Gahk! I've been poisoned! (THUD.)

[Roland Delacroix]

Quick question, how do you tell if you've been poisoned? Are there any indicators? Does the slash of a poisoned blade burn? The tea taste funny? Etc?

I'm playing a Ninja and just picked up Poison Use. I intent to max Craftoison and get the most out of it, so knowing how people react is pretty important. Is it a Spot check? Wisdom check? vs what DC? I cant seem to find any rules on it, so any comments/opinions are welcomed. Obviouslly i'm hoping noone notices until the primary effect kicks in, if then. Hey, they might just think they are sick.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Even ebola doesn't do damage immediately... if you use a deadly poison, they'll notice.

As for how hard is it to detect, this is really difficult. It depends on the dosage, etc. If you use a really strong poison, they might say "this tea tastes funny..." THUD! (Note that poison, in real life, never kills instantly, not even the really poisonous beta alkaloids, so its possible to save someone.)

If your leg goes numb after being stabbed by a dagger, it's probably been poisoned.

 

[Magus_Jerel]

I would call for a heal check to determine wether or not someone was poisioned. The DC is probably just a flat 15, although knowing WHAT poison is afflicting you is a different matter.

There is also the detect poison spell; which allows you to determine such information without a heal check.

BTW - technically speaking - the skill you are looking for is not "Craft - Poison" it is part and parcel of Alchemy.

 

[RogueJK]

BTW - technically speaking - the skill you are looking for is not "Craft - Poison" it is part and parcel of Alchemy.

Actually, it appears that, as he said, he is playing a Ninja. This would lead me to believe that he is using the Rokugan campaign setting book, in which a new use for the Craft skill is introduced: Craft (Poison). It even provides a table of DCs for creating various poisons. And Ninja don't have Alchemy as a class skill, so they wouldn't be very good at it if Alchemy was used instead of Craft.

And where are you seeing that the Alchemy skill is used to make poison? The only thing poison-related that is mentioned with Alchemy is identifying poison. It was my understanding that the core rules don't include a skill or mechanic for creating poison, so most 3rd-party products have their own way of handling it. Most of the time, this is with a Craft (Poison) or (Poisonmaking) check.

[Edit] In Song & Silence, WotC describes their way of handling poison creation, which is with a Craft (Poisonmaking) check. They provide a list of the common poisons, their effects, their cost, and their creation DCs. See page 25 of S&S. [/Edit]

 

[hong]

Even ebola doesn't do damage immediately... if you use a deadly poison, they'll notice.

Ebola isn't a poison, it's a disease. Actually, the description of "slimy doom" in the DMG, p.75 sounds like it could serve as an ebola-lookalike in a pinch.

 

[med stud]

If you use cyanid, the opponent will notice the poison in like 40 seconds, when he stands in front of the gates of Valhalla

 

[AGGEMAM]

If you use cyanid, the opponent will notice the poison in like 40 seconds, when he stands in front of the gates of Valhalla

Not if he made the save!!

 

[med stud]

That's true, AGGEMAN; I wonder how it would look if someone saved vs cyanide? Does he take a breath of the gas, and then just steel himself against the Cyanide groups who are taking the place of iron in his cell breathing? I guess it's easier not to consider reallity in D&D

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Cyanide victims have two methods of surviving

#1: Hyperventilating. I'm not kidding.
#2: Drinking ferrous hydroxide.
A paranoid king carries Fe(OH)2 wherever he goes.

About ebola: both diseases and poisons make you feel cruddy, but poisons are often faster. If you used a realistic, long-term poison, people might think its disease.

 

[med stud]

Ive heard that arsenic poisoning is very much like hepatite. But in D&D, arsenic is kind of lame...