Curing Terminal Illness in the Marvel Universe

While curing things like cancer or AIDS in the comics is never universal and if someone's shown to be cured it's always an unreproducable process that often ends up creating a super-human (Deadpool for example), removed from the restrictions required for comic books what kind of Reason Feat and talents would be required for someone to come up with a way of curing such diseases in a campaign? There are bound to be at least some players who have medically or genetics-oriented characters with the genius to want to try finding such cures (perhaps adventuring to find rare materials for their research) so what would be the best way of handling such?

What powers would have the potential for a character to cure things like cancer? Would Plague Carrier for example let you withdraw the cancer from someone? It should let you withdraw AIDS (for a super-power it's unrealistic to think one virus would be somehow able to escape such a power but not others).

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That's a tough question.

In one respect, you're right--a power like Plague Carrier ought to let you soak up HIV from another person, effectively curing them.

That said, I think it's a little cheap and dismissive of what we all should know is a MASSIVE global epidemic.

Again, the answer's not easy. And that's where a seeming humble power could be potentially world-altering.

If a character can eradicate AIDS, think of how the planet would be different. Sub-Saharan African nations would be begging your hero to show up--the least corrupt would be willing to pay the hero damn near anything to for the hero to alleviate the problem on "the slim" on the continent. Other nations may try to hold the hero hostage.

Drug companies may hire hit men to eliminate their "competition" because they're losing profits. Alternately, they may try to kidnap the hero to harvest his organs or whatever it is that cures HIV.

The other issue is what the hero does with the HIV he's absorbed. If he infects someone knowingly, it's a felony in the United States. Even without legal issues, this is akin to attempted murder, and Karma loss ought to reflect this. Even if the hero removes it later, the reality is that you're willingly exposing someone to a terminal illness that only he or she can cure. In that respect, the hero has an even greater responsibility.

If the hero's powers were scrambled or removed, would he or she instantly succumb to Super-AIDS?

Cancer is another matter entirely, as it's not communicable. Still, the complications still exist.

Hope these ideas help your game.

WolfSpider 2008!

Well-reasoned input is always helpful and it IS a complicated question to consider. The power of Plague Carrier also has a bit of an error with the idea it could be negated with a powerful spread of anti-biotics, since they're worthless against viruses and at best would just wipe out the bacteria the hero or villain is holding, not the viruses or rare amoeboid infection. The basic power will let you infect someone with a specialized strain of a disease that won't spread but yes there are still very serious implications in giving someone a terminal disease even if they can't spread it to others when you're the only cure around.

Some other powers also have the potential to cure a terminal illness, several of the Biophysical Control powers might cure cancer or AIDS in a target, but for Damage Transferral are you somehow converting the terminal illness to a curable form or is it just that the enhanced healing Damage Transferral provides in regards to absorbed damage makes the body able to fight what was a terminal illness in someone else?

Power Creation might even let you cure others if you have the proper powers to give to someone, like Regeneration or Resistance to Disease (one of the concepts I'd considered for the hero Power Up I created and posted here in fact), although how much such powers might help likely depends on the power ranks you can grant.

Still, if a PC wanted to cure such things in a campaign and the GM wanted to allow for the possibility what would the Reason feat be then, Amazing, Monstrous? What talents would a character require, is a talent in cancer research a requirement or would relate talents like Genetics be all it's take?

"A shared universe, like any fictional construct, hinges on suspension of disbelief. When continuity is tossed away, it tatters the construct. Undermines it."

-- Peter David

[www.classicmarvel.com] - Nightmask Character Sheet

[www.classicmarvel.com] - Paragon Character Sheet

[www.classicmarvel.com] - Complete list of my characters various forum URLs, over 30 to enjoy!

[www.classicmarvel.com] - Godiva Character Sheet

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[www.furaffinity.net] Artist/writer/Creator of The Extinctioners Independent super-hero comic!

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[www.classicmarvel.com] - There is no such thing as too powerful Forum Thread