[3.5] Poisons

[Malicte]

So, I'm starting a Planescape game soon (using the 3.5 adaptation), and I'll be playing a Drow wizard. Currently, he's a Focused Specialist Conjurer 3. The thing is, I want this character to make effective use of Craft (Poisonmaking). Being in Sigil, I should have access to just about anything I want, as far as materials (and books), so I'm looking into effective poisons to craft. So far, I've made Drow Poison from the DMG, and Sssartisss from Serpent Kingdoms. What I need are suggestions for other useful poisons to craft, for ways to deliver them, and interesting/sneaky ways to carry them. I'm especially interested in non-injury poisons, because all of the stuff I'm crafting so far is injury-only. Has anyone had success with a heavy poison-use character in the past? If so, I'd love to hear any advice you may have.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

Search the homebrew for a poison system that actually works. Talk to your DM.

The issue is, poison is a Fort save v minor effects, that you need an attack to apply, and costs money. The save is far lower than what you could get with a spell by the time you afford the poison, and the spell needs no attack roll, no cash, and has worse effects on the opponent. Without some sort of change to the rules, you can't do it effectively. Other than Drow Knockout poison, none of them are worth it, and the only reason Drow is is because you can apply it basically free to the entire party's first attacks, meaning that an Archer or a TWFer has a good chance of making an enemy roll a 1 on occasion.

[Starscream]

I agree, poisons basically exist to be an obstacle for the PCs, not for their use. By the time buying it in respectable quantities becomes practical the save DC will be far too low.

Only way to get a definite hit is to use it pretty much every round. Even if you could spare the actions to do so, you'd probably end up spending thousands of gp per opponent, and just to do some ability damage or other minor status effect that could easily be caused by any number of spells.

Waiting ten rounds to see if it happens again is also not going to be very fun.

Maybe your DM will let you homebrew some sort of "Heighten Poison" feat that lets you brew more concentrated stuff, by increasing the price by a certain percentage for every +1 to the DC.

[Malicte]

It's definitely going to be a challenge, and I know that I'll eventually run into problems with the low DCs. As is, at level 3, I'm hoping it won't be much of an issue yet. The DM has us above WBL already, and he's having me craft the poison for 1/6th the market price in materials, many of which I'll be able to find instead of buy. Most of the stuff we fight for the next several levels at least should have a fair chance to fail their first save, and I honestly don't expect any combats to last long enough for a second.

The Heighten Poison idea is definitely a good one, and I shall talk with my DM about it. I suspect he'll let me run with it, which should help.

I'm not especially worried about being ineffective, as the group is not especially optimized, and I have wizard casting as my primary contribution.

Part of this is a kind of morbid curiosity. It's the same reason I want to play a truenamer.