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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LostSoul" data-source="post: 5435954" data-attributes="member: 386">Here's a thought.  Determine what the poison does.  It doesn't have to be death; it could be corruption of the mind - madness or domination.  (A Divine-magic infused poison?)  It could be corruption of the body - weakness or a sleeping sickness.  It could be contagious - he seems fine, but in reality he's a vessel for the zombie apocalypse.There are a lot of things that you can do with poison!Here's another thought.  For running the mechanical resolution of actions taken to acquire the antidote in the swamp, you might not want to go with the standard X successes before Y failures option.What you may want to do instead is determine where in the setting the antidote can be found.  (This can include multiple locations and probably should, though that's more complex.)  Then allow the players to determine their PC's actions.  Based on the actions of the PCs, determine what hazards they may face.This can easily be ad-libbed.  Wandering monsters, poison in the swamp, lizardfolk raids, disease, false antidotes, a lizardfolk camp, etc.If you want to structure it, draw a map.  Each hex has a specific hazard - and possibly a boon.  Place antidotes within the swamp.  As they travel, the PCs must negotiate the hazards of the swamp (from simply getting lost to any of the above - you can pre-build "wandering monsters" for each hex).  Success on their actions means that they come through (relatively) unharmed.  Failure triggers the consequences of the hazard.Time is also a factor.The distance between the starting position and the antidote(s) is your Complexity.  Each hex requires a check.  In this way you'll avoid some of the pitfalls of Skill Challenges. I would determine the results of the negotiation based on what the PCs actually say and do.  Failure could result in immediate attack, the lizardfolk closing the borders, going to war, simply asking the PCs to leave; success could mean requiring initiation rites, the payment of high-quality steel weapons and magic items, access to labour, etc.In order to set this up you'll need to know the motivations, goals, desires, disposition, and general worldview of the lizardfolk. If you find the third scenario boring, make sure to either resolve it quickly or put tension on the outcome of the encounter.  A lizardman raiding party may not be a match for the PCs, but if a few of them escape to warn others of the PC's actions... that could have dire consequences for the PCs (defending against hit-and-run attacks from lizardfolk in their home environment) and the PC's home community (war!).</blockquote>

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