Plague
Plague is a supplement for Dungeons & Dragons: Fourth Edition under the GSL. It is written by Creighton Broadhurst and published by Expeditious Retreat Press. The 40-page softbound book covers diseases of the nastiest varieties, and discusses how plagues work and how civilizations react to them in fine detail. It is filled with medieval style art depicting death and grim reapers. The book is mainly for Dungeon Masters in that the information is mostly going to be used for adventures and plot purposes. There are some items for player characters but not enough to call this a player-oriented book.
Plague is a narrowly defined book and has the advantage of being about exactly what readers will think when they read the title. If the idea of plagues sweeping across a campaign setting is something a DM finds appealing, this is going to be a great book for that person. However, if this is not the type of challenge a DM wants to add to his D&D campaign then Plague is a book best to be avoided. Personally, I like plagues and diseases and this is still one of my favorite books out for Fourth Edition because of that. Expeditious Retreat Press has a habit of making books that are well grounded in how the real world works, making this book more realistic.
Plague starts out with a forward that asserts this is a roleplaying game book and not a history book. As such, people with expertise on plagues will notice that while there was research done to write this book, it is not an in depth look at the subject. The author also wants people to be aware of the controversy in some academic places as to the causes of the plagues, and he suggests a book for those who need more information. Throughout the book, many useful and interesting sidebars offer further information. The third and final point the has to make is to caution the DM on using plagues, as a plague can devastate a setting and really change the dynamic and game feel if the PCs do not stop it. Of course, if a DM wants that to happen then this is precisely the book that he should use.
The book then goes into how the plague gets to the setting. This is an interesting chapter as it can set up other important ideas in the campaign such as trade, wars, and migration of peoples. These are the mundane ways plagues move about an area and are sadly ideas that are rarely included in most fantasy settings. This book also looks at magical causes for plagues, including people who worship disease and death. The book then quickly moves on to what happens as the plague hits. The most important part is who is this plague killing. It has a great section on what professions place people at greater risk. The book talks about the mundane things before it goes into the magical aspects, which again will be quite useful for people that want a little less magic in their games. This assessment of mundane risk factors supplies a good baseline of what is going on in a settlement, to which the DM can then apply the magical options available to that society.
Surviving the plague and what a world looks like after the plague has been dealt with is as important as what the setting was like before the event. There is much material here on society and how it deals with the after effects. The book also advises DMs on dealing with morality, war and blame, as well as the fact that religions will react in different ways to the events. There is also the looming threat of additional epidemics hitting society. Not everything is negative, though, as there could be technological or magical advances discovered to fight off the plague.
While the information in the book is good and makes for some fine guidelines, the book does have magical items and rituals in it for people that like that kind of thing. Everything has a good plague theme running through it. The magical items all seem interesting and on par with similar items released in other books. The rituals that deal with disease and dead bodies are the highlight of the section for me. There are rituals to delay infection and cause contagions, as well as other magic for healing.
The nasty part of the book is the last part, presenting some very real and terrible plagues. These are truly dangerous and horrible. In game terms, the weakest of these is a level 22 disease and the strongest one is a level 28 disease. Te deadliest disease is also one that has become a staple of modern fantasy and horror: the zombie plague.
Plague is a short book, but one that obviously took research to write. It has a small section for further reading and a few online resources for people that want more information. The book provides a valuable overview on plagues specifically for a roleplaying game. The first three chapters would be useful information for most game systems as they contain very little rules content. This is a high quality book on the nastiest plagues any world can hope to contend with.