These rules are an attempt to make GURPS diseases into the subtle and frightening killers that real-life diseases can be.  In game terms this means drawing out the effects of the disease and making the player unsure of exactly what is wrong with him.  Each of the diseases detailed here follow the same format, the details of which are described below.  At the end of the list of maladies is an in depth treatment of various symptoms that accompany many ailments.  The effects of many of these symptoms will be just as dangerous as the disease which causes them.   All of the diseases that are described below are from reality, except Corpse Fever which is from Domibia.  Also it should be mentioned that I have intentionally given treatments that are appropriate for a fantasy setting, i.e. low tech.  At some point I might add the modifiers for modern drugs and treatment.
WARNING!!!!  As with all of my rules, these add quite a bit of detail and realism and of course that means some more book-keeping and additional complexity. 

    Note:  The text mentions LTF in several places, this Long Term Fatigue...it is just like regular Fatigue, except that it does not go away after resting for 10 minutes.  Usually it takes a specific length of time to recover, which is described in the text.  To really make this sting, you should use my Fatigue rules from the main House rules page.

    Infection: To avoid infection an exposed character must roll a contest of HT (- any Long Term Fatigue) versus the Virulence of the disease. The advantage Disease-Resistant gives the character +8 HT, and the advantage Immunity to Disease should probably give a +16 to HT, thus giving a tiny chance of catching some diseases and making the character a wee bit less cocky.

    Incubation: All diseases have an incubation period, during which they are undetected. After the incubation period ends, the disease begins the 1^st Stage. Once the 1^st Stage has run its course the 2^nd Stage will begin, after which recovery is possible if still living.

    Diagnosis: A diagnosis skill roll may not be attempted until the 1^st Stage of the disease has begun. All diseases have two modifiers to the Diagnosis skill, one for the 1^st Stage and one for the 2^nd. A failed roll will result in a misdiagnosis, the effects of which vary from disease to disease and are listed in the description of each disease.

    Treatment: Treatments for each of the diseases are listed in the descriptions. Treatment that is begun during the 2^nd Stage of a disease will not be as effective, multiply any modifiers by 75% and round down.

    Recovery: If a character receives proper treatment for a disease, they may attempt a Recovery roll after each Stage of the disease has passed. If a character does not receive proper treatment a Recovery roll may only be attempted when the 2^nd Stage has run its course. Recovery is a contest of (HT + Physician skill of person giving aid + Treatment modifiers) versus the Recovery number of the disease. There is a chance of dying if the Recovery roll fails after the 2^nd Stage, the roll to avoid death is listed in the description of each disease.

    Post Recovery: If death is avoided then the character begins the Post Recovery Stage. The Post Recovery Stage has two values, one for use with characters who received no medical treatment and one for those that did. The effects of the Post Recovery Stage are given in Long Term Fatigue (LTF) points, which will last for a certain number of days. Usually the LTF will heal over the course of the Post Recovery Stage, rather than having it all suddenly go away at the end of the period.

Examples of some common diseases

Treat as 4 levels of Weak Will and the Absent Minded disadvantage.

Bleeding; You lose 1D3 HT which remain missing until the disease has passed. This represents a continuous slow loss of blood. Each day make a HT roll modified by Long Term Fatigue (LTF), on a Critical Failure the Bleeding becomes Hemorrhaging.

Hemorrhaging; You lose 2D3 HT which remain missing until the disease has passed, in addition you lose 1D6-4 HP per day. You may roll to heal this extra HP point loss normally.

All sleep periods are treated as being only half as long when suffering from a cough. Thus an 8-hour sleep period would only count as 4 hours of sleep for the character, possibly assessing LTF.

Normal Diarrhea; Roll HT every day (modified by LTF), a failed roll results in the loss of 1D6-4 HT (in this case representing generic bodily fluids). Each point lost increases the amount of fluid needed to avoid dehydration by 10%. A Critical Failure results in Severe Diarrhea.

Severe Diarrhea; As per normal diarrhea, except the HT roll is -2 and the HT lost from fluid loss is 1D6-3.

Roll HT every day (modified by LTF), a failed roll results in the loss of 1D6-4 HT (in this case representing generic bodily fluids). Each point lost increases the amount of fluid needed to avoid dehydration by 10%.

Normal Fever; Each day the fever causes 1D6-4 damage, which may be healed normally. Each day also requires a HT+2 roll to avoid the fever becoming severe.

Severe Fever; Each day of the fever causes 1D6-2 damage, which may be healed normally.

Every day causes the loss of 1D6-3 HT, representing general fatigue, loss of oxygen, strain on the body and the actual filling of the lungs. 

Lesions; Open sores appear on the character. They start out as 1 point of damage and progress by 1D6-4 points per day. These will not heal until the disease has run its course. Each major body location can be afflicted separately (head, torso, legs and arms). Rolls should also be made to avoid infection as well, HT+2 through HT-2 depending on the cleanliness of the surroundings.

Rashes; Rashes cause 1D6-4 damage per effected location each day. Once any damage is caused a roll for infection must be made as with Lesions.

You acquire the Absent-Minded disadvantage, in addition a Will roll is required every day to avoid "losing" a point of Will. The Will roll is modified by any LTF that the character is suffering from. When Will drops below 3, an unmodified Will roll is required to perform any actions. When Will drops to zero, the character will no longer even try to remain awake and his most basic needs must be looked after by others. Will that is "lost" returns once the disease has run its course.

Abdominal Cramps; A HT-2 roll must be made every 10 minutes (just roll whenever it is necessary to know how bad the cramps are effecting the character), failure results in "Normal" abdominal pain, and a critical failure results in "Severe" abdominal pain. The attack of cramps lasts for a number of minutes equal to the "pain" that is inflicted, decreasing in intensity by 1 point per minute.

Normal Abdominal Pain; The character suffers from 1D3 points of pain "damage "constantly (roll once when first appearing). The effects of this "damage" are a reduction in physical skills and the character's Move score. It also is treated as damage for purposes of Concentrating.

Severe Abdominal Pain; As above, but the character suffers 2D3 points of pain "damage".

Normal Chest Pain; As per Abdominal pain.

Severe Chest Pain; As per Abdominal pain.

General Pain; The character suffers 1D2 points of pain "damage", which subtracts from all rolls.

Normal Head Pain; The character suffers from 1D3 points of pain "damage" which subtracts from all IQ rolls and mental skills.

Severe Head Pain; As above but the character suffers 2D3 pain "damage".

Normal Joint Pain; The character suffers from 1D3 pain "damage" which reduces all physical skills and the Move score.

Severe Joint Pain; As above but the character suffers 2D3 points of pain "damage".

Keeping food down is impossible or difficult. Whenever food or drink is taken a HT roll must be made. A successful roll allows you to keep down half of the food that you ate (a crit keeps it all down), a failed roll means that you could keep nothing down. Assess all starvation penalties, as they become appropriate.

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