Can poison kill?

[the Jester]

I think you have rightly discerned you set a bad precedent here, but if you want to play it by the book, the only solution is to say that her particular amulet is somehow special; i.e., it had an unknown power come to the fore, and that power is either now spent or is used up for x number of days.

Or just tell your players you made a mistake, and in the future you'll be ruling differently should the occasion arise. You might want to run with Henry's idea, though, since it spices up an otherwise pretty 'standard' item.

 

[Ionmancer]

0 Con means dead. The only item I can recall off the top of my head that would make you immune to poison is a Periapt of Proof Against Poison.

Remember this when dealing with poison, if the character is raised and the poison has not been neutralized upon regaining life the character would have to make another save. Poisons are real nasty when played properly. As long as they are in the blood stream and not neutralized they are still a danger.

I like the suggestion from Henry about an unknown power to get by this little ruling snafu and once used a single hidden charge of Cats Nine Lives on an item to explain why the character was still breathing.

 

[Henry]

"By the book" was a poor word choice. I meant, "If you wanted to let this stand & get back to 'by the book.'"

Oh, and CHA 0 is a coma-like stupor, by the book.

 

[Marimmar@Home]

It's no problem to rectify this little faux pas. I'll just inform them that in the future this won't work again and give them an explanation. My friends are pretty reasonable so it won't pose a problem.

Let's just say the cleric seems to have taken a bit less damage from the poison and we'll forget about the matter. Next time death's for real though.


~Marimmar

 

[Scion]

it may not fit very well in the thread, but we always treat any extra damage from poison to a stat that is now zero as being put onto con. This means that any poison could kill you given sufficient quantities.

 

[Hypersmurf]

I highly doubt, that Cha drain affects your appearance normally.

100% apathic probably? Cha is strength of personality, after all.

Among other things.

"Charisma measures a character’s force of personality, persuasiveness, personal magnetism, ability to lead, and physical attractiveness."

-Hyp.

 

[UltimaGabe]

By the rules, no, the golem would not have an increased Int score - you cannot increase what isn't there in the first place. You'd have to give the golem an Int score first before you could increase it. There's a difference between an ability score of 0, and a non-ability.

Exactly. It's like giving a Wizard a Phylactery of Undead Turning- sure, it lets them Turn Undead as a Cleric of four levels higher, but considering they can't Turn Undead to begin with, being four levels higher for it doesn't make any difference.

Anyway, just one clarification- while Constitution is the only score that kills you when it's reduced to 0, certain conditions for ability drain (such as a Shadow's Strength Drain) CAN kill you, even if it's not Con.

 

[BSF]

Actually, why wouldn't the cleric die from taking 14 points of Con damage?

The Amulet gives an enhancement of +2, but if the Base Con drops to 0, that +2 doesn't mean squat. The character is already dead and the enhancement no longer kicks in.

I admit that it is a bit harsh, but wouldn't that be an accurate read of the rules?

 

[Kirin'Tor]

Hmmm...BSF makes a good point, would the +2 Enhancement mean squat in an ability drain (or damage) situation?? I don't see any ruling on that in the books, tho I too would lean toward it not...

HyperSmurf, care to weigh in?

 

[Knight Otu]

As I read it - forget the 14 as long as you wear the amulet. As long as you wear the amulet, your Con score is, for all intents and purposes, 16. You don't continually take your old Con, then add the +2 from the amulet. You add the +2 from the amulet as soon as you put it on, and work from your new ability score.

So, with 14 points of ability damage, you would still be safe. Just don't take it off.