Blow Darts

TaranTheWanderer · Jan 20, 2019

I'm making a game where halflings are a pygmy race that lives in the jungle. I was thinking that each type would be from a different, feuding, tribe/nation. I was going to give Stout halflings free poisoner's kit proficiency and blow darts.

Any ideas of how to make blow darts cool? I was thinking 1d2 damage but, if you miss on an ambush, you can stay hidden. I think that's the same as a feat in the phb.

Then I feel I need to give something to the Lightfoot halfling that would be thematically appropriate. Obviously, given their ability to hide, setting ambushes would be a specialty....Hunter's Trap?

Nothing too powerful but something that gives some flavour.

thoughts?

MechaPilot · Jan 20, 2019

The best way to make blowdarts cool is yo make cool poisons to deliver with the darts. The PHB says a blowdart does 1 piercing damage, but that seems like kind of a lot for a blowdart. I'd have the darts do no damage, and have them exclusively do damage by delivering poisons.

Larrin · Jan 20, 2019

My thought on blowdarts that I've considered pitching to a dm is that the standard ammo for it is already poisoned, as there is no reason to fire a non-poisoned dart. The standard poisoned dart is long storage stable and does 1d4 poison damage + dex piercing damage. (the poison triggers on a hit even if dex bonus is 0 or less) If fired from a +1 blowgun you get the +1 to hit but the damage becomes 1d6 poison +dex piercing. you can also buy darts that have a base 1d6 poison as they are essentially +1 ammo, so the cost and availability are similar to that of a +1 arrow. Similar story for +2, +3 and 1d8, 1d10 poison. Maybe 1d4 is too low and the base should be 1d6. I waver back and forth on that point.

WhosDaDungeonMaster · Jan 20, 2019

There is definitely reason not to have darts pre-poisoned! I would keep darts at 1 damage since historically they were used for hunting small game as well as combat. The darts by themselves are enough to kill small beasts, etc. as many have 1 hp. Either way, if you add Dex mod as well, I would limit it to +1. I have all weapons limited damage mod by maximum base damage determined by die type. So, a dagger is limited to +4 damage due to mod because it is a 1d4, etc., since a blowgun dart is only 1, it could to 2 with the +1 maximum mod adjustment, 3 on a critical hit.

Anyway, handling poison tipped on a dart is risky and I don't think they should be standard issue. Making it a proficiency check using the poison kit with Int for crafting the poison and Dex for applying it. You could rule the poison damage like trap damage maybe or a bit lower than that. Also having effects like sleep, paralysis, stunning, drugging and so on works well with the DC's from 10-20 as you want. If you are crafting the poison then the DC could be set by the poison crafting check.

The feat is Skulker. If you make a ranged attack while hidden and miss, you remain hidden.

aco175 · Jan 20, 2019

Double blowgun, not to forgotten when the triple blowgun is developed. Barbed dart, war dart- not sure you can improve the 1 point damage dart. I would think the main thing is poison. Maybe this tribe can find poison automatically that does the 1d4 or 1d6 even. Rangers and such can make 1d8 or maybe 1d10 poison. Maybe the tribe is immune to the lesser versions of the poison. Fast loading darts or they may be ammo with no loading property.

MNblockhead · Jan 20, 2019

The use of poison with blowgun darts was not known in the new world, so blow guns are certainly effective against small animals without poison. But as a weapon to be used against people you pretty much need to use poison or magic. That said, the Cherokee method of hunting with blowguns was to hit the animal in the eye. I can imagine that a dart to the eye as part of a sneak attack would give advantage in the resulting combat, though I'm unsure what the best way to model this with 5e rules would be.

As for not travelling with pre-poisoned darts, that depends on the poison, but people would gravitate towards those poisons that could be pre-applied and remain potent for a long time. Yellow poison dart frog poison can be applied to darts and remain potent for up to a year.

The real issue with poisoned weapons IRL is that the poison doesn't act fast enough to make it particularly useful in one on one melee combat. It is good for assassination attempts or as a form of biological warfare against large armies (i.e. dipping arrows into dirt, putrid corpses, or poisons to cause on going death and disablement in enemy forces). But it just doesn't act quickly enough. You may have delivered enough poison to kill your foe, but he may cut you down before he succumbs himself.

But in D&D's fantasy world there is "poison" damage that causes immediate damage. Poisons work differently in a world with magic I suppose.

TaranTheWanderer · Jan 20, 2019

So, your suggestions have given me a couple ideas. How about this:

With proficiency in poisoner's kit, a blow gun does 1pnt(as listed in PHB) of POISON damage. You need a long rest to re-apply/make the poison.

In lieu of poison damage, if you hit, you may elect to have your opponent make a con save = to 8+proficiency in Poisoner's kit+INT. If they fail, they are poisoned for a number of rounds equal to the amount of damage you replace.

So, to start, they'd be poisoned for 1rnd. If you take more time and make a more toxic poison that does, say, 1d3 damage, they are poisoned for 1d3 rounds.

My idea is to just give the Stout halflings proficiency in poisoner's kit.

As far as poisoning yourself, I think that if you are proficient in the kit, you are very unlikely to hurt yourself. I'd only make someone who has no proficiency make a check to poison themselves.
[MENTION=6796661]MNblockhead[/MENTION] In a fantasy game, having poison do a bit of damage could be partially from the dart or creating a localized bit of minor damage. having a very short term 'poisoned' condition could be from hives or itching or intense pain or whatever might distract or cause disadvantage.

TaranTheWanderer · Jan 20, 2019

Double-post: The player playing the druid halfling asked that, if he turned in to a venomous snake, could he extract poison from himself?

Thoughts?

Quickleaf · Jan 20, 2019

TaranTheWanderer said:
Double-post: The player playing the druid halfling asked that, if he turned in to a venomous snake, could he extract poison from himself?

Thoughts?

Not on his own. Watch a youtube video on how its done. There's a lot of physical manipulation being done to the snake by a skilled animal handler.

TaranTheWanderer said:
I'm making a game where halflings are a pygmy race that lives in the jungle. I was thinking that each type would be from a different, feuding, tribe/nation. I was going to give Stout halflings free poisoner's kit proficiency and blow darts.

Any ideas of how to make blow darts cool? I was thinking 1d2 damage but, if you miss on an ambush, you can stay hidden. I think that's the same as a feat in the phb.

Then I feel I need to give something to the Lightfoot halfling that would be thematically appropriate. Obviously, given their ability to hide, setting ambushes would be a specialty....Hunter's Trap?

Nothing too powerful but something that gives some flavour.

thoughts?

I never implemented any house rule, but I did have a group of goblins using blowguns which had time delayed poisons (not like 5e's instant poisons). If you removed a blowgun dart within a round of getting hit, the poison didn't enter your bloodstream. So the goblins attempted to shoot the PCs up with multiple darts to make it harder to get rid of them all. Kinda modeling those movies where the protagonist pulls the dart out, and then goes down on the second dart. You could adapt something along those lines.

MechaPilot · Jan 20, 2019

TaranTheWanderer said:
So, your suggestions have given me a couple ideas. How about this:

With proficiency in poisoner's kit, a blow gun does 1pnt(as listed in PHB) of POISON damage. You need a long rest to re-apply/make the poison.

In lieu of poison damage, if you hit, you may elect to have your opponent make a con save = to 8+proficiency in Poisoner's kit+INT. If they fail, they are poisoned for a number of rounds equal to the amount of damage you replace.

So, to start, they'd be poisoned for 1rnd. If you take more time and make a more toxic poison that does, say, 1d3 damage, they are poisoned for 1d3 rounds.

My idea is to just give the Stout halflings proficiency in poisoner's kit.

As far as poisoning yourself, I think that if you are proficient in the kit, you are very unlikely to hurt yourself. I'd only make someone who has no proficiency make a check to poison themselves.

[MENTION=6796661]MNblockhead[/MENTION] In a fantasy game, having poison do a bit of damage could be partially from the dart or creating a localized bit of minor damage. having a very short term 'poisoned' condition could be from hives or itching or intense pain or whatever might distract or cause disadvantage.

Poison can also be effective for hit-and-run tactics. While I'm not a doctor, I can easily imagine that hitting a target with poison and then being chased by that poisoned target can help the poison circulate through the target's system quicker.