Contagion

Contagion is a level 5 necromancy spell. It allows spellcasters to infect their target with an affliction of their choosing, potentially resulting in the target contracting a disease.

Description

Poison a target and possibly afflict them with a disease of your choice. Once infected, the target will roll a Constitution  Saving throw each turn. If it accumulates 3 successes, it recovers. If it accumulates 3 failures, it contracts the disease chosen by the spellcaster.

Properties

Cost

 Action +  Level 5 Spell Slot

Details

 Melee spell attack roll

 Melee: 1.5 m / 5 ft

At higher levels

Casting this spell at a higher level grants no additional benefit.

Technical details

UID

Target_Contagion

Spell flags

HasSomaticComponent, HasVerbalComponent, IsHarmful, IsLinkedSpellContainer, IsMelee, IsSpell

Variants

•  Contagion: Filth Fever
•  Contagion: Flesh Rot
•  Contagion: Slimy Doom
•  Contagion: Seizure
•  Contagion: Mindfire
•  Contagion: Blinding Sickness

Condition: Contagion Poisoned

 Contagion Poisoned

Spell save DC  Constitution saving throw

• Has  Disadvantage on  Attack rolls and Checks.
• Each turn, it must succeed on a  Saving throw, or the poison will advance in stage. On 3 successes, it recovers. On 3 failures, it contracts the disease corresponding to the variant of the spell Contagion that was cast.

 Poisoned, Diseased

How to learn

Classes:

• Class level 9: Cleric, Druid, Circle of the Spores (Circle Spell), Circle of the Land (Arctic/Forest/Underdark), and Death Domain (Domain Spell)
• Class level 10: Bard (via Magical Secrets)

Notes

• After this spell hits, the target is only affected by the less potent Contagion Poisoned condition until it fails 3 saving throws. Then the selected variant of disease sets in and persists after a long rest, essentially forever. To remove this, heal the target with  Lesser Restoration or a similar effect.
• Casting Contagion outside of battle on any NPC is not considered an aggressive action.
  • However, missing the attack roll when casting the spell is considered aggressive and might turn NPCs hostile.
  • After contracting  Contagion: Mindfire, NPCs turn Hostile to everyone permanently which may be undesirable for key quest NPCs.
• The conditions inflicted by the different variants of the spell do not share stack IDs. This means a target can be affected by multiple distinct contagions at the same time.

External links

• ⁠Contagion on the Forgotten Realms Wiki