There's a table in the SR comp that handles this. Basically it's a body test.

IIRC, three successes means no ill effects. Two successes means that they get sick for I think 10 days, displaying some of the symptoms, so it's really scary. 1 Success means that they have some permanaent side effect (like allergy to sunlight, color blind, lose hair, etc). No successes and they become a ghoul. Then you have to roll to see how 'ghoulish' they become, which I believe is a will test. If you only get a few, they're a mindless eating machine. A lot of succeses (4or 5 I think) and they acutally get a will bonus.

Bear in mind I'm going by memory, not having my SR copm in front of me. But that's the gist.

Personally, I'd say it depends on how hard you want to go with the game, and/or if you think the player can handle having a ghoul. if you decide to let hem have the chance, and they do end up chaging, I'd suggest 'adjusting' some rolls so that they at least come out sentient.

It is about as as unlikely as HIV being transmited through microscopic tears in the genitals during sex. That never happens.

That right there was more or less what I was asking about. How much knowledge someone with no biotech background may know about it from say the Discovery Channel, or Awakened World ,or whatever.

I was trying to decide if channeling the spirit would give her added prorection as well, as that boosts her attributes in to the double digits. Hadn't really decided at what point the test(s) would have to be made. Thoughts?

Honestly I'd rather the character didn't become a ghoul for purposes of my campaign, although I think she could handle it. But I hate a game world without consequences, ya' know?

You must achieve at least one success normally in order to buy more, so they're basically just be buying their way out of having any permanent effects.

As to a vaccine/pill, I can't recall any (canon) references to such a thing, but then again the whole HMHVV hasn't come up much in my games.

And everyone on the team should get to roll as well - so even if the infected character missed it, there's a good chance that (unless they're all complete sociopaths) one of the other PCs would knows something about it, and speak up.

Getting bitten by a ghoul is not a big deal, unless the GM decides to be a jerk and starts working to hide the facts from the players, because he wants to see the drama happen when a character does turn. (remember a couple of threads in the past spawned by that sort of thing)

OK for the really really kinky.

As for the rest, whe ghouls were just another metatype. we didn't care. They had claws, we had SMG's.

Then it came out they could infect others and we didn't treat them so lightly. They became a real horror. Shiawase makes a great little flame thrower.

You worked in Corrections or Detention, right?

SRComp page 33 under Infection.
"[...]in the first stage [...] the virus can be treated if detected."

Adept Improved Atribute is limited by the Adept's Racial Maximum.

You were given some incorrect hype. Hepatitus, in general, has more transmission vectors than HIV. However, Hepatitus C specificly has fewer. You are less likely to recieve it from heterosexual intercourse, for example, since blood-blood contact is required. Of course, it is transmissed through sex rather frequently (through the aforementioned microscopic tears).

Also, Hepatitus C is not more deadly than HIV, not by a long shot. Hepittus C can be a cronic infection but it is not a terminal infection. That is, it is possible for your body's immune system to completly fight off the virus, unlike HIV.

For many years, my father believed that he had Hepititus B and C due to a positive antibody test result. Recently, the VA required him to have a complete physical and among the tests they performed were both antibody and RNA tests for the various hepatitus strains. While he was positive for the HCV and HBC antibodies he did not have any hepatitus RNA in his body, indicating that he was infected once but isn't infected now.

A person with HIV is gong to die from the disease, baring outside acts of violence. A person with hepititus C and a strong immune system can fight off the infection. Even if the person is unable to fight off the infection initially there are treatment options of chronic hepatitus C infections. There are also 6 different genotypes of hepatitus C wihich require generally different treatment plans. Some are rather easy to treat and others are difficult to treat.

Actually, what really screws you is having both HIV and any hepatitus at the same time. The HIV weakens the immune system and the hepatitus virus shreds the liver and there is no way in heck that UNOS is going to give you a new one because the virus will shred it just as quickly.

Of course, the great thing about livers is that there is no actual limit to the number of times a live person can donate half of one because they grow back. This is why it is always good to have relatives of the same blood type who care about you.

Ah! Yummy ridiculously vague fluff writing! How I love you so.

Seriously, based on that overwhelming amount of information, I'd make the possibility of the runners actually having access to this "mysterious treatment" slim to none.

Thanks for the reference.

Correct me if I am wrong, but you cannot die of HIV; it's just that AIDS progressively erodes your chances of surviving infections you would normally be able to defeat.

Close. I'm a "Crisis Specialist"; I've done some addictions counselling, ran a homeless shelter, the city drunk-tank, taught some self-defense and did a stint as a "Security Contractor" (thuggery for rich people) in a remote ethnic community. (The liberals call me a Nazi and the conservatives call me a hippie!) Now I do psycho-social rehabilitation for people with schizophrenia and I'm branching into cross-cultural work. The big words just make it sound impressive. End of resume.

Hyz, thanks for the info. Not surprising that they were dumbing it down to scare us into remembering the iso-gel.