Do poisons stack?
- Thread starter Arravis
- Start date
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Kemrain
First Post
I'd never thought about this before. It had been intuative to me. "Of course they stack, it's poison." But, now that I stop and think about it, while reevaluating the situation, I have come up against some opposition.
Venoms stack, as getting 2 snake bites is by far more deadly, but what about poisons?
Inhaled and ingested toxins aren't exactly like venom. For one, they both go to one place, every time, and desseminate from there. Inhaled attacks your lungs and enters yout bloodstream from there, while ingested toxins attack your digestive system, entering the bloodstream from there. In these situations, adding more poison might not have the same effect as adding more venom, at least not in the timeframe of combat.
Breaking it down to the rules, though, I think it makes good sense that you can be poisoned more than once. Ever been stung by a swarm of bees? Multiple poisonings. But while ingested and inhaled toxins may not act the same as venoms, and I make no claims of knowing exactly how they act after they're in you, I think the rules on the subject make sense, and streamline the subject enough that it can be used in combat without slowing the gameplay.
- Kemrain the Aspiring Toxicologist.
Venoms stack, as getting 2 snake bites is by far more deadly, but what about poisons?
Inhaled and ingested toxins aren't exactly like venom. For one, they both go to one place, every time, and desseminate from there. Inhaled attacks your lungs and enters yout bloodstream from there, while ingested toxins attack your digestive system, entering the bloodstream from there. In these situations, adding more poison might not have the same effect as adding more venom, at least not in the timeframe of combat.
Breaking it down to the rules, though, I think it makes good sense that you can be poisoned more than once. Ever been stung by a swarm of bees? Multiple poisonings. But while ingested and inhaled toxins may not act the same as venoms, and I make no claims of knowing exactly how they act after they're in you, I think the rules on the subject make sense, and streamline the subject enough that it can be used in combat without slowing the gameplay.
- Kemrain the Aspiring Toxicologist.
Pielorinho
Iron Fist of Pelor
Well, looking at it from a point of view of realism, the important thing to remember is this:
D&D Poison rules are a crock of poo.
In the Real World, the fastest-acting snake venom (that of the Black Mamba) takes at least a half-hour to kill an adult human. Other natural poisons take similarly long amounts of time to kill their victims. D&D poisons, running their entire course in one single minute, are completely fantasy creations.
That said, KaeYoss has the right of it when he says that the dosage makes the poison. Presumably, the more times you're hit by a poisoned attack, the more of the poison you get in you. And the more poison you have in you, the worse off you are. D&D rules do model this pretty accurately.
One fun houserule I use: if a poison reduces any ability score besides Con to zero, any excess damage is done to Con. A character with a strength of 8 and a Con of 14 may take 10 points of strength damage from a given poison; by my rules, he ends up with a strength of 0 and a con of 12. Makes all poisons deadly and dangerous to use; makes them no longer the perfect tool for humane captures.
Daniel
D&D Poison rules are a crock of poo.
In the Real World, the fastest-acting snake venom (that of the Black Mamba) takes at least a half-hour to kill an adult human. Other natural poisons take similarly long amounts of time to kill their victims. D&D poisons, running their entire course in one single minute, are completely fantasy creations.
That said, KaeYoss has the right of it when he says that the dosage makes the poison. Presumably, the more times you're hit by a poisoned attack, the more of the poison you get in you. And the more poison you have in you, the worse off you are. D&D rules do model this pretty accurately.
One fun houserule I use: if a poison reduces any ability score besides Con to zero, any excess damage is done to Con. A character with a strength of 8 and a Con of 14 may take 10 points of strength damage from a given poison; by my rules, he ends up with a strength of 0 and a con of 12. Makes all poisons deadly and dangerous to use; makes them no longer the perfect tool for humane captures.
Daniel
Camarath
Pale Master Tarrasque
IRL posions work in two ways either they cause directly cause tissue damage (cuastic or reactive chemicals, myotoxins, some neurotoxins) or they inhibit some internal bodily systems or functions (depressants, stimulants, most medications, some neurotoxins). The first kind cuase some damage reguardless of the dosage. The second kind are benign unless a sufficient quantity is administered. Many poisons both cause tissue damage and have inhibitory effects. Almost any chemical that reacts to organic matter can be poisonous if the dosage is sufficiently high. D&D can not simulate real biological and chemical systems becuase they are too complex. Instead D&D takes real world concepts and translates them into a very simplistic system. This system also tries to incorporate playability and game balance. I feel that in D&D, poisons are useful without being overly powerful.
If you want more realistic poisons try some house rules. For example some poisons could have no save or a tiered DC based on dosage; some poison could continue doing damage for longer periods of time or only once; some could do perment ability damage; some could be save vs death; some poisons could allow the victim to gain a bonus (+1?) for every successful save to resist that particular poison.
If you want more realistic poisons try some house rules. For example some poisons could have no save or a tiered DC based on dosage; some poison could continue doing damage for longer periods of time or only once; some could do perment ability damage; some could be save vs death; some poisons could allow the victim to gain a bonus (+1?) for every successful save to resist that particular poison.
Hypersmurf
Moderatarrrrh...
Poisons always stack better if you store them in jars, rather than vials.
-Hyp.
-Hyp.
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