Page 747 — Extreme Proaction
If you want to inspire dread and maybe even panic in a group of players, just suggest the barest possibility that they're in the presence of a supernatural sickness or disease. It's ire well-deserved; diseases in tabletop games are rough.
They don't see a lot of extended use in most games. A few one-shots or isolated locations, maybe, but rarely across a larger campaign. Those are only trotted out when the setting or the DM want to drive the point home of how dangerous a place is… by subjecting you to a debilitating, long-lasting status effect that you can do almost nothing to avoid, suppress, or otherwise deal with. It's not exactly fun.
Transcript:Rarity: Maybe we need a different angle. Who are the most popular pegasi? What personalities stand out?
DM: You want a guy called Thunderlane.
Twilight Sparkle: He's at 9.3 wingpower.
DM: Thunderlane is the hotshot of the group. Athletic, kind of a slacker, but very well-known amongst his peers.
Rainbow Dash: He's not even at the top of the list! Well, whatever, is there anything weird going on with him?
DM: <roll> Twilight, as the character with the highest Passive Perception… You notice throughout the day that Thunderlane is coughing a bit too frequently.
Twilight Sparkle: I quarantine him!!
DM: Uhhhh, no?