Genesis Virus (3.5e Disease)
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| Infection: | Contact or Ingested; See Text |
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| DC: | 15 |
| Incubation : | 1d4 days |
| Damage : | Special (see text) |
It is unknown how the genesis virus was created, but what is certain is that it is not a terrestrial disease. It hails from a distant world which had somehow gotten its way onto earth, and some suspect this is no strange natural mutation but the purposeful and refined workings of a hostile alien race, a genetic bioweapon for an unknown opponent. There are two versions of the virus as well, known as Genesis-Alpha and Genesis-Beta, both which exhibit terrible properties.
En masse, the genesis virus is a vicious black liquid not unlike ferrofluid. It radiates a natural aura of nondetection and seems to generate nonsense data for any indirect detection, such as appearing as both magical and not, transmutation yet also divination and yet both being living, dead, and never being alive at all. It can infect on contact, but is much more effective if ingested and processed by the body (adding a +5 to it's DC). Those who are infected by the virus begin getting symptoms of cold sweating, chills, fatigue, and blurred vision. They must make a Fort save or take 1d3 points of Con and Wis damage, and have a very short time to live. 1d4 hours after the first symptoms appear they worsen rapidly, taking an additional 1d6 Wis, but restore lost Con and actually gain an additional +8 alchemical bonus to Con. They lose their mind and no longer can recognize friend or foe, and treat all non-infected creatures as hostile. The creature's appearance begins to change and become monstrous, revealing the purpose of the virus. For the genesis virus alters a creature into an aberration.
Each strain of genesis virus is keyed to a different creature of the aberration type. If the creature is not killed or cured, they will continue to take 1d6 Wis damage every 1d4 hours (taking a -4 penalty to the save, canceling out their Con bonus) until they fall into a coma. Once they go into a coma they will transform over the course of an hour until they have become a member of the aberration it is keyed to. All ability damage and bonuses are removed, and the newly forged aberration awakens with the aberration's mindset and a new personality, with dim memories of its former life. These transformed aberrations often sport evidence of their previous race, such as general body structure and small details, but they breed true and future spawn of the transformed being are fully normal forms of their aberrant creatures. The genesis virus can only convert creatures with enough hit dice equal to the aberration it is transforming them into; if the creature has insufficient hit dice they die instead and melt into an infectious puddle of the genesis virus' black goo.
Genesis-Alpha functions on all creatures vulnerable to disease, but Genesis-Beta appears to have been augmented further. It functions only against a creature of a specific type, but does so with a +2 bonus on its save DCs. It can also affect creatures normally immune to disease due to extraordinary or racial abilities, such as Constructs and Undead. Those with supernatural immunity can be affected as well, but they gain a +8 bonus on their saving throw.
Successful Fortitude saves after initial infection delay progression but do not cure the disease. Spells which remove disease only have a 10% chance + an additional 10% chance of removing the genesis virus for each spell level. For example, remove disease is a 3rd level spell with a 40% success rate, while heal, a 6th level spell, has a 70% success rate.
Aberrations are immune to the genesis virus and cannot be converted. It is known that sometimes pupathids are known to carry the virus for injection into their cocooned victims (which counts as ingestion), causing many to suspect the genesis virus is an illithid bioweapon.
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