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[FreakyCheeseMan]

So, you've all probably noticed that some poison effects spread due to the buggy liquid smear system (if not, there's a great description here http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=54659.0). The player there actually used the burrow system to institute quarantine.

Personally, I think the idea of infectious diseases is too cool to fix; furthermore, you could make effects that take advantage of it. One rather difficult to program one could have a semi-serious effect, but also give the dwarf the same poisoned blood trait- so if that dwarf was ever injured, the disease could start to spread again.

Or, for what I think would be a really easy example, an effect that causes the dwarf to go berserk- the effect is already in game, seems like it would be easy to add it to a blood effect, and then you'd have the RAGE virus from 28 days later, down to waiting for the infected to starve to death. Imagine your champion coming back from fighting a forgotten beast, only to go crazy and start attacking your other dwarves, spreading more of the beast's blood around- eventually half your fortress is infected, and the remainder have walled themselves off wherever they can, maybe in significantly-sized burrows, maybe just one or two dwarves hiding in a workshop, trying to find some way to get food to them without exposing them to your crazy axe-wielding champion.

Might be a bit nasty for vanilla, but you could at least have some sort of "madness beast" whose breath weapon causes your military to briefly tantrum, attacking eachother instead of it... and then the modders could make the cool RAGE virus stuff.

Edited for clarity and removing ideas that weren't too related.

[Coidzure Dreams]

Well, a fair bit of this would be necessary to implement tuberculosis.

[FreakyCheeseMan]

Wait, why tuberculosis?

[Owlbread]

I'm not sure if it's a good idea to just take the whole idea from Mr. Boyle, perhaps we should just include "berserk" as a symptom for random infections? Random illnesses and diseases could be an interesting factor.

[Coidzure Dreams]

Wait, why tuberculosis?

Mostly the contact with blood and projectilization/inhalation of aerosolized blood.  I think I might've just glazed over while reading the OP.  But, yeah, aside from the berserker part of it, it just really made me think of TB.  Possibly all the emphasis on blood.

I'm not sure if it's a good idea to just take the whole idea from Mr. Boyle, perhaps we should just include "berserk" as a symptom for random infections? Random illnesses and diseases could be an interesting factor.

Randomized diseases... of which the dreaded possession disease is the most feared due to producing artifacts without giving legendary dwarves and preventing them from having legitimate strange moods.  Also, not having enough workshops to deal with the flow of possessed dwarves leading to problems...

I LOVE IT!

[FreakyCheeseMan]

I'm not sure if it's a good idea to just take the whole idea from Mr. Boyle, perhaps we should just include "berserk" as a symptom for random infections? Random illnesses and diseases could be an interesting factor.

Well, what exactly goes into the vanilla version doesn't matter too much- I understand if some players wouldn't *want* hard-to-fight diseases that cause forced tantrum spirals, but so long as the syndrome tags exist, they could be modded in for zombie-mode, or a whole mass of other things. Goblin (or elf) rage bombs. Or a spectral night-mist that sneaks through your fortress, causing melancholy. Or something that makes a creature fall unconscious, then wake up and tantrum in the hospital. Or hell, some sort of enemy that causes your pets to all become enraged and attack your dwarves, but doesn't effect the dwarves themselves. Or something that poisons a creatures blood with the same effect, causes a (brief) bout of insanity so they drop their gear, then slowly ramps up dehydration and causes random tantrums- cause really, who *doesn't* want to see rabid dwarves?

[Coidzure Dreams]

Now rabies, that might get Toady to take notice...

[FreakyCheeseMan]

It seems like something dwarves would have to contend with, especially now that they're breaking into cave systems all the time, and thus (presumably) having more exposure to animal life...

Besides, aren't bats the traditional vessel by which it spreads?

[Coidzure Dreams]

Nah, rabies is actually supposed to be on the low side amongst bats.  Definitely have to contend with more diseases due to living in proximity to a wide variety of animals though.  Hence the reputation for having a robust and healthy constitution as a race, y'see...

[FreakyCheeseMan]

Huh. Anyway, it still seems like  something that has a place in the game... I'm rather a morbid sort, but I wouldn't mind populating the underground with a few pools of still-infected blood... maybe a little micro-chamber of a forgotten civ, where their tombs still hold some trace of the rage...

[Maxxeh]

Rabies would be a very good thing to have! and as a byproduct would be perfect for your (and my) modding wishes!

rabies could cause a creature to attack anything. whether friend or foe. It would infect the brain only, and would need to be passed on from creature to creature through close proximity such as biting!

My attempts at modding are the perfect Romero-style zombie. I need the attack and bite things  also, in my case, the addition of tickets to syndromes would be great!
Using EXTRAVISION, NOBLEED, NOBREATHE etc would be amazing for me, and going by toady's talks on them, with his possible aims...

...Perhaps syndromes could be contracted from artifacts. (which then include tokens)
imagine an artifact that when touched/passed, temporarily causes NOEXERT or AMPHIBIOUS!  this could also lead to bad artifacts and immortality.. but I digress...

I am 100% behind this idea!

[Deon]

I totally support this suggestion, RAGE/MELANCHOLY symptoms which would make a dwarf mad or suicidal are very needed for the modding community. Or at least a symptom which drops happiness.

So we could give it a small effect, which would lead to a "depression" effect, nothing special. Or we could give it a huge effect, and it would immediately drive a creature mad, to a state of a berserk or melancholy.

Now, because animals don't have happiness, I'd be happy with just a "berserk"/"melancholy" temporary (by this I mean set by duration) effect.

[FreakyCheeseMan]

And think of the fun you could have in adventurer mode- pretty sure there you could use it offensively more effectively, keep some blood in your inventory and throw it at the elf-queen or somesuch.

[Andeerz]

This has my support, both for non-zombie disease sort of stuff and zombie related stuff.  A full blown plague would be the bee's-knees! 

[Argonnek]

Now, because animals don't have happiness, I'd be happy with just a "berserk"/"melancholy" temporary (by this I mean set by duration) effect.

Actually, animals do have a sort of pseudo-happiness that allows them to go insane under very special circumstances. For example, if you've ever trapped an elven caravan in the depot before you'd notice that the pack animals will go insane just as fast as their handlers.

Also, how would blood contact cause a dwarf to contract a disease? Certainly if he ingested it he would get sick, but does illness soak through the skin or something?