Pathfinder 1E Is there a potion, elixir or spell that...

[Paraxis]

I like to run story based games too. The point is I like to incorporate the setting rules into the story so that it makes sense in the world. A king would have access to a caster or minor magic item that detects poison and or casts purify food and drink, so I wouldn't try and kill him that way. Maybe the king has a deadly nut allergy and that is what is used to kill him, the spells don't detect nuts or remove them. Ground up glass is another way to go. But in a world with raise dead and true resurrection magic items that trap the soul or kidnapping him and feeding his body to a barghest are two great ways that he can not be brought back.

I just like to think about how magic changes the world the players live in and use that in my stories, Eberron does a good job of this as a setting. Villages don't have to worry about not having clean water for example if they have one cleric of first level at the temple he can make pure clean drinking water all day long, the food that goes bad sitting in the grainery no problem the cleric can fix that.

 

[Greenfield]

Unsure of how this works in Pathfinder, but in 3.0 and 3.5 the spell Hero's Feast grants poison immunity for 12 hours.

What makes it fit your scenario is that the immunity is specifically granted by the golden nectar provided in the meal. So, prepare a Feast in another area, then bring a glass of the "white wine" to the food taster, or whoever you want to be immune (You get one dose per caster level).

By the way, if I'm a King, I have a Periapt of Prof Against Poison. Same for any nobleman. Pricey at 27k? Yeah. To a man with the money, the position and rival or an ambitious heir? Priceless.

Also consider that the King may have had a Hero's Feast of his own for lunch. Poison wouldn't work until after midnight.

Now eating the rest of the Feast provides nourishment for the full day, which might spoil someone's appetite or dinner. Look for people who seem to pick at their food.

 

[PFBeginner.com]

I guess if someone reasons that a king would have a cleric on hand to bless the food, you could have that cleric be the bad guy

 

[MarkB]

I guess if someone reasons that a king would have a cleric on hand to bless the food, you could have that cleric be the bad guy

Indeed - or have him be the obvious suspect, but actually the poisoning was carried out in the short interval between the detection/purification spells' casting and the meal's consumption. Maybe an invisible assassin snuck up and sprinkled the poison in just after the spells were cast, or maybe the perpetrator was a wizard who distracted the diners with a Ghost Sound whilst using Mage Hand to surreptitiously administer the poison.

 

[paradox42]

Unsure of how this works in Pathfinder, but in 3.0 and 3.5 the spell Hero's Feast grants poison immunity for 12 hours.

To be sure there are no misunderstandings about this, the PF version grants a +4 morale bonus on saves against Poison and Fear for 12 hours, not blanket immunity. PF removed most of the "blanket immunity" effects in similar fashion, actually- Mind Blank is another example, now granting +8 to all saves against Mind-Affecting effects rather than total immunity.

I have no further comments, since others have already said what I would say. Just wanted that little detail laid out for all to see. Carry on.

 

[Tuft]

It feels like it would be a much more intriguing scenario if a crime takes place *in spite* of all possible precautions. Just *how* were the safeguards bypassed?

 

[Paraxis]

If you still want to use poison have something not at the table when those spells would be cast be the delivery method.

The valet could have used poison foot powder earlier in the evening when he got his dress boots on, and the poison has a delayed onset time do to having to be adsorbed through the skin.

After dinner once the priest has made his exit and only the trusty man servant with detect poison magic item is around, have the king and select guests share a brandy. The brandy itself is not poisoned and that is what the magic item is used on, but the glass that the king is handed was dipped in poison earlier.

Exotic dancers brought in for entertainment as part of the show they pour wine down themselves and into the kings mouth, they brought the wine with them and no one thought to check it for poison because it was an unexpected part of the show.

But whatever you do just make sure you are aware of all the PC resources that could help the king before during and after the assassination. Lots of times speak with dead ruins a good mystery, or as above raise dead kind of makes the whole thing pointless, heal, paladin mercy's, ect...

 

[Nigh Invulnerable]

If you're the DM, just invent a potion that grants immunity to poisons for a short span. Seems simple. Make it useable by PCs and such if they get their hands on some, and it'll make them think you're playing fair. Maybe have it only grant immunity to poisons if you're exposed AFTER consumption, so players can't just horde them as "Remove Poison" options. Or give them a limited shelf life too.

 

[Marshall Gatten]

Why would a king have a food taster in the first place? Detect Poison is a 0 level spell pretty much on everyone's spell list. Purify Food and Drink is a 0 level spell for all clerics, surely the king will have a religious adviser who blesses all his meals, especially at a large banquet .

Why has that never occurred to me in 30 years of playing this game? Of course! I've used the shortcomings of food tasters in my scenarios before. They can be untrustworthy, and they can't detect a slow poison. If a paranoid VIP doesn't trust them and is known to use multiple tasters, then you can also sometimes slip a two-part poison by them.

Employing a cheap level-1 cleric or druid to say a quick prayer over each meal is not only a more reliable solution, but it even fits perfectly with the genre. You could even suggest (if you want to screw with your player's mind by feeding them false real-world information) that the real-world belief that this would work is where the real-life tradition of saying grace came from. It's extremely believable, and therefore a solid story element.

Thanks for that!

 

[Brainwatch]

This is thew King we're talking about, the plot to kill him is far more involved than just a glass of poisoned wine. Sustenance A is fed to the guests in the diner meal. By itself it is nontoxic, so detect poison and purify drink will not affect it. Substance B is slipped into the after diner drink. B is also nontoxic so it too slips by the detection and purification spells. When A is mixed with B, in the presence of an acid the results are catastrophic. My personal favorite is that the reaction is explosive and the victim literally explodes shortly after ingesting the second ingredient. This would avoid any proof against poison items the king may have on. And all the servant had to do to avoid this fate is not taste both items. Surely the King has more than one taster on the payroll. The Bad guy tasted the diner, than found a reason to be replaces by taster 2 who ate a safe diner, but tasted the bad drink. King explodes but both tasters lived.