This is a partial-playtest review. This is my first review, so bear with me 
Toxicant is a D20 and D20 Modern rules supplement by Mad Kaiser Games. Toxicant is a 76 page PDF document, with good text density and very little wasted space. Its contents are O.G.C. and the price is $8.75 at RPGNow.com
The cover is a color depiction of computer-generated molecules viewed closely. The interior art is a series of b&w technical drawings inside of blue hexagons. I found the interior art to be a bit bland. The pictures are small and simple, but they are related to the subject matter and easy on the ink cartridge. There were some oddly phrased sentences that felt like mistranslation, and a few common editing mistakes. There is a helpful bookmark and an alphabetical index of every poison.
There is a 2 page intro followed by 7 chapters, 1 for rules and 6 for various types of poisons and venoms. Chapter 1 starts with a brief review of the current D20 poison rules, then covers poison classification, poison detection, dosage for size and multiple doses, mixing poison, onset and duration of symptoms, list of symptoms, list of damaging effects, crafting poisons, antidotes, preparing and harvesting plant material, venom extraction and laboratory conditions. This section explains the layout of each poison and how to read each entry. I personally found the rules to be strong and intuitive and they were even approved by Dow, our E.M.T. in training. He especially liked the sections on venom antidotes and symptoms. There are no new poison related skills, rather there are additional rules that modify the basic Alchemy and Craft(Chemical) skills. I personally prefer this because I had already started my campaign, but others may want or need new skills and feats. I recommend and also use the "Assassin's Guide to Poisons" from Spider Bite Games. It is a free PDF and has plenty of good skills and feats.
Chapter 2 details scorpions and spiders. There is a wealth of information about the various venomous arachnids, and not just poison. Samples of ancient myths and the biology of both spiders and scorpions are listed with each venom and a few Ripley's Believe It or Not type stories are added for flavor.
Chapter 3 is a list of toxic chemicals. This was my personal favorite, with rules and typical sources for common chemicals like ammonia and bleach, industrial chemicals like xylon and freon, and chemical weapons. I'll probably get the most use out of mustard gas and sarin! Mwahahahaha!
Chapter 4 is the section for poisonous mushrooms. Did you know that the word toadstool comes from the German word todesstuhl and means death's stool? There are only a few types of fungal poisons, but there are about 36 different kinds of toadstool. These are listed similarly to the arachnids, with a section on folktales for use in fantasy games.
Chapter 5 details various poisonous and venomous sea animals, such as the Australian box jellyfish and the scorpion fish. I looked through this section only briefly, but it is large and looks similar to the other sections about animals.
Chapter 6 is the longest chapter in the book, listing about 100 different poisonous plants. I haven't even dented this section, but I still found out that half the plants in my own house are dangerous! I'm also never taking ginko! I'll be using many of these poisons as well, the poison ivy alone will be a fun little nuisance.
Chapter 7 is the section on snakes, giving them the same treatment as arachnids, including folklore for fantasy games.
Overall, it could use a more basic version formated for better printing, the art needs work, and the book reads very much like an encyclopedia, but I rate a book by how useful it is for the price, and not by the flashy bitz. I'm currently running a D20 Modern campaign and was pleased to find a book about modern poisons, especially the nerve gasses and other chemicals. I downloaded the demo, liked it, and took a chance. Primarily I purchased this book for the section on chemicals, but was pleasantly surprised by the additional rules and other poison sections. I plan on using this book many times in the future and recommend it to anyone who wants realistic poisons for their games and lots of them.
Toxicant is a D20 and D20 Modern rules supplement by Mad Kaiser Games. Toxicant is a 76 page PDF document, with good text density and very little wasted space. Its contents are O.G.C. and the price is $8.75 at RPGNow.com
The cover is a color depiction of computer-generated molecules viewed closely. The interior art is a series of b&w technical drawings inside of blue hexagons. I found the interior art to be a bit bland. The pictures are small and simple, but they are related to the subject matter and easy on the ink cartridge. There were some oddly phrased sentences that felt like mistranslation, and a few common editing mistakes. There is a helpful bookmark and an alphabetical index of every poison.
There is a 2 page intro followed by 7 chapters, 1 for rules and 6 for various types of poisons and venoms. Chapter 1 starts with a brief review of the current D20 poison rules, then covers poison classification, poison detection, dosage for size and multiple doses, mixing poison, onset and duration of symptoms, list of symptoms, list of damaging effects, crafting poisons, antidotes, preparing and harvesting plant material, venom extraction and laboratory conditions. This section explains the layout of each poison and how to read each entry. I personally found the rules to be strong and intuitive and they were even approved by Dow, our E.M.T. in training. He especially liked the sections on venom antidotes and symptoms. There are no new poison related skills, rather there are additional rules that modify the basic Alchemy and Craft(Chemical) skills. I personally prefer this because I had already started my campaign, but others may want or need new skills and feats. I recommend and also use the "Assassin's Guide to Poisons" from Spider Bite Games. It is a free PDF and has plenty of good skills and feats.
Chapter 2 details scorpions and spiders. There is a wealth of information about the various venomous arachnids, and not just poison. Samples of ancient myths and the biology of both spiders and scorpions are listed with each venom and a few Ripley's Believe It or Not type stories are added for flavor.
Chapter 3 is a list of toxic chemicals. This was my personal favorite, with rules and typical sources for common chemicals like ammonia and bleach, industrial chemicals like xylon and freon, and chemical weapons. I'll probably get the most use out of mustard gas and sarin! Mwahahahaha!
Chapter 4 is the section for poisonous mushrooms. Did you know that the word toadstool comes from the German word todesstuhl and means death's stool? There are only a few types of fungal poisons, but there are about 36 different kinds of toadstool. These are listed similarly to the arachnids, with a section on folktales for use in fantasy games.
Chapter 5 details various poisonous and venomous sea animals, such as the Australian box jellyfish and the scorpion fish. I looked through this section only briefly, but it is large and looks similar to the other sections about animals.
Chapter 6 is the longest chapter in the book, listing about 100 different poisonous plants. I haven't even dented this section, but I still found out that half the plants in my own house are dangerous! I'm also never taking ginko! I'll be using many of these poisons as well, the poison ivy alone will be a fun little nuisance.
Chapter 7 is the section on snakes, giving them the same treatment as arachnids, including folklore for fantasy games.
Overall, it could use a more basic version formated for better printing, the art needs work, and the book reads very much like an encyclopedia, but I rate a book by how useful it is for the price, and not by the flashy bitz. I'm currently running a D20 Modern campaign and was pleased to find a book about modern poisons, especially the nerve gasses and other chemicals. I downloaded the demo, liked it, and took a chance. Primarily I purchased this book for the section on chemicals, but was pleasantly surprised by the additional rules and other poison sections. I plan on using this book many times in the future and recommend it to anyone who wants realistic poisons for their games and lots of them.
