Poison

[yilduz]

I've always loved sneaky arcane magic users. Rogue/Wizard, Arcane Trickster, Spellthief, Assassin, and similar classes are my favorites. I've never used poison but I've always been curious about using it. I'd be afraid to use it, though. So many of them have a low save DC that I'd be afraid to spend that much gold, and go through all that trouble just to have it fail. Some of the more expensive ones have a higher save DC, but by the time you get to a level you can afford that kind of poison, your enemies have much higher saves.

So, I guess I was just wondering if any of you have played characters that use poisons, and I was wondering how effective that character is/was, how much gp you wasted on poisons that didn't work, if you knew of any ways to raise the DC on a poison, etc. Basically, I want to play a character that uses poison, but I want to do it effectively.

[yugi24862]

First, link to the Poison Handbook (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=4854.0). There is a lot of info in there, but tha basics is that poisons are best at low levels then get worst, and that you need to craft it yourself if you want to use it all the time. Why? Because poison costs 1/6 of its listed price to make, so you can get loads of it without breaking the bank to much. The best low level poison is Drow Sleep Poison, because it takes a enemy out of the fight with a DC 13 fort save.

[Callos_DeTerran]

I've always taken the approach that if you create poisons yourself, then you can attempt the craft check at a higher DC to increase the save DC against it. Mostly, if you want to use poison, it's better to get some medium cost poison that the enemy will fail against sometimes then get a weapon you can get LOTS of attacks with. The idea being to force the enemy to make so many Fort. saves that they're bound to fail one or two, ideally with a poison that'll weaken further Fort. saves.

Or, at least, that's my experience with poison. I also use a variant system so that a poison does hit point damage if the character fails the second save (and in the case of some poisons it's a LOT of damage) so that getting poisoned is far from a trivial experience.

[Moriato]

Mostly, if you want to use poison, it's better to get some medium cost poison that the enemy will fail against sometimes then get a weapon you can get LOTS of attacks with.


But doesn't poison have to be re-applied after each hit?

[yugi24862]

You can pre-cost stuff with posion, so its best used with Ranged attacks. There is a item in dungonscape that can apply poison to a weapon 3/encounter if you put the poison in it.

[Drelua]

Poison is one thing that I think Pathfinder made a lot better. The damage is more spread out now; black lotus, for example does d6 CON/round until 2 consecutive saves are made, to a max of 6 rounds. You can also use multiple doses at once to raise the DC by 2 and increase the max rounds by 50%.

[yugi24862]

Poison is one thing that I think Pathfinder made a lot better. The damage is more spread out now; black lotus, for example does d6 CON/round until 2 consecutive saves are made, to a max of 6 rounds. You can also use multiple doses at once to raise the DC by 2 and increase the max rounds by 50%.

The first bit is awful, as the strength of poison is the hard hitting effects. In a few rounds, combat will be over and they will still be fighting while the poison takes effect. Direct damage is always better than damage over time. The second part is good however, is a good house rule.