Poisons? You're kidding right?

[direkobold]

So I'm paging through the DMG and I hit poisons. Of course I want to know what the most powerful poison is. Well here it is:

Pit Toxin: Level 25 Poison
156,250 gp
+28 vs. Fortitude; ongoing 15 poison damage and weakened (save ends both)

Your kidding right? I mean I've just spent enough money to found a city, and on average I'm not even going to be able to take out a first level character?

I understand why you may need special rules for poison, in combat (monster venom, poisoned weapons, etc.) but couldn't they have made poison (or at least some out of combat poisons) work like diseases? The way they work is actually pretty cool.

I was going to just play 4E as is, before making any house rules, but this may have to jump to the head of the line.

 

[Zurai]

You can easily model slower-acting poisons using the disease model (which I agree is awesome - one of the few things I wholeheartedly love about 4E).

 

[Surgoshan]

The tarrasque's basic attack is +34 vs AC, does 1d12+16 and does 15 ongoing damage. That poison basically makes you a tarrasque. More than a tarrasque, because you also weaken your foe.

 

[MrGrenadine]

The D&D economy has always been odd, but over 150,000 gold? I don't even want to think about characters having that much wealth at their fingertips.

Instead, maybe create a short adventure to find the poison 'in the wild', (or to steal it from somewhere)? Or, given they have access to a lab and/or raw materials, perhaps a skill check to create the poison?


MrG

 

[Grazzt]

The tarrasque's basic attack is +34 vs AC, does 1d12+16 and does 15 ongoing damage. That poison basically makes you a tarrasque. More than a tarrasque, because you also weaken your foe.

Except that that poison is a single dose, and the Tarrasque can keep biting and biting and biting from round to round to round if it chooses. Big difference.

 

[Silverblade The Ench]

1) I've never agreed with price of poison in D&D.
in my games, goblins are notorious and frequent users of poison, so it's dirt cheap for them.
So, to me, poison costis wildy variable, and some *are* very common, as they are in real life! for example, cyanide and arsneic were very common and easy to get until laws prohibited their open sale.

That's a ridiculous cost for that poison!!

2) the effect IS sweet: weakened = super nasty dragon does...1/2 damage to party after being poisoned

 

[Surgoshan]

Better not miss.

 

[Zurai]

Pit Toxin is the poison on the stinger of a Pit Fiend's tail. I think 150k for getting real up close and personal with a high-epic tier elite monster and milking it for venom isn't as obscene as some of the other economic issues with 4E.

 

[ForbidenMaster]

The D&D economy has always been odd, but over 150,000 gold? I don't even want to think about characters having that much wealth at their fingertips.

Instead, maybe create a short adventure to find the poison 'in the wild', (or to steal it from somewhere)? Or, given they have access to a lab and/or raw materials, perhaps a skill check to create the poison?


MrG

Its an EPIC level item.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

Its an EPIC level item.

...That does 15 damage