Athasian Disease Part Three

Treating a natural disease can be done in multiple ways. Ideally, the infected individual has access to a healer and an herbalist. Healers can diagnose and treat the disease. Herbalists can create remedies useful for reducing the symptoms.
When using the herbalism proficiency, the herbalist may provide poultices and other herbal remedies to treat symptoms, but the symptoms must be told to them, or be obvious. In order to mix the proper treatment for the symptoms, the herbalist must have the herbs on hand, or it requires 1d4 days to gather them, if they are locally available. To make the herbal remedy requires another 1d4 days. The herbalist will be able to create enough of the remedy to keep the diseases symptoms at bay for one day per point of success. For example: If an herbalist wants to mix a remedy and has an herbalism proficiency rating of thirteen and the herbalist rolls a nine, the remedy will prevent the symptom for four days.

These herbal remedies will nor cure the disease, but will temporarily restore 1 point of a decreased ability or suppress a secondary penalty. Only one dose of an herbal remedy may be taken at one time, for each disease and each symptom. For example, one herbal remedy may be taken to reverse one point of constitution lost, another remedy to restore a strength point lost, and a final remedy to prevent the infected person from coughing.

Healing natural diseases is sometimes a long and painstaking process. Someone with the healing proficiency is able to diagnose and treat the disease, although this usually must be done as the infected person is resting for a full day. Those with both the healing and herbalism non-weapon proficiencies gain a +2 bonus to the proficiency check to treat diseases, but not to diagnose them.
In order the heal a disease, the healer must have 1d6 hours to diagnose and twenty-four hours to treat the disease. The healing time is reduced by one hour for each point of success on the healing proficiency roll. For example: If a healer has a healing proficiency rating of thirteen and the healer rolls a nine, the healer will finish treatment in twenty hours, not twenty-four. Magical disease may be diagnosed, but generally cannot be treated without magic. If someone has only the herbalism proficiency, they may treat symptoms of a disease, but cannot diagnose them.
The difficulty for healing or creating a remedy varies based upon the severity of the disease and location of the infected. It is easier to treat and cure diseases with minor symptoms than severe symptoms. In addition, it is easier to treat a prone, resting character than an active one.
Mild symptoms may be treated or healed with a +2 bonus. When treating, or healing moderate symptoms, there is no bonus or penalty. Severe symptoms may be treated or healed with a -2 penalty.
When healed, a disease's symptoms are reduced by one level. So, an infected person's severe symptoms are reduced to moderate symptoms, moderate symptoms are reduced to mild symptoms, and mild symptoms are healed completely.
An infected individual and healer can increase the chance of success by granting the infected individual certain provisions, as outlined in the table below:

Provision	Bonus or Penalty
24 Hours of Complete Rest	+1
Double Water Ration	+1
Complete Shelter for 24 Hours	+1
Less than 10 Hours of Complete Rest	-1
Less than Standard Water Ration	-1
No Shelter	-1
Less than Standard Food Ration	-1

Provision is the situation, or good provided to the infected. Bonus or penalty indicates the bonus or penalty provided to the healers healing non-weapon proficiency rolls for both diagnosis and treatment.
Once all symptoms are healed, lost ability points and other effects are reversed, usually at one point per day. Other symptoms, such as headaches and coughs, are healed within the first day of treatment.