D&D 5E Applying Poison?

Here is why I believe that the developers planned that poison lasts, and is effective, for 10 rds.

One vial of poison can coat 3 pieces of ammunition. If you shoot the piece and hit and do poison damage, does the poison coating the other two pieces of ammunition go away?
 

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Yes, using poison is inherently evil (if poison is Evil, as with traditional D&D worlds). Anything other than a straight-up, stand-there-and-swing-at-each-other fight is dishonorable, and putting something on your blade that isn't just your own fighting ability is the height of dishonor. The world of D&D is not a subtle or nuanced one. There are omnipotent beings that watch your every movement and hold judgment over you. If poison is Evil, then no technicality will allow you to bypass Cosmic Law.

If you wanted to incapacitate a guard, you could do that by simply striking to KO rather than kill.

But burning them with fire, or throwing acid in their faces -- that's A-OK.
 


This how I'd have worded the poison use.

A vial of poison can coat one greatsword (or any conbination of slashing or piercing weapons equaling a greatsword [ask you GM] or 10 ammo). One vial has one application and will be viable for one minute or 10 successful hits.

This way being higher levels with more attacks does change how poison works.

Using the word dose seems to make some peoples minds go into a downward spiral, so I'd avoid that word.
 

One of the things I've always hated about WotC was that in some parts of the game they seem to have a 'one size fits all' attitude about things.

Example from 3.5 was it cost 3000gp to have a dagger made out of adamatine but it also cost 3000gp to have a greatsword made out of adamantine. Pretty stupid since a dagger only weights 2 pounds so only needs a small amount of adamantine while geartsword needs considerably more.

Same with the one vial of poison can coat one dagger or one greatsword.
 


So I guess this thread is dead?
There's a spell for that! :)

Here's how I run poisons:

You can take an action to use one poison dose to coat one slashing or piercing weapon or up to three pieces of ammunition. To do so, you must make a Dexterity (Poisoner's kit tool) check with the poison's DC. If you fail, the dose (and the action) is wasted. If you fail by 5 or more, or if you roll a natural 1 and aren't proficient, you're subjected to the poison yourself.

Poison-using monsters and NPCs apply poison as part of their attack actions automatically, without risk of failing.

The poison takes effect if the hit deals any damage.

Each dose is enough for three hits (if applied to a weapon) or one hit each (if applied to ammunition). If not used within 10 rounds, the coating dries and is effectively destroyed.
 

To do so, you must make a Dexterity (Poisoner's kit tool) check with the poison's DC. If you fail, the dose (and the action) is wasted. If you fail by 5 or more, or if you roll a natural 1 and aren't proficient, you're subjected to the poison yourself.
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I guess you don't want Characters to use poison then, because sooner or later they will roll a 1

Removing Poison Use reduces the Rogues (Assassin) usefulness
 
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What is the Skill Check (Poison Kit) amount to apply the poison? Not the Save Roll; 10? 15? 20? 25?

DMG:
A character can instead attempt to harvest poison from a poisonous creature, such as a snake, wyvern, or
carrion crawler. The creature must be incapacitated or dead, and the harvesting requires 1d6 minutes followed
by a DC 20 Intelligence (Nature) check. (Proficiency with the poisoner's kit applies to this check if the
character doesn't have proficiency in Nature.) On a successful check, the character harvests enough poison
for a single dose. On a failed check, the character is unable to extract any poison. If the character fails the
check by 5 or more, the character is subjected to the creature's poison.

The PHB does not say the user of the Basic Poison has to make a check:
Poison, Basic. You can use the poison in this vial to coat one slashing or piercing weapon or up to three pieces of ammunition. Applying the poison takes an action. A creature hit by the poisoned weapon or ammunition must make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or take 1d4 poison damage. Once applied, the poison retains potency for 1 minute before drying.

Poison (p. 257). The description of ingested poison has a new sentence after the first: “The dose can be delivered in food or a liquid.”
The other three poison types have new descriptions:
Contact. Contact poison can be smeared on an object and remains potent until it is touched or washed off. A creature that
touches contact poison with exposed skin suffers its effects. Inhaled. These poisons are powders or gases that take effect
when inhaled. Blowing the powder or releasing the gas subjects creatures in a 5-foot cube to its effect. The resulting cloud
dissipates immediately afterward. Holding one’s breath is ineffective against inhaled poisons, as they affect nasal membranes, tear ducts, and other parts of the body.
Injury. Injury poison can be applied to weapons, ammunition, trap components, and other objects that deal piercing or
slashing damage and remains potent until delivered through a wound or washed off. A creature that takes piercing or slashing damage from an object coated with the poison is exposed to its effects.
 


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