Shrinking Sickness (5e Disease)

Shrinking Sickness

Contracting Shrinking Sickness

Certain insects, plants, small animals, aberrations, Sprites, and other creatures can spread this Sickness. When something attempts to infect a victim the victim must make a DC 10 Con save. On a failure, contract the disease. On a success, increase future saves to avoid this disease by 1. Tiny and smaller creatures are immune to this disease.

Effects

At first, this disease does not do anything. Every 1d4 hours, the victim must make a DC 15 Con save or progress to stage 1. Track the total shrunken inches. If a creature is reduced below 4 feet(24 inches) in height, they become Small. If reduced below 2 feet(24 inches) the become Tiny.

Stage 1: The disease begins to spread. Every 2d4 hours, the victim undergoes a brief shudder, and shrinks a miniscule amount. This does not really stack up to anything, and a passive perception of 20 is required for the victim to notice any changes. After 1d6 + the victims Constitution modifier days, the disease progresses to stage 2.

Stage 2: The shudders get worse. Every 2d4 hours, the victim undergoes a longer shudder, and shrinks 0.5 inches. The victim might start to notice clothes or armor being a bit to big. A heavy sword might feel just to heavy. After 1d6s + the victims Constitution modifier days, the disease progresses to stage 3.

Stage 3: The victim begins to shrink at a faster rate. Every 2d4 hours, the victim undergoes a 2 second shudder and shrinks 1 inch. The victim might shrink enough that there armor is to big. Also, every foot they shrink in total decreases there strength by 1. This might result in a great sword or other large weapon becoming to big for them to use, and armor might become unwearable. After 1d6 + the victims Constitution modifier days, the disease progresses to stage 4.

Stage 4: The shrinking continues to accelerate. Every 1d4 hours, the victim shudders and shrinks another inch. After 1d4 + the victims Constitution modifier days, the disease progresses to stage 5.

Stage 5: The shrinking increases yet again. The rate is now 1d4 hours - 1, a roll of 0 becomes 3d20 minutes. The amount is now 1d2 inches. After a number of days equal to the victims Constitution modifier, the disease progresses to stage 6.

Stage 6: The shrinking accelerates dramatically. The victim is no longer shuddering, instead visibly shrinking at a constant rate. Every 1d4 minutes, the target shrinks 1/8 and inch. The victim can no longer resist the disease once entering this stage. Once the target has shrunken down to 6 inches, they enter a Stage 7.

Stage 7: The victim no longer shrinks on a regular basis. They begin to recover. They enter a massive growth period, increasing their size at a rate of 1d4 inches per day. Though, some effects never fade. Stage 8 begins after the victim has regained their original size.

Stage 8: The victim has traces of the disease left in their body. When in physical stress, the victim must make a DC15 Constitution saving throw. On failure, the disease flairs up, causing a 1 hour period where every 1d8 minutes, they shrink an inch. After the hour is up, the lost inches are recovered at a rate of 1d4 inches an hour. These flair-ups cannot happen multiple times in the same day.

Treatment

The infected creature can focus there immune system and fight back against the disease. While concentrated, the afflicted can make a DC X Constitution saving throw to avoid shrinking whenever a shudder kicks in, where X is the stage of the disease + 8. If the target succeeds on a save, they do not shrink on this shudder, and also gains one charge of Recovery

Each Recovery charge can be spent to avoid a shudder, while 2 can be spent to attempt a recover. When the afflicted creature attempts this, they make a Constitution saving throw. On a 5 or lower, they immediately have a shudder on there level. On a 6 - 10, there is no effect. 11 - 15 causes them to be immune to all shudders for 1d4 days, and the progression to next stage halts until there next shudder. 16 - 19 is same as before, but reverses the effect of the last shudder. 20 or higher does the same but also lowers the stage of the disease by 1. At stage 0, they can make a DC 20 Constitution saving throw to recover. On a failure, they can’t attempt to do so again for 1d12 days. On a success, they enter stage 7 and begin growing back. If they have not lost any size categories, they are cured and ignore the effects of stage 8.

A restoration spell cast with a level equal to the current Stage + 3 causes the disease to jump to stage 7. Alternatively, a wish spell fully restores them. A growth spell, potion, or other effect can nullify the effects of this disease.

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