why aren't drow immune to their own poison?

[The Shadowdove]

I remember reading some forgotten realms books with the underdark as the main setting years back, and the drow often used their sleep poison.

Now, this may be a question with and obvious answer. However, I am in no way an expert at this stuff and am sincerely confused.

The monster manual even states that they're not immune to the poison which they use to put their foes to sleep.

How can elves be immune to sleep but not this drow sleep poison?

Thanks for your answers everyone . I'm always impressed by the speed and creativity of the answers here.

-dove

[AMFV]

Well it doesn't induce a natural sleep, it's a poison, Elves aren't RAW immune to the effects of alcohol poisoning which can induce unconsciousness or other poisons that do, just things that induce a natural sleep.

[Forrestfire]

It's not "sleep," it's a knockout drug. There's an important, but subtle distinction between the two.

[Deophaun]

You can turn the question around: Why would the drow, a race known for political intrigue and vicious infighting, use a poison they were immune to? If a poison's not going to affect your most likely target, it's unlikely you'll make it part of your everyday kit.

[The Shadowdove]

Thanks guys.

[Crake]

The other thing to note is that the drow's most hated enemy, elves, would share this same immunity, so it would make the poison kinda pointless if elves were immune to it by virtue of being immune to sleep effects (which the poison is not).

[Lord Vukodlak]

The other thing to note is that the drow's most hated enemy, elves, would share this same immunity, so it would make the poison kinda pointless if elves were immune to it by virtue of being immune to sleep effects (which the poison is not).

Surface Elves may be there most hated enemy but the most likely race for a Drow to kill is probably another Drow.

[Amaril]

You can turn the question around: Why would the drow, a race known for political intrigue and vicious infighting, use a poison they were immune to? If a poison's not going to affect your most likely target, it's unlikely you'll make it part of your everyday kit.

I was under the impression that the Drow mainly used the knockout poison for capturing slaves :smallconfused:

[Rubik]

I was under the impression that the Drow mainly used the knockout poison for capturing slaves :smallconfused:Elves are slaves.

Or they should be, anyway.

[HunterOfJello]

Drow are CE backstabbers. They didn't invent their poisons to be used on others. They invented them to be used on Drow.

[Tommy2255]

I was under the impression that the Drow mainly used the knockout poison for capturing slaves :smallconfused:

That does not contradict any other statement made in this thread.

Drow are jerks.

[Amaril]

That does not contradict any other statement made in this thread.

Drow are jerks.

It's just that I saw a few people making the point that if they were developing a poison to use on each other, they'd make sure they weren't immune to it, whereas I always thought they developed it for incapacitating slaves from surface settlements during raids without killing them. In the latter case, they developed the poison to use on other races, in which case they could be immune to it and it would still make sense. I can see why they'd want to be able to use it on each other as well, though.

[KillianHawkeye]

The real answer is that elves (including drow) are only immune to magical sleep effects. Poisons are generally not magical.

[jindra34]

I was under the impression that the Drow mainly used the knockout poison for capturing slaves :smallconfused:

Adding to what others have pointed out: Humans enslaved each other quite often in the past, some do to simply differences of belief.

[Zweisteine]

Most creatures are immune to their own poison because they create it in their bodies. Drow create their poison by hand, rather than by natural means, so it works against them as well. It is called "Drow poison" because they are the poison's inventors, and its primary users.

[Rubik]

Most creatures are immune to their own poison because they create it in their bodies. Drow create their poison by hand, rather than by natural means, so it works against them as well. It is called "Drow poison" because they are the poison's inventors, and its primary users.They render it from fungus which lives in the Underdark. What nobody knows is that drow ARE a type of fungus -- a psychoreactive fungus which appears to be sentient and sapient, but is actually distantly related to syphilis. Lolth's syphilis, to be exact. She really shouldn't have gotten that drunk at Zuggtmoy's bar mitzvah...

[(Un)Inspired]

Drow aren't immune to their own poison for the same reason that I'm a human but I'm not immune to any human poisons (that I know of...)

[Rubik]

Drow aren't immune to their own poison for the same reason that I'm a human but I'm not immune to any human poisons (that I know of...)Chocolate is technically poison. It's terrible for animals of all kinds. Of course, humans have to eat, like, 50 lbs of the stuff for it to affect us, but still.

And I thought you were a dragon! My life is all lies!

[(Un)Inspired]

Chocolate is technically poison. It's terrible for animals of all kinds. Of course, humans have to eat, like, 50 lbs of the stuff for it to affect us, but still.

And I thought you were a dragon! My life is all lies!

Dude! Don't blow my cover! I'm trying to infiltrate the humans!

[Rubik]

Dude! Don't blow my cover! I'm trying to infiltrate the humans!Mum: "...and that's how half-dragons are made."

[Knaight]

Chocolate is technically poison. It's terrible for animals of all kinds. Of course, humans have to eat, like, 50 lbs of the stuff for it to affect us, but still.

And I thought you were a dragon! My life is all lies!

Theobromine, the chemical compound that distinguishes chocolate from a bunch of other stuff, has a much lower LD50. Even really chocolatey chocolates are 12% theobromine at most, and you still need several pounds for it to be anywhere near lethal, but that's still substantial. It puts theobromine relatively close to ethanol, and people get poisoned by that and die with some frequency. It's a general case of dosage being really important, but also one where we really aren't immune.

[Necroticplague]

Drow aren't immune to their own poison for the same reason that I'm a human but I'm not immune to any human poisons (that I know of...)

Chances are, you probably are and don't know it. Most medicine's are poisons in different doses (all of them are in homeopathy), and chances are you probably have an amount that don't do anything to you. I, for example, don't get drowsy from a lot of medicine's I should for some odd reason. And family members with practical immunity to all but most massive quantities of ethanol.

[Deophaun]

Chocolate is technically poison.
Vitamin C is also technically poison.

It's the dose that makes the poison, as everything is a poison if you ingest enough of it. Even water.

[(Un)Inspired]

Chances are, you probably are and don't know it. Most medicine's are poisons in different doses (all of them are in homeopathy), and chances are you probably have an amount that don't do anything to you. I, for example, don't get drowsy from a lot of medicine's I should for some odd reason. And family members with practical immunity to all but most massive quantities of ethanol.

Yes but my ability to resist Mustard Gas's effects is... limited.

[Rubik]

Yes but my ability to resist Mustard Gas's effects are is... limited.That's funny, because my ability to resist mustard on a sandwich is also limited.

Mmm. Ham sandwich...

[Knaight]

Most medicine's are poisons in different doses (all of them are in homeopathy).

The level of dilution involved usually means that there is literally none left - you've got water, and you've got whatever happens to be dissolved in the water you were doing the dilution in. Water is poisonous past a certain point, but I wouldn't call 'not a single molecule' a dose in regards to the 'ingredients' in homeopathic solutions.

[animewatcha]

Would drow being immune to their own poison mean that WOTC would have to make them LA +3?

[Psyren]

Drow aren't immune to their own poison for the same reason that I'm a human but I'm not immune to any human poisons (that I know of...)

This and the intrigue point are pretty much what I would have come here to say.