The diseases in the Dungeon Master Guide don't necessarily fit on Athas. Do you have suggestions for unique athasian diseases and how they spread? I'm not thinking mechanics, but concepts. One example of such an athasian disease is the Wind Sickness in Raam.
Shelter in the desert is extremely limited due to minimal plant life. The need for shelter is an individual's physical and mental need for security. When one does not or can not find this sense of security after a while (the seemingly endless horizon will probably do that to you if you've been out long enough), then one starts to panic and eventually they develop a fear of open spaces. Physically and emotionally drained this poor bastard will wander the desert desperately, feverishly seeking shelter. But chances are they will die.
To avoid agoraphobia, an individual needs time to acclimatise. The average person needs about a week (two our world, but we're pansies compared :P ), if at all possible. Arguably most people on Athas are already acclimatised to the desert's unforgiving ways, but I'd counter that most people don't wander open desert twenty-four-seven; they live in relative shelter.
Suffrage from agoraphobia is preventable with a little help from your friends, or, companions. What you call them depends on your personality type I guess. All they really need to do is be sound enough of mind to be able to read the signs of this fever, prevent you from sneaking off up over the next dune any and every chance you can get, and keep watch until you are acclimatised enough to cope with the tax that the desert tolls.
Considering most (90% or more) of the known lands of Athas are desert, I'm gonna guess that most everyone is rather acclimated to living in deserts. Sorry, but Agoraphobia doesn't happen in RL deserts much to begin with, and people potentially prone to it will most likely die before it's effects occur. Also, I think the idea was a biological disease, not a mental disorder.
Athas deserts make up about ninety percent of the known land?
Ours are what, twenty?
Wouldn't the percentage of people prone increase?
And like I said (I'm running the risk of veering this thread off topic and I apologize), most Athasians live in cities at least generally protected against the ravages of the desert, or permanent/semi-permanent structures as found in villages, etcetera.
People huddle for a reason: security. Both from the elements and from monsters, be they perceived or deadly real. Given the range of terrors that Athas has to offer, I'd say that the average person would be that much more inclined to find, and remain in, shelter. To be caught out in the open for an extended period of time...I know I'd develop a bit of a fear.
Also, I think the idea was a biological disease, not a mental disorder.
My bad I guess. I'm just not politically correct enough to see a difference between the two. ;) :D
id recommend combing through egyptian or assyrian records or descriptions of disease. usually attributed to supernatural occurence in one way or another, but some good ones nonetheless. http://www.indiana.edu/~ancmed/egypt.HTM has a listing of medicinal practices as well as some described ailments of the old world.
A disease affecting those who have breathed too much defiler's ash. Creates grey skin blotches, areas of sterile flesh that turns grey. The flesh is slowly being replaced by ash.
Rare, easy to cure with above-minimal ressources.
Athas deserts make up about ninety percent of the known land?
Ours are what, twenty?
Wouldn't the percentage of people prone increase?
And like I said (I'm running the risk of veering this thread off topic and I apologize), most Athasians live in cities at least generally protected against the ravages of the desert, or permanent/semi-permanent structures as found in villages, etcetera.
People huddle for a reason: security. Both from the elements and from monsters, be they perceived or deadly real. Given the range of terrors that Athas has to offer, I'd say that the average person would be that much more inclined to find, and remain in, shelter. To be caught out in the open for an extended period of time...I know I'd develop a bit of a fear.
At the same time, in harsh conditions, people adapt to the environment, eventually, this adaptation becomes passed genetically. I don't think there's rash outbreaks of agoraphobia throught the Sahara or Middle East. I know there's not in the American Southwest - in fact, there tends to be a higher percentage of hermits, or people who isolate themselves from continuous contact with other people there. The important thing here is the adaptability of people to their environment. It's those who don't, or can't adapt that are usually the ones who result in such conditions.
Now - the "canonical" view or Athas is that there are the main population hubs (the City-States), but then there also are Villiages dotting the landscape, which are significantly smaller in size, and people from those most likely wouldn't be affected by agorophobia. Further, there are the Thri-Kreen and Elvish nomadic cultures, the Aarakocra generally avoid the ground (and cities) if they can, Pterrans generally like their small communities, etc. Saying that any one mental disorder is predominant on Athas would be not accounting for all the possibilities in this matter.
My bad I guess. I'm just not politically correct enough to see a difference between the two. ;) :D
You don't know the difference between a bacterial/viral infection/contagion, and a mental disorder? Wow... Nothing Poitically Correct about figuring out that difference.
City-based people would probaby tend towards agoraphobia in the deserts; destert-based peoples would probably tend towards claustrophobia in the cities...
That is a good point. As such, with those things, I'd tend to have Aarakocra, Thri-Kreen, and Elves be most prone to claustrophobic responses. And people who have solely existed within a city, could very well have agorophobic reactions too.
The word itself designates an abnormal fear of open or public places, so there's two sides to this phobia.
Type 1: Fear of public places. This ain't gonna happen in athasian cities. Fear comes from change, and citizens have been living all their lives in the cities. Rather, you can imagine citizens fearing being alone. A Urikite might, I say might, freak out if it found himself in the middle of the desert, alone.
Type 2: Fear of open spaces. Athasian cities are as open as modern day small towns; its not New-York or Tokyo. Its not ultra-crowded like Mexico City or Indian cities either; a citizen stepping into the area surrounding the city-state per say would not find much difference: there are far less people, yes, but a lot of citizens and slaves work outside the city walls and are as confortable in a crowd as in a silent field.
Besides, athasians won't work inside their homes, or go from their home to a closed-up factory by walking through streets shadowed by looming skyscrapers...
The inside of athasian homes is hot and poorly ventilated; it will probably be better to be outside of a building during the day (but go inside at noon). Its not like athasians have TV, the internet, books, and all that stuff so that they can stay at home and never go outside...
When asking yourself if agoraphobia would happen to athasian people, just review modern day citizens of far worse metropolises: they don't freak out when they go outside of it.
We actually had a character get an STD from a "lady of the evening" in the game, and had to bribe a Templar 500cp to cure it and to not say anything about it to anyone ( our legions would have lost a little respect for him if they found out). This happened in Draj, and the disease was referred to as Pelota Rot. Later, we dealt with the source of the infection in a very decisive manner (kidnapped and sold to the Obsidian Mines in Urik). The moral of the story, if you have a disease and know it, don't continue to render intimate services to roaming adventurers. This was very early in the campaign, because we're all level 50+ now, and the chance of a disease sticking is slim to none.
It's those who don't, or can't adapt that are usually the ones who result in such conditions.
Exactly. So in a world like Athas, where "only the strong survive" why wouldn't such a condition exist?
I don't buy the "every-body's from Krypton" bit. And I'm pretty sure that's not what Dark Sun is all about. Weakness has to exist.
Personally I think you think I came up with this idea with game mechanics in mind; to apply this rule to all, and this would be silly. And not what I meant. It's just conceptual flavour. And if you're not cool with it, then you're not cool with it.
I just think that Dark Sun needs a few more debilitating factors, just to justify its boast that "only the strong survive".
Saying that any one mental disorder is predominant on Athas would be not accounting for all the possibilities in this matter.
I never said this, or did I suggest it.
You don't know the difference between a bacterial/viral infection/contagion, and a mental disorder? Wow... Nothing Politically Correct about figuring out that difference.
Pal, it was a joke. Hence the wink n' grin. Sad that I gotta say man...
What else?
I'm flabbergasted that some believe living in athasian cities would generate agoraphobia.
Who said this? I never. I suggested the idea that agoraphobia would exist on Athas, and the majority of its sufferers would come from places where shelter is, dare I say?, taken for granted.
And Korvar suggested:
City-based people would probaby tend towards agoraphobia in the deserts; destert-based peoples would probably tend towards claustrophobia in the cities...
...to which I agree.
I don't think he (she?) meant to include all people; I took to it be a generalisation slash add-on.
Besides, athasians won't work inside their homes, or go from their home to a closed-up factory by walking through streets shadowed by looming skyscrapers...
The inside of athasian homes is hot and poorly ventilated; it will probably be better to be outside of a building during the day (but go inside at noon). Its not like athasians have TV, the internet, books, and all that stuff so that they can stay at home and never go outside...
The concept of shelter is not necessarily limited to physical structures. Society is the greatest giver-deceiver of a sense of security, and when the crowds are taken away, when there is no corner to mask ones trail or building to provide shade, when scowling guards fade to the back of the mind, when you know for certain that help will not be on the way...that's when the idea of exposure grows. And to somebody who spends the majority of their time in a city (or a protected camp, and from an athasian point of view) this growth can lead to such anxiety, such irrational fear of "what's out there?" that suddenly the idea that they would develop symptoms similar to what I described in my first post isn't so far-fetched.
When asking yourself if agoraphobia would happen to athasian people, just review modern day citizens of far worse metropolises: they don't freak out when they go outside of it.
Average modern day citizens and the average athasian are just incomparable. We worship money, they worship elements and sorcerer kings. We are at the top of the food chain, they are probably smack dab in the middle. Some of us believe in monsters, they know for fact that monsters exist. We had one Kreskin, they have schools of 'em. :D
Should I continue?
Point is, try thinking of agoraphobia (I do use the word for lack of a better) from an athasian point of view, not from a modern one. If you think modern, then you're not thinking Dark Sun. It's that simple. Good points made, but the real world mentality dulls them. In my honest opinion.
That, and I just offered an idea. And that's more than some in this thread. ;) :D
And please, let's try to keep this thread from goin' off its tracks...
As for the spread of disease outside of these areas it is most important to think about vectors of transmition and incubation times. Blood born pathogens with long incubation times could easily travel far and wide and could be transmited in the bloody mess of combat or if food were inproperly prepared or eaten raw. I would imagine however that creatures who frequently eat raw food would have a greater resistance to contracting disease in this fashion. As for diseases transmitted through saliva, one thing really stands out to me as a likely way to get sick: Sharing waterskins (a common ocurrance in the desert), especially with people you don't know or have just met. If you've been lost in the desert for days without a drink, I don't think you'll even think twice about drinking any water offered to you, unless its really obvious you shouldn't drink it.
A little off the track of transmissible diseases, but other conditions such as grey lung (from breathing in silt) and skin cancer would probably be very common as well.
It's also kind of interesting to think of how Templars would react to a plague. Oddly enough, curing the disease would probably be reserved for nobles, traders and the like, while for the rest, dealing with a disease would involve quarantines and slash-and-burn approaches. Whatever causes the templars the least amount of headache. Or maybe they really would use their divine powers to cure the sick. I dont know...
Hm.... There's a plot in there...
Just a passing thought...
It's also kind of interesting to think of how Templars would react to a plague. Oddly enough, curing the disease would probably be reserved for nobles, traders and the like, while for the rest, dealing with a disease would involve quarantines and slash-and-burn approaches. Whatever causes the templars the least amount of headache. Or maybe they really would use their divine powers to cure the sick. I dont know...
Most Cities have elemental temples as well, so the clerics if they were good aligned and charitable would probably try to save what poor souls they could. It would all depend on the nature of the temple and it's clerics however.
I agree with your view on the templars. They probably wouldn't be very concerned about the poor, unless they were just worried about all their slaves dying. The SK might be concerned about the Dragon's Levy if the dragon were still alive at that time.
Again, not unique, but maybe they'll help trigger something in someones head.
