Dracoshift Flu (5e Disease)
From D&D Wiki
Dracoshift Flu[edit]
Contracting Dracoshift[edit]
Only humanoids can be afflicted with Dracoshift. Avian and draconic races, such as Aarokokra, Kenku, and Dragonborn, are immune; along with religious initiates of a draconic deity, who may instead bestow it as a blessing upon their faithful.
Most people contract Dracoshift from other infected, but the disease originally comes from the Wyrmweed plant. Dragons find Wyrmweed's flavor delectable, but any humanoid (besides those immune) who consumes it becomes afflicted with a random strain of Dracoshift Flu. Only knowing that it was their favorite snack, Dragons offered it one night at a banquet for their humanoid friends. They politely ate it, but nothing happened immediately. From this the disease spread all over the globe.
Effects[edit]
There are 10 strains of Dracoshift, corresponding to the 10 types of Dragons. The type a creature is afflicted with determines the color of the grown scales, claws, and wings, as well as the breath weapon.
Stage 0: Transmission
1d4 days after a creature is afflicted with Dracoshift, the disease activates. When another humanoid comes into physical contact with the afflicted, they must make a DC 19 Con save or be afflicted with Dracoshift. 1d4 x 3 days after it activates, the disease progresses to stage 1.
Stage 1
You can no longer spread the disease. You begin to suffer a stabbing pain in the tips of your fingers, as your fingernails sink into the tops of your fingers. Then, your fingernails grow into claws, causing more intense pain. After this happens, you gain a claw attack: STR+prof to hit, d10 +STR slashing + d6 damage of the breath weapon type. Your pinkie fingers recede into your hands, and your other fingers grow larger to compensate. Every time you use your claw attack, it counts as 30 minutes toward the next stage.
Stage 2 (12 hours after stage 1)
Your gums begin to ache as your teeth grow larger and pointier. Your face elongates. All of your hair falls out. You begin to grow scales all over your body. After about two hours, you are completely covered in a thick layer of scales. Your armor class becomes 17 if it isn't higher already. Your ears recede into your head, and you grow short horns.
Stage 3 (2 days after stage 2)
Your muscles begin to bulk up. By the time this stage is done, they will have doubled in size and weight. Your size becomes medium if it was small or smaller. Your STR score increases by 2, and your CON increases by 1. Your bones begin to strengthen and lighten, in preparation for flight.A fire sac forms behind your lungs, allowing you to use the breath weapon of the appropriately colored Dragonborn. Your digestive and reproductive systems also reconfigure to match that of a Dragonborn. Your weight is now 1.5x and your height is 1.2x. For all intents and purposes, you are now a Dragonborn. Every time you use this breath weapon, it counts as 1 hour toward the next stage.
Stage 4 (5 days after stage 3)
A stabbing pain manifests in your coccyx. Over about an hour, your coccyx extends about 2-3 feet out along with your skin, forming a long tail. Ridges begin to grow down your back to the tip of your tail. Your shoulder blades fill with intense pain as they start to writhe and stretch away from your back. This excruciating process takes about an hour. When it is finally finished, your shoulder blades and supporting muscles have grown massively, and your shoulder blades have unfolded into large draconian wings with claws on the end. You gain a flying speed equal to your walking speed times 2.
Stage 5 (1 week after stage 4)
Your legs and arms begin to thicken and your neck begins to elongate. Once your legs and arms have roughly doubled in diameter, your feet and toes begin to elongate. When this painful process is over, your feet are 1.5x in length. Your arms and legs shorten until they are about 1/4 of your torso long. Your spine shifts, forcing you to stand on all fours, with the accompaniment of some horrible popping and cracking sounds. Your wings and tail get even bigger. All of your inner anatomy shifts painfully to match that of a Dragon's. Roll a 21 DC Charisma saving throw, on a fail your memories of being anything other than a Dragon are lost; on a success, you retain your mind. Either way, by all accounts, you are now treated as an appropriately-coloured Dragon Wyrmling.
Treatment[edit]
Being a magical disease, Dracoshift is notoriously more difficult to cure in its later stages. If properly identified in its Vector stage, the disease can easily be cured with more physical medicines (work with your DM on this one), a simple cast of dispel magic, healing magic of lesser restoration or greater, divine intervention and the like.
However, once the physical transformation has started, non-magical/spiritual means effectively stop working. A cast of dispel magic can temporarily halt the process for 12 hours, with an upcasted version of a 8th-level spell slot or higher completely halting the transformation. lesser restoration can reverse the process, causing the afflicted to start regressing by a stage, or alternatively by a Paladin expending 25 hit points of Lay on Hands.
Once progressed past Stage 3, Dispel Magic loses its potency, and Lesser Restoration now only halts Dracoshift for a few short hours before it continues progressing. greater restoration is still quite effective at this point, completely halting the transformation, leaving the affected to regress back to Stage 1.
If anyone ever hits Stage 5, the transformation has run its course, and they're now a Dragon. As Dracoshift is no longer considered a disease by this point, only the use of wish, true polymorph or Divine Intervention can return the creature to its original self. However, if the afflicted has completely lost their mind, casting awaken at a spell slot of 7th level or higher can return some semblances of their mind; enabling them to remember bits and pieces of their past life, relationships and such.
Back to Main Page → 5e Homebrew → Diseases
