Power of hygiene

[stranger38]

As everyone knows, hygiene is a powerful thing. Clean hands save lifes. and that's i want to discuss today. im my zombie game, as stated before, i'll use many gritty rules, and hygiene is one of them. drink dirt water and you have cholera. eat raw meat and get worms! So, how's hygiene's work system wise?

[Kage2020]

Originally Posted by stranger38

As everyone knows, hygiene is a powerful thing. Clean hands save lifes. and that's i want to discuss today. im my zombie game, as stated before, i'll use many gritty rules, and hygiene is one of them. drink dirt water and you have cholera. eat raw meat and get worms! So, how's hygiene's work system wise?

Have you considered looking towards the Hygiene rules in City Stats for inspiration? It might offer you a basic period/thematic structure around what are otherwise the rules from B444 (as cited in that supplement).

Just a quick thought.

That and don't be surprised at the resiliency of the human immune system. There are accounts from post-medieval England of people drinking out of a cistern that had a decaying infant in it for several months. Of course, it reach a point that... Well, you get the picture.

[stranger38]

Originally Posted by Kage2020

Have you considered looking towards the Hygiene rules in City Stats for inspiration? It might offer you a basic period/thematic structure around what are otherwise the rules from B444 (as cited in that supplement).

Just a quick thought.

That and don't be surprised at the resiliency of the human immune system. There are accounts from post-medieval England of people drinking out of a cistern that had a decaying infant in it for several months. Of course, it reach a point that... Well, you get the picture.

Yeah, somebody might've pooped to death...

And by the way,m Resting rules: a good meal and 8 hour rest recovers HP... but, what's a good meal?

[cybermancer2k1]

A (very) quick Google search turned up something called The (More or Less) Complete Guide to Hygiene for Fantasy Role-Playing Games (scroll to about midway down the page -- a 35kb zip file). You might be able to mine it for ideas.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by stranger38

Resting rules: a good meal and 8 hour rest recovers HP... but, what's a good meal?

Traveler’s Rations (TL0). One meal of dried meat, cheese, etc. $2, 0.5 lb. (p. B288)

When you eat out or purchase travel rations, use these guidelines. Treat Status greater than 3 as Status 3, except in unusual cases.
Restaurant: 1% of cost of living for breakfast or lunch, or 2% for dinner, based on the Status of the restaurant’s typical patron.
Travel Rations: 5% of cost of living for one week. Weighs 14 lbs.
Liquor: 1% of cost of living per bottle. (p. B265)

To live safely in a wilderness situation, you must make a successful Survival roll once per day. (p. B223) [There is more information on this in LTC3.]

Bill Stoddard

[aesir23]

I have some personal experience with living in a world with inferior hygiene.

I am currently living and working in an orphanage in rural India.

Most of my students drink water directly from the well, I only drink it after it has been processed by the orphanages filtration system.

Nevertheless I am very frequently made ill, probably from the food and water.

It's a myth that natives can drink the water without getting sick because they're "used to" the bacteria. The reality is that the locals who can't afford filtered water simply get sick a lot and suffer from frequent diarrhea.

According to the WHO, diarrhea is the 2nd leading cause of death in low income countries. Globally it comes in at number 5.

Nevertheless, many people drink dirty water everyday, get diarrhea several times a month, and nevertheless live reasonably long lives (at least by adventurer standards).

How exactly you want to represent this in a game is a tricky matter, however.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by aesir23

Nevertheless, many people drink dirty water everyday, get diarrhea several times a month, and nevertheless live reasonably long lives (at least by adventurer standards).

How exactly you want to represent this in a game is a tricky matter, however.

Diarrhea is a mild illness that causes continuing fatigue and also has a symptom akin to nausea, though the acute effect is not vomiting. Severe diarrhea is a different matter. I believe the primary lethal effect is dehydration, which would amount to fatigue from thirst that is so severe as to cost HP and that cannot be treated by drinking water.

Bill Stoddard

[aesir23]

Originally Posted by whswhs

I believe the primary lethal effect is dehydration, which would amount to fatigue from thirst that is so severe as to cost HP and that cannot be treated by drinking water.

This is my understanding as well. It's exacerbated by the fact that the only think you have to drink may be the dirty water that made you sick in the first place.

In developed nations with available clean water (or gatorade, or saline IVs), almost nobody dies of diarrhea, no matter how severe.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Traveler’s Rations (TL0). One meal of dried meat, cheese, etc. $2, 0.5 lb. (p. B288)

High-tech adds notes that TL 8 rehydration formulas and energy-dense snacks can count as a meal for FP-lost-to-exercise recovery purposes.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by aesir23

I have some personal experience with living in a world with inferior hygiene.

I am currently living and working in an orphanage in rural India.

Most of my students drink water directly from the well, I only drink it after it has been processed by the orphanages filtration system.

Nevertheless I am very frequently made ill, probably from the food and water.

It's a myth that natives can drink the water without getting sick because they're "used to" the bacteria. The reality is that the locals who can't afford filtered water simply get sick a lot and suffer from frequent diarrhea.

Interesting. I've spent several months of my life in a village, where the only available water is from wells. Other people lived like that for years, a-OK. In fact, city water (as in, after the water station treats it) is considered unsafe to drink without boiling it first.

I wonder if something's wrong with the wells in the region. Too slow underground currents? Source of biological or chemical pollution down there? No idea.

I never heard of the safety of wells being attributed to being a 'native'.