BACKGROUND: the most common sport among American soldiers during the Civil War was lice-racing. As in, having lice run races.
See, the majority of Civil War soldiers had lice. It was considered unusual to NOT have lice at any point in your military career. So while men were “skirmishing” with lice (picking them out of their clothes one by one) they would set aside the biggest, most badass lice.
Then they’d keep those super-lice for racing and gambling. Soldiers brought out their mess plates, and all the participating lice would be put in the center of the plates at the same time. The winner was the one who ran/jumped off the plate first.
Soldiers made bets on which louse (that’s the singular for lice) would win the race. Both sides of the war participated in this sport.
FOR CDDA: perhaps we could incorporate lice as a disease/illness into the game. Say you sleep in wool clothing, sleep outside in warm swamps, and never wash. You can get lice! Yay! Or better yet, NUCLEAR BLOOD-SUCKING LICE!
How would it feel to have nuclear lice? My, oh my… constant itching from bites, mild radiation, perhaps some lice-given typhus for !!fun!!
Even better, I wonder if becoming infested by irradiated lice would gradually… turn you into a louse? Or an insect? Perhaps have a craving for fresh blood? HMMMMMM…
For source, see
http://www.montana.edu/historybug/civilwar2/lousy.html (on Civil War lice) and https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/body-lice/symptoms-causes/syc-20350310 (on epidemic typhus & louse feeding patterns).
Honorable mention: these “Angel’s Glow” parasites might be fun in CDDA too… they healed soldiers of infections! Literally! See http://www.civilwarmed.org/parasites/ and https://www.ars.usda.gov/news-events/news/research-news/2001/students-may-have-answer-for-faster-healing-civil-war-wounds-that-glowed/
What do y’all think? What other insects/microbes might make good diseases? I’d love to see more illnesses in this game to make first aid a more useful skill outside of bionics.