Roleplaying poison and disease

[Jayde Moon]

In light of Dragonfire's post about roleplaying fear, it made me think of two other afflictions that plague our PCs.

Disease and poison.  What are people's thoughts on how to RP this out?  Does anyone ever try to take into account the source of the disease or poison, incubation periods, potency, etc in their RP?  Anyone have any pet peeves about certain ways some people RP this?  Things people wish others would do more?

Etc.

[9lives]

I'd leave out the bit about pet peeves with other people's roleplay.

[Jackie Blave]

It'd be cool to have poison and disease taken more seriously. I mean, it's easilly cured IG, but I don't think that it's usual for people to walk around with ghoul rot disease or poisoned by spider venom even in a fantasy world.

[Secutor]

Unless you live a two minutes' walk from a forest infested with gargantuan man-eating arachnids.

[Jayde Moon]

My own thoughts tend towards:

• Poison is immediate
• Disease has long term effects

When something hits you and you are poisoned, it makes sense to RP that immediately.  However, if you get diseased, I don't think you start hacking up a lung immediately.  Personally, I wouldn't RP any symptoms until after the first incubation period and another Fort save is failed.

Also, having an idea of what sorts of diseases things give is fun.  Mummy Rot is different from Ghoul Rot, which is different from some disease a snake might infect you with.  RPing minor poisons (-1 to an ability) as being on par with particularly nasty bug bites (which are really painful and annoying but not particularly incapacitating or life threatening) makes sense to me, vice being poisoned by one of those nasty critters that drops your con immediately to -zillion.

[Caddies]

I personally find RPing poison and disease annoying, and seldom do anything except chug a potion or ask immediately for one if I don't have any.

BBRP.

[Porkolt]

My own thoughts tend towards:

• Poison is immediate
• Disease has long term effects

When something hits you and you are poisoned, it makes sense to RP that immediately. However, if you get diseased, I don't think you start hacking up a lung immediately. Personally, I wouldn't RP any symptoms until after the first incubation period and another Fort save is failed.
 
Also, having an idea of what sorts of diseases things give is fun. Mummy Rot is different from Ghoul Rot, which is different from some disease a snake might infect you with. RPing minor poisons (-1 to an ability) as being on par with particularly nasty bug bites (which are really painful and annoying but not particularly incapacitating or life threatening) makes sense to me, vice being poisoned by one of those nasty critters that drops your con immediately to -zillion.

This.
 
Especially try not to react to the explosion of brown/green goo when it does happen. It's not barf!

[ExileStrife]

BBRP.

[VanillaPudding]

This falls under the same category as role playing getting your face smashed off by a minotaur with a great axe - totally optional and totally not needing to be overdone due to it's common nature.

[N/A]

That's what I do.
V

ROMEO    Come hither, man. I see that thou art poor:
    Hold, there is forty ducats: let me have
    A dram of poison, such soon-speeding gear
    As will disperse itself through all the veins
    That the life-weary taker may fall dead
    And that the trunk may be discharged of breath
    As violently as hasty powder fired
  Doth hurry from the fatal cannon's womb.

[Jasede]

I personally find RPing poison and disease annoying, and seldom do anything except chug a potion or ask immediately for one if I don't have any.

BBRP.

This.

Then again, I also find roleplaying "Badly Wounded" annoying. Hitpoints are abstract.