La Plaga Viviente
This ominous tale begins when FEV was released into the atmosphere during the Great War. Unable to affect humans, bacteria, viruses, and protozoa were not so lucky. A large variety went through complex evolutions and have become a plague upon the wasteland ever since. Some are completely invisible to the naked eye; others breed in pools of mucus or infest an area with distorted fungal blooms.
One such abomination finds its way into open cuts or sores, starting off as a rather untreatable infection. The pain soon disappears however and is replaced with a numbness and mild euphoria. The wound heals quickly but a lump is left where there was exposed flesh. Oddly enough this lump does not shrink or get softer in time, instead it steadily grows and becomes increasingly more dense.
The mutated germs leech nutrients from the body like a parasite, using the ill-gotten energy to begin a more evolved life of their own. Slowly but surely, organs, teeth, eyes, and bones begin to form into a sentient being that casually hitches a ride off the side of its host's body. This creature entwines itself in the organism it has implanted on and begins to reproduce as soon as it taps into the blood. Before long an entire colony has taken root so deeply that medical intervention is impossible.
Once this happens, there is little hope for what started out as a human being. Chemicals are released that slowly shut down the brain's natural responses to fear, effectively preventing self-treatments that could potentially change their fate. When finally large enough to survive outside the body, they detach and scamper off into the wastes, leaving behind a gaping hole of radioactive puss and blood clots. Their wounds are further at risk at infection, starting their life cycle all over again.
- Radaway- If taken within the first twenty-four hours, all traces of this infection will disappear. Reduce the chances of doses taken after this period by 10% for every five hours that pass. Once the three-day mark has been reached, the patient will require surgical intervention to prevent further growth.
- Surgery- After the third day the mutated teratoma will have embedded itself into the soft tissues and will be quickly working towards penetrating the blood vessels so they can use the body's veins as a reproductive highway. Careful surgery must be performed to debride the infected tissue away from the delicate system, then directly flushed with a diluted mixture of Radaway and Stims to ensure that the area is sterile and healthy functions have been restored. If the wound was already so deep that blood vessels were cut to begin with, or more than six days have elapsed, surgery is no longer possible.
- Fasting- When all else fails, or you just want to halt the problem the 'old fashioned' way, you can starve your body of nutrients and deny the parasitic microbes from developing further. This is not a comfortable process and consists of at least seven days without any sustainable amount of food or water. Small amounts of water are necessary to survive this treatment, however if you put more in than is coming out, you risk prolonging your suffering and giving the germs a chance at a resurgence.
Treatment
Stats
Hordeling
As radroach on page 350 of the core rulebook, however they cannot take the sprint action, have their HP reduced to 3, and receive double damage from Blast and Persistent damage. When encountered in combat or in an environment, all organic creatures are susceptible to infection. Roll 1cd even if no damage was taken, 2cd if damage was taken, and 3cd if Radiation damage was taken. Any effects result in an infection of La Plaga Viviente on the area of the body where injuries occured (if applicable). Creatures not affected by radiation are immune to this disease but still take Physical damage from attacks.
Wandering Horde
In some rare cases a host of this disease will make the mistake of feeding one of their 'talking tumors'. While gathering energy from outside sources the parasites cease feeding on the victim and begin a symbiotic bond, although this highly favors the mutant teratomas. Releasing more and more chemicals to hijack the natural processes of the brain, they take near total control of the host body and force it to further attempt to spread the infection.
A Wandering Horde is treated much like a suit of power armor in the sense that each body part has its own HP of 20. It cannot be killed through normal means, and instead must be destroyed by reducing each of these body parts to 0. Injuries can only be caused with 7 damage or more in one attack, in which case the entire limb is severed from the body. If a limb is severed and not reduced to 0 HP, 1d6 Plaga Viviente will crawl out from it and join the fight. The Wandering Horde has 3 Physical DR, 1 Energy DR, and receives double damage from Blast damage, Persistent damage, and any attack that follows the 'Take Aim' minor action, (as they are assumed to be aiming at the creatures within).
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