D&D 5E Poison Use

[Galendril]

I have a paladin/rogue in the group I'm running. He's starting to ask questions about poison. I've found pretty solid rules governing harvesting poison, but I'm concerned about the application part. He's already wielding a flame-tongue, can divine smite, and get sneak attack (under the proper conditions).

I'm thinking the flames on the flame-tongue will burn away any poisons applied. I know according to RAW, the item doesn't say it does that, but does everyone think that's reasonable?

Also, how long does purple worm poison last? Would the radiant damage from divine smite have any affect on the poison?

 

[bleezy]

Good call on the flametongue. You should not allow the PCs to apply poison to a flaming sword. I don't see why there would be a conflict with divine smite, unless there is a religious issue. A good deity might not allow its followers to divine smite w/ poison.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Adding poison, divine smite, and sneak attack all together sounds a bit much. I could see that going munchkiny really quickly.

I’d probably not allow poison damage to be added to a weapon that’s already got some sort of damage type going with it, but as the DM, that’s your call. Fire and cold are pretty straightforward, but I’d argue that even radiant and necrotic would damage the integrity of the poison, making it useless.

If there aren’t firm rules on how long poison lasts once applied, I’d just go with “until used or the party takes a short/long rest.”

 

[bleezy]

You could always pull out a reference like this: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/13774064

Tell your player that the radiant damage is so intense it breaks apart the proteins and enzymes in animal venom.

 

[Lidgar]

Player: "My Paladin/Rogue applies poison to his flametongue sword"

DM: "Your Paladin/Rogue is dismayed to see the poison burn away the moment the sword ignites, spreading a poisonous gas to all within 5 feet of it. Please roll a Constitution saving throw..."

 

[Fleetwood C. DeVille]

Also unless an NPC in the campaign has a purple worm farm, finding a reliable stock of high-end venom would be an adventure unto itself.

Hmmm...."purple worm farm".....

I CALL DIBS ON FRANCHISE RIGHTS!

 

[SunGold]

Your ruling on the flametongue is reasonable, but I don't see any conflict with divine smite and poison.

As for the purple worm poison, I'd just have the save DC degrade by a point or two per week from the moment of harvest.

 

[Greenstone.Walker]

Does the character have proficiency in a poisoners kit? If the answer is "no" then I'd flatly rule "You don't actually know how to poison a weapon without harming yourself or having the poison evaporate harmlessly." and "You don't actually know how to harvest poison without harming yourself ." and "You don't actually know how to process and/or store poison effectively."

Poison use on weapons is a pretty esoteric skill. A default ability roll isn't going to work.

 

[pming]

Hiya!

My players all know that using poison is "campaign wide commonality". This basically means that if they start using poison, monsters/NPC's start using it. If they start stocking up on anti-poison, monsters/NPC's start stocking up on anti-poison. I like to think of it as "mutually assured destruction". And, surprise surprise, poison has never ever been a 'thing' in any of my campaigns since about 1983 or so (a few years after I started my DM'ing role).

Another thing about poison 'harvesting' is very much a DM-style thing. A player can't just say "I gut the creature and take any valuable spell components", or "I skin it", or "I harvest it's poison"...and then expect to make a simple d20 roll. I'm more 'old skool' with my DM'ing. That basically means the player has to tell me exactly what he's looking for, and basically how he's doing it, and then maybe state a skill he wants to use that he thinks his character can use to get the job done.

Basically, the player needs to say "I'll use my skinning knife I bought last week. I clear an area to work in, put down my 5x5 oiled canvas, and take my time to cut it. I'm specifically interested in being able to have enough large area's to make a pair of fine boots. I have Nature Lore, Survival, and Animal Handling as proficiencies, and I did grow up on a farm". So, in a nut shell, I want to hear preparation, purpose, tools and skills. A player can say "I use my skinning knife I bought last week to skin it" if he wants to...and I'll ask for a Dex check with a DC 10. I'll then tell him how/what his character does and ends up with based on his roll (e.g., if he blows it and gets a 6, he "Quickly cuts it up and is done in 15 minutes, with about a dozen miss-matched pieces of skin he can use for knife sheeth's, maybe a make-shift belt, or a small belt-pouch"). If the player says "But I wanted to make boots!", too bad...his character obviously didn't think of that until after he was half-way done and already mangling the out of it.

If a player wants a specific result from success, he needs to give me specifics about how his character is trying to achieve that. Poison harvesting...same thing. If the character is a thief who grew up in the mean streets of Irongate, then there's a very high chance of not knowing what or how poison is generated in a purple worm...or even where to start looking. A paladin? Uh...less likely than the thief.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Galendril]

All great suggestions! I especially like the link to the information which states ultraviolet light breaks down enzymes/proteins necessary for poison.