Poison & Sedatives

Poison

This is an all-too-frequent hazard faced by player characters. Bites, stings, deadly potions, drugged wines, and bad food all await characters at the hands of malevolent wizards, evil assassins, hideous monsters, and incompetent innkeepers. Spiders, snakes, centipedes, scorpions, wyverns, and some giant frogs all have poisons deadly to characters. Wise heroes quickly learn to respect and fear such creatures.

The strength of different poisons varies wildly and is frequently overestimated. The bite of the greatly feared black widow spider kills a victim in the United States once every other year. Only about 2% of all rattlesnake bites prove fatal.

At the other extreme, there are natural poisons of intense lethality. Fortunately, such poisons tend to be exotic and rare--the golden arrow-poison frog, the western taipan snake, and the stone fish all produce highly deadly poisons.

Further, the effect of a poison depends on how it is delivered. Most frequently, it must be injected into the bloodstream by bite or sting. Other poisons are effective only if swallowed; assassins favor these for doctoring food. By far the most deadly variety, however, is contact poison, which need only touch the skin.

The Poison Strength table rates poisons for three different factors--method, onset, and strength. Those poisons which commonly appear in the game, such as that delivered by the sting of a giant centipede, are given a specific rating for convenience. Poisons are not listed by name here, since this is neither a scientific text nor a primer on the deadly nature of many plants and animals.

Poison Strength

Class	Method	Onset	Strength
A	Injected	10d3 rounds	15/0
B	Injected	2d6 rounds	20/1-3
C	Injected	1d4+1 rounds	25/2-8
D	Injected	1d2 rounds	30/2-12
E	Injected	Immediate	Death/20
F	Injected	Immediate	Death/0
G	Ingested	2d6 hours	20/10
H	Ingested	1d4 hours	20/10
I	Ingested	2d6 rounds	30/15
J	Ingested	1d4 rounds	Death/20
K	Contact	2d4 rounds	5/0
L	Contact	2d4 rounds	10/0
M	Contact	1d4 rounds	20/5
N	Contact	1 round	Death/25
O	Injected	2d12 rounds	Paralytic
P	Injected	1d3 hours	Debilitative

Method: The method is the new way in which the poison must normally be used to have full effect. Injected and ingested have no effect on contact. Contact poisons have full effect even if swallowed or injected, since both are forms of contact. Injected or ingested poisons have half their normal effect if administered in the opposite manner, resulting in the save damage being applied if the saving throw is failed and no damage occurring if the saving throw is successful.

Onset: Most poisons require time to work their way through the system to reach the areas they affect. Onset is the time that elapses before the poison's effect is felt. The effect of immediate poisons is felt at the instant the poison is applied.

Strength: The number before the slash lists the hit points of damage suffered if the saving throw is failed. The number after the slash lists the damage taken (if any) if the saving throw is successful. Where "death" is listed, all hit points are immediately lost, killing the victim. Note that in some cases a character may roll a successful saving throw and still die from the hit point loss.

Not all poisons need cause damage. Two other common effects of poison are to paralyze or debilitate a victim.

Paralytic poisons leave the character unable to move for 2d6 hours. His body is limp, making it difficult for others to move him. The character suffers no other ill effects from the poison, but his condition can lead to quite a few problems for his companions.

Debilitating poisons weaken the character for 1d3 days. All of the character's ability scores are reduced by half during this time. All appropriate adjustments to attack rolls, damage, Armor Class, etc., from the lowered ability scores are applied during the course of the illness. In addition, the character moves at one-half his normal movement rate. Finally, the character cannot heal by normal or magical means until the poison is neutralized or the duration of the debilitation is elapsed.

Sedatives

Sedatives are ingested poisons that disable, rather than injure, a character. A sedative can be administered in food or drink, with different rates and effects:

Method	Onset	Weakness	Duration
Eaten	4d10 rounds	1d6 rounds	2d6 hours
Drunk	2d6 rounds	1d6 rounds	1d4 hours

Sedatives are treated as regular poisons, except that their first effect is a period of weakness when all ability scores and the character's movement rate are reduced to half. This lasts 1d6 rounds, after which the character saves vs. poison. Failure renders him unconscious. Success means that the weakness lasts for another hour. The character then saves each hour, with the weakness remaining until a successful save is made.

Poison Gases

Poison Gases are rare, expensive, and highly dangerous. A typical dose is a clay or glass jar weighing 5 pounds. If the jar is shattered or opened, gas fills a 10' x 10' x 10' cube. It disperses after one round unless contained on all sides. The gas lasts for 2d6 turns in an enclosed room; 2d6 rounds in a room with at least one open door, window, arrow slit, etc.

It might be possible for creative players to create larger doses of poison gas, but such lethal devices are left to the DM's discretion.

Poison gases generally have the effects of poison type D, taking effect after one or two minutes, inflicting 30 points of damage (2d6 with a successful save). The damage is inflicted each turn the character breathes the gas.

An extremely lethal poison gas is reputed to exist, similar to poison type J (onset in 1d4 rounds, causes death or 20 points of damage with save).

Unlike injected or ingested poisons, however, poison gas does not remain in a character's system after death. Thus, attempts to raise characters who have perished this way do not have to contend with the venom in the character's system.

Treating Poison Victims (Poison Antidotes & Healing)

Fortunately, there are many ways a character can be treated for poison. Several spells exist that either slow the onset time, enabling the character the chance to get further treatment, or negate the poison entirely.

However, cure spells (including Heal) do not negate the progress of a poison, and the Neutralize Poison spell doesn't recover hit points already lost to the effects of poison. In addition, characters with the Herbalism proficiency can take steps to reduce the danger poison presents to player characters.

A character with Healing proficiency is able to aid poisoned individuals. See the healing proficiency section for more information on caring for poisoned individuals and antidotes.

Creating New Poisons

Using the three basic characteristics--method, onset, and strength--and bearing in mind the debilitating and paralyzing effects of some poisons, it is possible to create new varieties. However, always introduce poisons and poisonous creatures with great care, especially when dealing with low-level characters. Unlike most other ways a character can be hurt, the life or death of a poisoned character often depends on a single die roll. It is essential that characters be treated fairly, or their players will quickly lose interest in the game.