HMHVV Revamped and Streamlined, Reworking the various strains and taxonomy Options

[JanessaVR]

I confess, I’m not a fan of the Infected. I think the whole concept of “Infected Rights” is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of in the entire history of Shadowrun and as far as I’m concerned a cure for HMHVV was found long ago; it’s called fire – apply lots of it to the Infected patient until the infection disappears. This cure has a 100% success rate, and should be applied globally as soon as possible. Granting monsters that want to eat you civil rights? Why not just shoot yourself in the head? It’s quicker. Apparently it’s supposed to be a not-too-subtle allegory for [insert oppressed group X here], but it’s a terrible one, as I don’t know any members of [insert oppressed group X here] that actually kill and eat people (something that would, in fact, fully justify discrimination against them).

That said, they do make good (and nasty) villains in the game, but I think they could use a little streamlining, especially since Strain II (Ghilani Moneriviridae) rarely gets any press. So we’ll just drop that one and concentrate on revamped versions of Strains I and III (now renamed Strain II), as follows.


Strain I (Ghilani Vrykolakivididae)

Metatype______Becomes
Human...............Vampire
Elf......................Banshee
Dwarf.................Goblin
Ork....................Grendel
Troll...................Dzoo-noo-qua
Sasquatch..........Jabberwock


Strain Ib

Metatype______Becomes
Human...............Nosferatu


Strain II (Ghilani Wichtiviridae)

Metatype______Becomes
Any....................Ghoul


Strain IIb

Metatype______Becomes
Elf......................Harvester


All of these should be Dual-Natured creatures (so as to more easily keep these filthy things outside with astral wards). SR5 has, with the exception of one or two of the Infected, already taken this approach and I very much approve of it.

The end result here is fairly clean and simple. There are now just two major strains, one which has variable effects depending on the victim’s metatype, and another which always has one effect regardless of the victim’s metatype. There are also two “variant strains” that create rarer (and even more terrifying) monsters, but if you don’t want Nosferatu or Harvesters in your campaign world, you can just drop these.

This also frees up the Wendigo to be not just another plague carrier or run-of-the-mill monster, but the terrifying creature of Native American legend that it ought to be. Really, go look up the legends of the Wendigo. It’s a fantastically terrifying creature and relegating it to the status of being just a furry, Infected ork is such a waste it’s practically a crime. With this fix in place, you can introduce the Wendigo as either a magical creature or a spirit, in all its horrifying glory, which is a much better use for it in the campaign world.

One last thing that needs to be addressed – ghoul infection needs to be dialed down. I’m scarcely the first person to comment that, as written, even George Romero must be impressed at the Ghoul Apocalypse that would already have happened long ago with creatures this infectious. Currently, consulting SR4 Running Wild, it has a Power of 8. I’m thinking that cutting that in half to a Power of 4 would be a better alternative. Does anyone already have any house rules on reducing HMHVV III infection potency to avert the Ghoul Apocalypse?