mod.

 

Plagueborn would start off as a normal game, until the pc contracts any one of the games less exotic diseases (I don't see it working so well with Vampirism or Lycanthropy). Though diseased, the pc suffers only mild symptoms for a short period before they fade away on their own; s/he has not 'fought off' the illness, but actually absorbed it {almost Nerevarine style}. 

 

In this quest mod I imagine that the player would have several options in regards to spreading the various disease s/he contracts over time, mostly through combat, or with a special quest-only spell that spreads contagions in a radius around the character. When spread in this way, the diseases would be {vastly? moderately?} more debilitating and would noticeably benefit the character in combat. 

 

I'm not certain what else would be involved in this particular idea, but I recently dl'd a realism mod dealing with hunger and disease and it sort-of sparked the whole thing.

 

If anyone wants to take the idea and run with, do so with my blessing! I certainly do not have the talent or the time, currently, to acquire the skills needed to make such a thing happen myself.

 

Thoughts/feedback appreciated, 

Pheade

[sweforce]

You mean a quest like you contracts something, then after returning to places you visited before you see a lot of sick people, warning marks painted of doors, pamphlets blaming minorities, bounties set up on suspected people/monsters. Doomsayers competing with Heimskir in being annoying (quite a feat that), and an epic quest for you to track down the source of the evil that have befell the lands only to find the ugly truth in the very end?

[Pheade]

In Morrowind, the player is infected by a disease called Corprus. S/he fulfills part of the Nerevarine prophecy by contracting the disease, but not actually becoming diseased, and I suppose the root of the idea stems from that.

I play with SkyRe, and the Restoration line comes with some rather useful 'curse' spells, that are actually more like plagues.

What I imagine for this concept is that this version of the Dragonborn is able to contract diseases, but doesn't actually suffer from them - ala Typhoid Mary. 

In terms of combat, I imagine quite a few different scenarios and abilities with playing as the Plagueborn;

 

Breath of Corruption: a lesser power, or perhaps a Plagueborn-only shout earned through gameplay, the player can exhale a cloud of ill-humors during combat; enemies caught in the cloud suffer from stamina and/or health/magicka degeneration (ether one or two effects, all three would be too much - the stamina drain would be the main aspect, to best display the enemy becoming weaker due to the various contagions assailing him).

 

Black Veins: though healthy, a number of deadly bacteria and viruses run rampant in the veins of the Plagueborn. The player may poison his weapon by cutting himself and coating the blade in his own blood; enemies so 'poisoned' become confused and delierious, sometimes falling to the ground as all strength leaves their body, sometimes flying into a berserk rage as the fires of fever burn through their brains. Enemies that deal damage to the Plagueborn may occasionally be splashed with the player's blood in combat; after enough time, or being splashed more than once, an enemy may loose the ablility to use power attacks, or may frequently be interrupted when spell casting, as his concentration is broken by his flesh necrophying before his very eyes. 

 

I also consider an aura to be a viable mechanic; an enemy within range of the aura would suffer various debilitating effects, taking damage or suffer deteriorating stamina/magicka, becoming paralyzed, or severely weakened - having his total health halved for a brief period of time to reflect his body's sudden fragility.

 

 

These are just some thoughts that occured to me the last few days on my commute home. 

 

However, I think your idea is pretty awesome. Can you imagine (SPOILER ALERT!!!!) defeating Alduin only to return from Sovengard to a world decimated by a firestorm of disease and death? THAT, sir, is gruesome. 

 

And I love it.

 

Regards,

Pheade

[sweforce]

Phaede it occurs to me that what you are after are most likely some sort of blessing from Peryite, I suggest you read up a bit on him get what I mean. There is also a chance Namira is involved but Pyryite seem to take prescience here. Perhaps thou, completing the quests for both these deadric princes would cause their blessings to mutate into you suggestion?

 

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Peryite

 

A small point, Typhoid Mary, aka Mary Mallon refused to realize her condition despite being told by doctors at the time. If she had, she would never been locked up since she was essentially just forbidden to work with food. Still, against doctors orders, she took a job as a cook and infected people again. She spent the last thirty years of her life in isolation for that. An asymptomatic carrier of an disease can be a lot less dangerous if they know what they got and are responsible enough not spread it.