Countdown to Ceremorphosis

Countdown to CeremorphosisAfter infection by an illithid tadpole, the victim slowly and painfully transforms into a mindflayer over the course of seven days. Unless, of course, you have the power of the Astral Prism keeping you hale, healthy, and tentacle free.

But what if you didn't?

You start the game suffering the inital stage of ceremorphosis. Each day you progress to the next stage of the disease. After reaching the seventh stage, you transform into a mindflayer, triggering a game over. All players and tadpoled companions suffer from the disease, and progress through the stages each day. The only way to cure the disease is to destroy the Elder Brain your tadpole came from.

You grow weaker as the disease progresses. Each stack of Ceremorphosis Sickness reduces your ability scores by -1. You gain a permanent stack every time your ceremorphosis progresses (i.e when you long rest). If at any point one of your ability scores drops to 0, you die instantly.

Using Tadpole powers exacerbates your symptoms until you perform a short or long rest. Each stack of Symptoms Worsened temporarily causes an additional -1 penalty to all ability scores. Though temporary, this ability score reduction can be just as lethal.

However, even if there is no hope for a cure, you may still find ways to treat your symptoms.

Consuming Tadpoles

Every time someone unlocks a tadpole power, the penalty to their ability scores is halved (rounded up) for the rest of the day. This does not reduce the temporary penalty caused by using tadpole powers. But putting more tadpoles in your head will worsen your symptoms. You gain two temporary stacks of Symptoms Worsened the first time you unlock a tadpole power in a day.

Attempting a Cure

Attempting to cure yourself of ceremorphosis is futile, but can still be worth the effort. Attempts to cure the tadpole will prevent the disease from progressing the next time you long rest. Be aware, however, that each cure attempt can only help the character that attempted it, and often come with their own disadvantages.

Cure attempts do not stack, so take care not to hoard them all for yourself.

Hints as to what constitute 'cure attempts' include:

- Undergoing experimental surgery at camp.

- Making a deal with the fey in the swamp.

- Surviving a poisoning attempt in the Druid's Grove.

- Receiving help from a gith contraption in the Mountain Pass.

- Drinking an experimental concoction in the Underdark.

- Learning Githzerai m