A lot of things can go wrong in Dragon’s Dogma 2. Just last night, I encountered a minotaur while working through a main quest, who whopped my ass three times without fail in one of the most frustratingly hilarious encounters I’ve had thus far. While there are plenty of emergent moments like this that’ll surely leave you shook, there’s also a mysterious affliction you can run into that exclusively affects your Pawns, and it’s causing mayhem both in the game’s world, as well as in the online community surrounding it.

Dragonsplague is a mysterious illness that only your AI companions can develop. As the name suggests, Pawns initially contract the contagious virus by coming into contact with one of those big-ass flying lizards in the world, and as the game’s pop-up message indicates, “devastating calamity” will ensue if you don’t deal with it on the onset. What do I mean here? Well, if any of your Pawns become afflicted with Dragonsplague—either through close proximity with a dragon or with another Pawn that has the disease—then that companion will eventually turn into a shadowy dragon after resting at an inn and kill everyone in the area. And I do mean everyone, including important merchants and quest-givers. It sucks because outside of a few telltale signs—pulsing red eyes, body fatigue and headaches, and insubordination—it’s very easy to disregard the possibility that your main or hired Pawn has the ick.

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This disease is currently the bane of Dragon’s Dogma 2 players’ existences. From Reddit to Twitter, folks are discoursing over the dragon cooties. Some have posted warnings about the disease, saying Dragonsplague “bricked” their save file because the infected Pawn turned into a Yu-Gi-Oh-like Red-Eyes Black Dragon and went utterly ballistic. Others have called it “the most batshit insane mechanic ever” and “a horrible idea” because of the extensive consequences it leaves in its wake. One redditor went as far as saying the illness initially “ruined” their experience until they learned how to deal with it because, if you didn’t know, you can actually deal with it. According to redditor lightningbutt, if you fast-forward the game by a week or so, either through resting at an inn or sitting on a bench, then “everyone (side and main quest NPCs) [will] respawn,” allowing you to continue your journey uninterrupted. Thank God; I couldn’t imagine everyone dying just because I ignored my Pawn’s cold.

Anyway, features like this are what makes Dragon’s Dogma 2 a special game. There are mechanics here that have actual consequences on you and the world, giving it a sense of realism by making you just another character in the world despite being the protagonist. Dragon’s Dogma 2 doesn’t care about your heroism. It’ll beat your ass and laugh in your face should you disregard its many interlocking systems. And that is what I love most about this high-fantasy action RPG. So, yeah, Dragonsplague might be a literal plague, but it’s also a cool way to breathe life into the world. If anything, there are ways to deal with it, so not all is lost if any Pawns get infected. Just find some other Pawn to pass the sickness onto and let them worry about the consequences. Or, if you’re really sadistic, just kill them and you’ll “cure” their Dragonsplague as well!