Item Seed: Caseus Belli.

Caseus Belli – Google Docs

Caseus Belli

Judging from the old records, Caseus Belli was not particularly dangerous.  Name aside, it was simply a hard cheese made using a particular strand of bacteria; people who ate the cheese were slightly stronger, more vigorous, and could function for a full day at full capacity before exhaustion.  Making it was finicky, which is why the only people who could do so were the Arval Brethren (a priestly college of the Roman Empire). When the Arval Brethren disappeared from history, so did Caseus Belli.

So it was very exciting when they found verified samples of Caseus Belli!  The lab was even able to isolate out the bacteria from the cheese, get a viable culture, then make some more Caseus Belli.  And yes, before anybody asks, they tested the stuff out on animals, first.  Animal trials seemed fairly successful, with no major side effects, so they went to human testing.

The first round of human testing has just finished its first phase; fortunately, the containment system for the base itself held, although the internal defenses have mostly failed.  Turns out the bacteria itself mutated over time. In game terms, anybody who eats any Caseus Belli should take all but one of the points (or rating) that were in their intelligence (or equivalent) stat and instead put them into their strength (or equivalent stat).  Double the amount of hit points (or health rating, or whatever); make the victim immune to stun, intimidation, and fear; and add whatever advantage or secondary characteristic that will make it difficult to sneak up on him.  Oh, and the victims are all currently chock-full of Caseus Belli bacteria which is most assuredly infectious (if treatable with antibiotics) via bite.

Note, by the way, that people infected with Caseus Belli are not automatically hostile; they’re just human-sized omnivores with no memory of civilized behavior, hyper-acute senses, and the intelligence of a chicken.  You can keep one soothed long enough to get them full of antibiotics — somehow — and that should at least give a victim a chance to recover. That’s important; but so is getting that lab back.  Caseus Belli was not the only thing being worked on in there.

Good luck!