Sneezing in AD&D

[webmeistro]

This is in response to the excellent story Keep on the Borderlands, by Smokeyghost, wherein I offered to write up a set of rules for sneezing in AD&D. Since I have too much time on my hands, here goes.

Sneezing in AD&D

It happens to us all. One round you're sneaking down a dusty corridor, casting a spell, or fighting a band of orcs; the next you're sneezing uncontrollably, trying desperately to maintain concentration on what you were doing. This aims to be the definitive guide for players who wish to make their characters have to battle with their noses in addition to ogres and dragons. I'll be using version 3.5 for this because... um.... I just will.

Characters in AD&D can sneeze from irritants, allergies, disease, magic, and if the DM is feeling particularly cruel, for no reason at all.

Irritation:

An irritant is any nonmagical substance in the air that causes sneezing in most creatures with noses, such as dust, soap powder, pepper, or alchemical sneezing powder. If you wish to use a substance that makes only some people sneeze, use the rules for allergies instead.

When the PCs are exposed to an irritant, determine how severe the irritation is, based on how potent the substance is and how much of it the players are exposed to. Then, make a Constitution check at the appropriate DC.

Trivial: DC 5

Walking through a mildly dusty room

Someone across the table from you is grinding pepper

Mild: DC 10

Walking through a moderately dusty room

Someone sitting next to you is grinding pepper

Using soap powder to wash clothes

Moderate: DC 15

Someone threw pepper at you

Searching a fairly dusty room

Severe: DC 20

Fighting in a very dusty room

Sneezing powder released into the air

Insane: DC 25

Sneezing powder thrown at you

Failing the roll causes the player to sneeze once. Failing by 3 or more causes a short sneeze attack. Failing by 5 on an exposure of at least mild causes a longer sneezing attack, while failing by 7 or more on an exposure of at least moderate causes uncontrollable sneezing.

One sneeze: All rolls and AC in this round are at -1. If the character is hiding, Moving Silently, balancing, or anything ongoing that requires dexterity, they make an immediate reroll at -2. Any spellcasting with a verbal component requires a DC 10 + spell level Concentration check.

Sneeze attack: The character sneezes D4+1 times this round. (the number isn't really relevant.) Rolls and AC are at -2; hiding and being silent require an immediate check at -4. Spellcasting requires a DC 15 + spell level Concentration check, and all other Concentration checks are at -4.

Prolonged sneeze attack: As above, for D4+1 rounds. Roll secretly and do not tell the player how long it will last.

Uncontrollable sneezing: The character is sneezing helplessly. He cannot attack, cast spells, or concentrate on spells. He is also effectively blinded, cannot remain silent, and Listen checks are at -10. The only action he can take is a single move action at half speed. When caused by an irritant, his lasts for 1D4 rounds, then becomes a major sneeze attack.

Theria the thief is skulking through a mansion, looking for valuables. She spies a safe mounted in a wall behind a tapestry, but as she shifts the heavy fabric aside, dust billows into the air. The DM rules this to be a moderate exposure. Theria has a Constitution of 12, giving a +1 Con modifier. She rolls a 11 and adds 1, yielding 12, 3 below the DC of 15, so with a twinge of horror, she suffers a minor sneezing fit. She must immediately make a Move Silently check at a -4 penalty to avoid being heard by the patrolling guards, and if she tries to pick the lock this round, she does so at a -2 penalty.

If not already sneezing, the character rolls every round. In the interest of saving time, if it isn't really important whether a character sneezes at a particular point, the DM should just fudge the rolls.

Allergies:

Upon character creation, the player and/or DM should either choose the character's allergies, or roll for them. Players are most commonly allergic to pollen, dust, animal fur, and household chemicals, but the DM should feel free to make the character allergic to more unusual substances as well (possibly not telling the player until the first exposure).

If you wish to do it randomly, roll percentile dice and add the character's Constitution. (the whole CON score, not just the modifier)

1-15: Severe allergy

16-25: Moderate allergy

26-40: Mild allergy

41-00: Not allergic

Trivial: DC 6

A vase of flowers is across the room.

There's a cat somewhere in the house.

Mild: DC 12

A vase of flowers is next to you

A cat is rubbing against your leg

Outdoor on a mildly pollen-y day

Moderate: DC 18

You are carrying a bouquet of flowers

A whole family of cats are rubbing against your leg

Outdoors on a moderately pollen-y day

Severe: DC 24

You're in a greenhouse filled with flowers

You're fighting a tiger

Insane: DC 30

You're in the middle of a field, flowers as far as the eye can see

You're fighting a pack of tigers

If an allergy is minor, reduce the level of exposure by one, negating trivial exposures. If the character has a severe allergy, increase it by one, raising the DC of an insane exposure to 35.

Roll on the table above, except that allergy attacks tend to last longer than sneeze attacks for regular irritants. Minor sneeze attacks last 1D3 rounds, major attacks 2D4+1 rounds. Uncontrollable attacks last 1D4 rounds, then the player makes a DC 15 Con check each round; success reduces it to a major attack. If the allergen is no longer present, the DC is reduced by 2 each round.

At the DM's choosing, allergies can also cause watery eyes, runny nose, and itchy skin. Severe allergies may cause rashes, blisters and hives.

If a character is allergic to something that is an irritant on it's own, roll on both tables.

Mordrac the Maleficent is casting a Fireball spell at a group of orcs, when his hayfever flares up. He is outdoors on a day with moderate pollen, but he has only mild hayfever, which works out to a mild exposure. However, he is rather sickly, with a Constitution of 7. He rolls an 13 and subtracts 2 for a total of 11, missing the DC of 12, so he sneezes once. Fireball is level 3, so he must attempt a DC 13 Concentration check to avoid fizzling the Fireball.

Diseases:

The most common disease that causes sneezing is the common cold. Characters in the general vicinity of someone infected with a cold make a DC 10 Con check after a minute to avoid catching it. Make a DC 15 check after 10 minutes of exposure, and a DC 20 check after a solid hour. Spending a full 8 hours with someone with a cold makes catching it inevitable.

A character with a cold has -1 Constitution and needs 50% more sleep. More importantly, at any given time, someone with a cold has a 1 in 20 chance of sneezing. This is a single sneeze with no Con check. Again, if it doesn't really make a difference whether the character sneezes at a particular point, the DM shouldn't bother rolling.

The valiant ranger Acenia didn't let a little thing like a cold stop her from tracking down a nest of bugbears that have been preying on local travelers. Since it didn't really matter during the time she was following their trail, the DM didn't bother rolling. When the fight begins, the DM rolls every round. She's lucky the first two rounds, but on the third, the D20 comes up 1. Acenia sneezes once, taking a -1 penalty to attacks and AC that round.

The DM should feel free to invent other diseases.

Magic:

Some spells may cause a character to sneeze. Some of them duplicate the effects of irritants, while others directly stimulate the sneeze center of a character's brain. The rules for these are listed in the spell itself.

Just because:

DMs who are really sadistic sticklers for realism may have characters sneeze out of the blue. When not fighting or casting a spell, a character has a 1% chance each minute of requiring a DC 10 Con check to avoid sneezing once. Again, don't roll unless it's relevant.

How not to sneeze:

At the DM's discretion, if the player has some advance warning, holding a finger under one's nose gives a +2 bonus on the rolls. This is obviously impossible in situations such as fighting or spellcasting, or when wearing full-face helmets.

If a player recognizes an irritant before inhaling it, she may hold her nose shut to reduce the level of exposure by two. Again, this cannot be done under some circumstances.

If not caught by surprise, the character can try to hold them in by sheer strength or willpower. Substitute Str or Wis for the Con check. This cannot be done while spellcasting, concentrating on spells, or anything requiring intense concentration, and can only be done once per hour. Using Strength is painful, doing damage equal to the player's Str modifier if successful.

The character can try to stifle her sneezes, making a Str or Wis check at at +2 after the initial Con check is failed. This makes the character sneeze quietly, removing the penalties to Move Silently and the need for an immediate check. Again, this can be done once per hour, and Str deals damage equal to the modifier.

Having emptied the safe, Theria sneaks into another room of the mansion. Scouting the room from the doorway, she succeeds in her Spot check and sees a vase of roses on a table. Since the pollen has not reached her yet, she is able to pinch her nose shut. She walks up to the table; standing next to a vase of flowers counts as a mild exposure. Theria is severely allergic to pollen, which increases the level by one, but holding her nose shut drops it by two, resulting in a trivial exposure. She rolls an 8 and add 1 for Con, beating the DC of 6, and doesn't sneeze. However, the DM rules that standing next to the roses makes her eyes water. Picking the lock on the small jewelry box on the table, she suffers a -2 penalty for that plus a -2 circumstance penalty for only having one hand free. Master thief that she is, she still succeeds.

Heading for the exit, she hears a guard coming and ducks into the shadows, succeeding on her Hide and Move Silently checks. However, the guards have left the window open, and the warm evening breezes carry pollen in. The DM decides that this is a trivial exposure, but her severe allergy bumps it up to mild. She rolls 10 + 1 = 11, triggering a single sneeze.

Desperate to avoid being caught, she tries to stifle it with raw strength. Her strength is 15, for a +2 modifier. She rolls 14 + 2 + 2 = 18 against the original DC of 12, sneezing a soft "chhhsss!" Her veins bulge with the strain, taking 2 hp damage. The guard passes by her none the wiser, and she slips off into the night.

Multiple sneezes: Some people never sneeze once. The DM can decide that a character is a multiple sneezer, turning every single sneeze result into a minor fit. If you want to do it randomly, each character has a 10% change.

Tiny/intense sneezes: some people make a soft "ish! ish!", while some people can't stop from inhaling a lungful, throwing their head back, and blasting out a hurricane. At character creation, the DM should either roll a D20 on the table below, or choose for the player.

1-3: Tiny

4-18: Average

19-20: Massive

Tiny sneezes inhibit the player less; what would normally be an incapacitating fit only carries the penalties for a regular fit, a regular fit only causes -1 on all rolls, and a single sneeze can be shrugged off. On the other hand, Massive sneezes cause the player to take -4 on all rolls from even a single sneeze, while any sneezing fits make any action impossible. Tiny sneezes are quiet and huge sneezes are loud, overriding the roll below.

The players should use caution using this rule; tiny sneezes make the sneezing system almost toothless, whereas massive sneezing can be a crippling penalty. In an scenario where allergens are common, the GM should consider giving a character with massive sneezes an advantage to compensate, such as reducing a demihuman's level adjustment by one.

Loud/silent sneezes: some people sneeze like mice, some rattle the windows. Again, the DM can either roll on the following table, or choose for the player.

1-4: Quiet

5-17: Average

18-20: Loud

Quiet sneezes are effectively silent, with no penalty to Move Silently and no extra check. Loud sneezes automatically cause moving silently to fail.

Taking 20

Players cannot take 20 while constantly exposed to an irritant of moderate or higher. If the character tries to take 20 while exposed to a trivial or mild irritant, roll once; if the character sneezes more than once, she cannot take 20.

Sudden/delayed sneezes: Some people sneeze without warning, while some go "aaah, ahhhh, aaaahhhh!" for what seems like forever. As usual, roll a D20 or choose for yourself.

1-4: Sudden

5-16: Normal

17-20: Delayed

Characters who sneeze suddenly cannot try to hold back or stifle. If the player has a delayed sneeze, roll a D6 whenever the character would sneeze due to irritants, allergies or disease, but not magic. On a 1, 2, or 3, the sneeze is delayed by that many rolls. Concentration checks are at -1 while waiting for a sneeze to come. The character may make a Str or Wis check as above during that time to hold back the sneeze.

Other races:

Dwarves and half-orcs tend to have big sneezes, adding +2 to the roll for loudness and +1 to the roll for intensity.

Gnomes and halflings have quiet sneezes by human standards, subtracting 3 from that roll.

Elves are much less likely to be allergic to pollen and animal fur, getting -20 on that roll for full elves and -10 for half-elves. At the DM's discretion, this does not apply to half-elves who were raised away from the forest.

[Via]

Oh wow. Two of my favorite things combined, and in such an awesome way, too. Seeing this, I'm almost tempted to start writing up some sneeze-inducing spells, or maybe a few bestiary entries for monsters that could make full use of your system.

[a_nonny_mouse]

Only sort of vaguely related, but: some of the art for 3rd ed/3.5 etc is by someone who always seems to draw characters with red noses. I mostly prefer other roleplaying games, but I enjoyed the heck out of those gamebooks visually because of that.

[SexyGodlikeHair]

Ugh, I can only dream about playing D&D in this format, and getting...rather into the Roleplay

[Anonymouse]

THIS IS PERFECTION

[webmeistro]

Minor Sneeze

Level: 0 Sor/Wis/Brd (cantrip)

Components: V,S

Casting Time: 1 standard action

Range: Medium – 100 ft + 10 ft per caster level

Target 1 person

Duration: instant

Saving Throw: Will negates

Spell Resistance: Yes

A single person of level 5 or less sneezes once unless they save. This cannot affect someone in a fight or casting a spell.

Lesser Nosetickle

Level: 1 Sor/Wis

Components: V,S,M

Casting Time: 1 standard action

Range: 20 ft

Target: up to 6 creatures in a 20ft burst

Duration: 1 rd + 1D4 more rounds

Saving Throw: Fort negates

Spell Resistance: Yes

Up to six target creatures with no more than six levels/hit dice total sneeze uncontrollably for one round unless each one saves. Uncontrollably sneezing creatures are flat-footed and cannot attack, cast spells, or maintain concentration; the only action they can take is a single move action at half speed. However, they are are not considered completely helpless (they cannot be given a coup de grace). After one round, they continue to sneeze moderately for 1D4 rounds each, taking -2 on all rolls. The material component is a feather.

Peppery Cloud

Level: 2 Sor/Wis

Components: V,S,M

Casting Time: 1 stand action

Range: Medium (100 ft + 10 ft/lvl)

Effect: 20 ft radius cloud

Duration: 1 round/lvl

Saving Throw: none

Spell Resistance: no

This spell creates a billowing cloud of a finely ground peppery substance. Anyone within suffers -2 to-hit due to watery eyes, and it counts as a Severe irritant. Strong winds will move the cloud; in the absence of wind, the caster may move it 10 ft/rd by maintaining concentration. This can be made permanent with a permanency spell. The material component is a handful of pepper.

Nosetickle

Level: 3 Sor/Wis

Components: V,S,M

Casting Time: 1 standard action

Range: 20 ft

Target: up to 8 creatures in a 20ft burst

Duration: 1 rd + 1D4 more rounds

Saving Throw: Fort negates

Spell Resistance: Yes

This is the same as Lesser Nosetickle, except that it affects up to 8 creature with up to 15 total levels.

Sneezy Geas

Level: 4 Sor/Wis

Components: V,S

Casting Time: 10 minutes

Range: Touch

Target: 1 person of level 10 or less

Duration: until broken

Saving Throw: Will negates

Spell Resistance: Yes

This spell forces a single person to do the caster's bidding. The caster must touch the target for the full ten minute casting time, so it can only be placed on a willing or restrained target. A willing target may voluntarily fail his save.

Upon completion, the caster gives a set of orders to the target, who must be able to understand the caster. These can be as simple or complex as desired. The target does not actually have to follow the instructions, but if he doesn't, he immediately begins to sneeze. At first the sneezing is no worse than a bad cold, but after 24 hours, he sneezes once every minute. After another 24 hours, he is sneezing D4 times per round; after another, he is sneezing uncontrollably, taking 1 CON damage per hour until dead. The sneezing stops as soon as the subject makes a sincere effort to undertake the task.

Orders that are obviously suicidal (go fight an ancient red dragon at level 5) break the spell immediately. Orders that are impossible (dig through solid rock with your bare hands) allow the target a new save every 24 hours with a +2 cumulative bonus. Otherwise, an geas that has an end ("Kill the mayor of Overbrook") lasts until completed, while an ongoing order ("Follow me and protect me from all harm") allows another save every month with the same +2 bonus.

Greater Nosetickle

Level: 5 Sor/Wis

Components: V,S,M

Casting Time: 1 standard action

Range: 20 ft

Target: up to 12 creatures in a 20ft burst

Duration: 1 rd + 1D4 more rounds

Saving Throw: Fort negates

Spell Resistance: Yes

This is the same as Lesser Nosetickle, except that it affects up to 8 creatures with up to 25 total levels.

Baleful Sneeze

Level: 6 Sor/Wis/Clr

Components: V/S/M

Casting Time: 1 standard action

Range: 50 ft

Target/Effect: 1 person of up to 15 hit dice/levels

Duration: special

Saving Throw: Fort negates

Spell Resistance: No

Only an evil wizard or cleric would consider casting this foul spell. The target is overwhelmed the the urge to sneeze, gasping for two rounds (treat as Dazed). At the end of the second round, if the target fails a fortitude save, she sneezes massively, taking 3D6 damage. The target must then make a Will save at -4: if this fails, she has sneezed her soul out her nose. The soulless body collapses to the ground, taking 1 CON damage per hour.

As a standard action, the disembodied soul may make a DC 15 Will check to re-enter her body. However, if the caster has a specially prepared crystal, he may forfeit his next standard action to try to force the soul into the crystal. Make an opposed Will check; if the caster wins by 3 or more, the soul is trapped in the crystal; if the victim wins by 3 or more, she returns to her body. If no one wins by enough, the soul remains disembodied and may try again next round.

If caught, the caster may keep the soul in the crystal as long as he likes. Shattering the crystal will return the soul to the body if it is with 50', and is alive or is in the process of being raised; otherwise the soul will return to its home plane (treat as if dead). Alternately, the caster may place the crystal in the target's mouth and cast Sneezy Geas; if this is done, the crystal shatters, the soul returns to the body, and the unfortunate victim gets no saving throw or magic resistance against Sneezy Geas.

The material component is rare powdered herbs worth 100GP. In addition, the crystal must be inscribed with mystic runes in gold filigree, costing 1000GP.

Symbol of Sneezing

Level: 7 Sor/Wis

Components: V/S/M

Casting Time: 10 mins

Range: 0 ft

Target/Effect: 1 symbol

Duration: special

Saving Throw: Fort negates

Spell Resistance: Yes

This spell functions the same as Symbol of Death, except that when triggered, all affected creatures sneeze uncontrollably for as long as they are within 60' of the symbol and for 1D6x10 minutes afterwards. Once activated, the symbol remains active for 10 minutes, then fades.

The material component is mercury, phosphorus, and powdered diamond worth at least 1000GP.

Power Word: Sneeze

Level: Level 7 Sor/Wis

Components: V

Casting Time: 1 Standard action

Range: Medium (100 ft + 10 ft/lvl)

Target/Effect: 1 creature with 150 hp or less

Duration: see below

Saving Throw: None

Spell Resistance: Yes

Uttering a single word, you cause a single creature to collapse into an uncontrollable sneezing fit. The duration depends on the creature's hit points:

1-50 hp: 1 hour

51-100 hp: 1D6 minutes

101-150 hp: 1D6 rounds

[SmokeyGhost]

I like it

[Via]

And it keeps getting better. Again, great work.

[gryffin]

Oh. Wow.

Makes me want to go back to AD&D