D&D 5E (2014) Applying Poison

[Sacrosanct]

You do realize that there is no neutralize poison in 5E. Lesser restoration can end the poisoned condition. If you notice in the DMG there is also no poison with an onset time listed. Finally, many monsters depend on poison for their damage output. Without such damage being a real factor in a short term fight, the CR of these monsters will be way more than they are worth in XP.

If the poison damage is ongoing, that infers that the target is poisoned. And that means they also suffer disadvantage. Taking poison damage instantly and immediately, and then "Heyo! I'm perfectly fine and not affected anymore!" five seconds later doesn't work me lol. I don't know any poison in the world that acts that way.

 

[bgbarcus]

In my game there is no single rule for poison. A wide variety of types of poison exist and most of them have no immediate effects. There are also fast acting poisons for use in combat but the most dangerous are those that take effect hours or days later. The last time one of those poisons came into the game, most of the party was affected after they had left town (where the assassin who was serving their drinks poisoned them). They were in the wilderness and violent illness started running through the group (they'd ingested belladonna). The role playing for how they dealt with this mysterious problem was as good as I'd hoped.

I also dislike any poison that does not also inflict the poisoned condition. Even if a monster's poison bite doesn't deal much extra damage, the victim can expect to be poisoned for some number of rounds or minutes afterward.

 

[CapnZapp]

There was some serious murderhobo potential there. No hobos would be truly safe.

Wait what?