Canonfire! Forums-viewtopic-Gnarley Elf Clans

Tue May 02, 2006 5:15 am Wyrm of Syrul

In ONW 1-07: Hunters Hunted, Kerrigan introduces a new affliction called the "Wyrm of Syrul" - a terrible worm that crawls inside wounds and causes divination magic to reveal false information through misdirection.

Q0: Are there any other sources for the Wyrm of Syrul?

Q1: Would you consider this a parasite or a disease? Rules-wise, does it even make a difference? I'm not aware of any rules for parasites, per se.

Q2: Assuming it's a disease, would you consider it extraordinary in nature (a la filth fever) or supernatural? I'm leaning toward supernatural because of the odd "damage" the WoS does. It also helps that the WoS is associated with a deity.

Q3: How would you go about figuring out the DC for the Fortitude save. Misdirection is a 2nd-level arcane spell, if that has any bearing on it...

Q4: What incubation period would you use for the WoS? Would it be immediately effective, like when contagion is cast? I'm thinking the worm should take a least an hour or so to find it's way to the host's brain (or wherever) and dig in.

Q5: How would you quantify the damage, both primary and secondary? Would you apply a penalty to the host's effective caster level on all divination spells? I've never even heard of a disease that does something like this before...

Tue May 02, 2006 5:24 am

The Wyrm appeared only in Onnwal LG modules as far as I can remember (though it's possible the little beast might have crept into a Core mod - though I can't recall). It's an LG creation, so there's no prior Canon reference for it.

It'd be a parasite, rather than a disease - though I don't know if that makes any difference in the rules viz-a-vis diseases, cure disease etc.

I'm not sure about the answers to the other questions - I'm sure that Mr Kerrigan might be able to chime in more knowledgeably.

P.

Wed May 03, 2006 9:54 pm

I just found another reference. SND 02-M03 The Onnwallian Envoy (pg 11) states: "The problem is that no matter what they will tell, divination magic will show them to be liars. They have infected by Syrul’s worm, a magical parasite that distorts any divinations into believing the infected person is lying. Usually it is used to discredit important opponents, but sometimes is also highly useful to make agents look untrustworthy."

So... the whole purpose of the worm is to make the victim look like a liar - nothing more. Makes sense. Hopefully I can either find more source material or someone "in the know" can step up and save me the trouble.[/i]

Thu May 04, 2006 5:47 am

A Worm of Syrul is also used, if memory serves, in another retired Onnwal Regional module, ONW3-03 Glaives Gathering.