As you step through the creaking wooden door, the sharp, earthy scent of herbs washes over you, a symphony of aromas—earthy, sweet, spicy, and pungent—all mingling together. The air is thick with the faint haze of smoke, curling lazily upward from a smoldering bundle of sage on the counter. The light filtering through the dusty windows catches the motes of dust and smoke, giving the shop an almost dreamlike quality.
Dried herbs hang from the rafters in thick bunches, their leaves and flowers swaying gently as the door closes behind you. Shelves line every wall, crammed with jars of every size and shape. Some contain vibrant powders, others hold tinctures glowing like liquid amber, and still others are filled with salves and ointments, their labels handwritten in a spidery script. Books with cracked spines and faded titles sit stacked precariously on every available surface, their pages filled with ancient remedies and forgotten lore.
But the centerpiece of the shop is impossible to miss. Along one wall, a massive tree grows up through the floor and ceiling, its gnarled trunk twisting and branching as if it has been part of the building for centuries. Built into the tree itself are hundreds of small drawers, each no larger than your hand, their faces marked with intricate symbols and foreign scripts. Some drawers are slightly ajar, revealing glimpses of dried petals, roots, and seeds within.
A voice calls out from somewhere deeper in the shop, warm but slightly distracted. "Welcome in! Let me know if you need any help, otherwise ring the bell when you're ready to make a purchase..." The voice trails off abruptly as a loud crash echoes from the far corner of the shop. Dust and loose papers burst into the air, fluttering like startled birds. "No good checking on me! I'm fine! ...I'm fine... just missed my step was all... go back to your shopping please..."
The shop feels alive, as if the very walls are watching and waiting, the tree humming faintly with some ancient, unseen energy. Every corner holds a new discovery, and the promise of remedies for ailments both mundane and magical lingers in the air.
Welcome back everyone, I hope you’ve all had an amazing week, and if not, don’t give up. Keep pushing forward with me, we got this.
I’ve been spending a lot of time getting things ready for the growing season. It arrives earlier each year giving me a longer season than normal by several weeks now. I brought you all here today to talk about the magic of plants, something I’m quite fond of, as you may know.
Another mechanic I’ve been working on is utilizing plants, for healing, magic, and other uses. This week, I’m showing you some ideas I’ve created around illnesses and healing.
In a future post, I’d like to introduce some alchemy mechanics that can be used for making potions, salves and the like. So keep an eye out for that.
Solitaire Illness Contraction for Solo Adventurers Made Easy
How many times have you been fumbling around in an ancient tomb, only the find yourself with black lung a few days later? Probably more often than you you’d like to admit, right? Or perhaps never, which means you’ve been missing out all this time like some fool.
Let’s take for example, The Cursed Well. Not heard of it have you?! I’m quite surprised… The Cursed Well is tainting the underground water through out the land. It started about 25 years ago. Several hundred miles of land has died off to the West. Your arrival has been predicted by the Elder who lives on the mountain just south of this village. A mysterious illness (Plague) has begin spreading here. The well water is contaminated, and the villagers are desperate.
If anyone drinks from the local well or fail to purify the water, they risk contracting the disease. But it’s out only source of water. You take more risks when your desperate if you know what I mean. Meanwhile, a local herbalist knows about a possible cure—but only if the party retrieves some rare herbs from a nearby dungeon.
Why can’t the herbalist do it themselves? Their busy… Busy trying to keep the local villagers alive. And let’s say there is a 1 in 4 (d4) chance of contracting the illness yourself every day you remain in town, and every time you visit.
Don’t like that story? It may not even the the plague, it could any number of things. Wasting Sickness, Black Lung from a underground fungi, or even a series of Infected Wound’s that appear when the villagers sleep. Or maybe you’ve caught a cold after traveling unprepared in harsh weather.
But first, roll to find out if you’ve got anything at all.
Please note that the tables where originally used as a means to make my player characters and non-player characters sick and possibly die. The more I work with it, the more I realized how it could be used a for a lot more than just contracting an illness in a fantasy setting.
So what lies here is a mixture of the two ideas, one quite familiar from other gm-less mechanic systems, others hopefully somewhat unique.
Simply roll on the Risk Assessment Table Below based on the situation. It’s nothing new, you’ve seen these types of tables before.
Choose a perceived risk level, the chance of something being true or false, or anything else you’d like to test against the table below. Ask yourself, “How sure am I that zombie foaming at the mouth infected me?’ and then decide what how high the chances are. Here’s the table to guide you:
Step 1: Assess the Risk
As the solo player, you’ll assess the risk of contracting an illness, which was this tables original intent. Then I realized that it can be used to find out the result of yes or no, style questions as well.
Choose a perceived risk level that feels appropriate. Ask yourself, “How sure am I that zombie foaming at the mouth infected me?’, ‘Does the herbalist tell me that this is the right herb?’ and then decide what how high or low the chances are. Then take note of the modification, which are used for the alternate saving throw mechanic. Here’s a d100 table to guide you:
Choose the risk level that feels right for the situation. For example, if your character was bitten by a monster but the wound looks minor, you might choose "Unlikely."
Low Risk (10–30%): Mild exposure (e.g., a small scratch, drinking questionable water).
Moderate Risk (31–60%): Significant exposure (e.g., a deep bite, prolonged time in a cursed area).
High Risk (61–90%): Extreme exposure (e.g., a venomous bite, drinking from a poisoned well).
Roll for result
Roll a d100 (2d10) to determine if your character contracts the illness, find out the information, or finds the herb in his location. . You need to roll under the actual chance of illness to avoid it.
Example: If you set the actual chance at 40%, you must roll 40 or lower on a d100 to avoid the illness.
If you roll over the target number, your character has contracted the illness
And if want more details, there are some optional tables and mechanics below that you can use to heal and or find out what kind of illness you’ve managed to acquire.
Alternate Saving Throw Mechanic:
The GM (or you, in solitaire play) sets the DC based on how difficult the task or challenge is. For example:
DC 10: Easy (e.g., climbing a low wall).
DC 15: Moderate (e.g., resisting a mild illness).
DC 20: Hard (e.g., breaking out of magical restraints).
You roll a d20 and add any relevant modifiers from the Risk Table (e.g., or your Constitution modifier for a saving throw).
Compare your total to the DC:
If your total meets or exceeds the DC, you succeed.
If your total is less than the DC, you fail.
Example:
Situation: Your character is trying to resist a disease with a DC 15 saving throw.
Roll: You roll a d20 and get a 12.
Modifiers: Your Constitution modifier is +3, and you have a -2 penalty from your risk assessment.
Total: 12 + 3 - 2 = 13.
Result: Since 13 is less than 15, you fail the saving throw and contract the illness.
Pick a disease, any disease
These are optional tables and mechanics that add variety and flavor. Providing you with example illnesses a list of herbs, along with possible locations. To find out if you’ve healed yourself or another, use the Risk Factor table above for now. I intend to write a mechanic for that at some point.
Below is a list of sample illnesses and their potential cures. More common issues are in the center, and the further outward you go, the illnesses become less and less desirable. Rolling 2d12 (two twelve-sided dice) statistically results in center values more often than outer areas due to the natural bell curve that plays out here.
You might be curious how you came about acquiring a particular illness. I mean what adventurer hasn’t had a bad case of Bone Ague and wondered where they picked it up?
Herb Locations
Needing to go out on a quest? Got yourself some sort of rash you don’t want to tell anyone about, and you need to find the cure? I’ve got you covered. Below are examples of common locations where you might find a particular herb.
Now let’s tie all of this together shall we? Using the tables above along with some embellishing, I created the following story line.
The Curse of Dragon Pox
A small village on the edge of a dense forest has been struck by a mysterious illness. The villagers call it Dragon Pox, a rare and magical disease that causes fever, scales to form on the skin, and eventually, death if left untreated. The village healer, an elderly woman named Mara, has identified the illness but lacks the rare herbs needed to cure it. She pleads with you for help.
The Twist:
Mara reveals that the Dragon Pox was brought to the village by a wounded dragon that crashed in the nearby forest weeks ago. The dragon’s blood seeped into the soil, tainting the land and spreading the disease. To make matters worse, a group of bandits has taken over the forest, making it dangerous to search for the herbs.
The Herbs Needed:
To cure Dragon Pox, Mara needs two rare herbs:
Elderberry (to reduce fever and inflammation).
Goldenseal (to counteract the magical corruption).
Where to Find the Herbs:
Elderberry: Found near the river that runs through the forest, but the area is now patrolled by bandits.
Goldenseal: Grows deep in the forest, in a hidden valley that’s rumored to be guarded by the wounded dragon.
The Challenge:
The bandits are heavily armed and have set up traps in the forest.
The dragon, though wounded, is still dangerous and fiercely protective of its territory.
Time is running out—the villagers are getting sicker by the day.
And that’s it for this week, I hope you find it useful and keep an eye out for my upcoming alchemy mechanic, arriving in your inbox in the coming weeks. Take care everyone, I appreciate you all being here with me and taking up your time reading through my nonsense. Take care of yourselves, and keep an eye on one another also, we’re all we’ve got. See you all next week…
Great article with some very useful tables and mechanics.