Surprisingly, I found a short (1 A5 page) but positive review in Casus Belli #10.
Casus Belli is maybe the oldest rpg magazine in France and is in its 4th iteration since its creation in the 80's.
 

Yora wrote:

Mostly as an added complication for overland travel. Death isn't even a desires outcome, as far as I am concerned. If a charactet dies from bad luck, that isn't entertaining for everyone. But if the fighter has to carry the sick mage as the party is fleeing from angry natives or a priest has to instruct a thief how to perform a ritual to calm an insulted spirit, I think it adds a huge amount of flavor to the adventure.
Good thing you mentioned this. Whatever the rules, they shouldn't be too deadly or incapacitating on the PCs. (They are PCs, they are ment to carry on where normal people reach their limits.)

I agree with you. Also, you could just go with average diseases. For example, a flu can incapacitate for some days and sometime kill (not to mention the infamous Spanish one).

And seeing the examples you gave, I'm wondering if you also have a system to simulate injuries such as spained ankle, broken bones and such. 

But then, the problem would be to bring too much realism to the game and completely incapacitate the PCs.

Good point.
Instead of a 5th level Cleric, some magic item could do the trick to protect and/or cure its bearer (or just make him a healthy carrier).
Also, you'd have to check how those viruses/bacterias handle Hyperborea climate. Some may not survive.

But what is your goal with introducing such deadly disease in your campaign ? Finding a sure way to kill a PC without its player being able to do anything about it ? 

Yora wrote:

And that's my point.
My question is how to jump straight into the action while still retaining the simplicity of rules and gameplay that comes with 1st level characters.

No magic user in the group 

I have to admit that the new edition of D&D got me curious (didn't like the 3rd, didn't care for the 4th) and I'm pondering getting the starter set or just waiting for the free Basic D&D pdf they announced.
But I'd rather have WOTC release a new version of Al Qadim.

Ghul wrote:

Yes, that's right. The only thing that gives me pause is the very concept of dual-wielding while in a state of berserk rage. I see dual-wielding as requiring finesse and deliberate, tactical technique; berserk rage, to me, is the antithesis of this. So, I'm not sure I would allow it. Thoughts?

I can visualize a dual wielding berserk but it depends on the weapons he's using.
As a DM, I guess I would limit it to WC 1 weapons as they might be small and light enough to still feel instinctive while in rage.

Yora wrote:

Players and DM may make characters who are evil, but those characters would hardly see themselves as evil.

They might not describe themselves as evil but they surely know that they're neither good or neutral 

Regarding alignement, I agree with what Chainsaw posted and am thinking about some way to substitute alignement with a chosen deity instead to emphasize the religious faith of a character (and maybe granting some tone down cleric abilities to non cleric).
 

I've yet to run a game but, as your question makes me think about it and based on the games I'm used to GM, I think that I would just estimate a basic XP amount for the scenario, according its difficulty, plus some extra sources (treasures, interactions with NPC or such) to reward the curiosity of the players. Stat bonus would still apply.

Also, I'd be curious to try one of those arbitrary system such as "gain a level every X scenarios", with a coefficient to keep classes leveling at different pace.

Handy Haversack wrote:

But I'm not quite sure how to get my players on board!

Imho, as soon as they understand that everything required to complete a scenario will be available during that very scenario, they won't fear throwing their toys away. It's just part of the game economy, a give and take kind of thing.
Also, magic items being rare, you could have some other groups going after your PCs to loot those items they cherish so dearly. Even if they're low level, their HQ and items might just look like the perfect first adventure for a group of level 1 NPCs. I mean, they didn't think they were the only up and coming adventurers in Hyperborea, did they ? ;)

Thanks for those references, the last Disney I saw was Alladin at its theatre release.