Flying snake familiar venom

[AttilatheYeon]

Hi, quick question, does a flying snake familiar have venom? If so, can it be milked for the venom?

Thanks for all replies

[MaxWilson]

Hi, quick question, does a flying snake familiar have venom? If so, can it be milked for the venom?

Thanks for all replies

Technically, a flying snake isn't an option as a familiar.


You gain the service of a familiar, a spirit that takes an animal form you choose: bat, cat, crab, frog (toad), hawk, lizard, octopus, owl, poisonous snake, fish (quipper), rat, raven, sea horse, spider, or weasel.

[JellyPooga]

1) Flying Snake isn't a familiar option, unless your GM has ok'd it specifically. Check the spell description.

2) Milking venom from a Poisonous Snake (which is a valid choice) doesn't mean you've got instant poison. You'd still have to craft it (using whatever rules your GM is for that) before you could use it.

3) How often you can milk the venom is another question that you're just going to have to ask your GM about. Some will be more harsh than others.

4) Some GM's may not allow it at all, due to your familiar being a spirit and not a true animal per se.

[MaxWilson]

2) Milking venom from a Poisonous Snake (which is a valid choice) doesn't mean you've got instant poison. You'd still have to craft it (using whatever rules your GM is for that) before you could use it.

Although to be fair, the default rules from the DMG don't have any crafting at all, so it's reasonable to expect that many DMs will just let you use it after you succeed on your DC 20 Nature check for milking.

That doesn't mean a DM couldn't use different rules, but it would never occur to me for one to do so.

[JellyPooga]

Although to be fair, the default rules from the DMG don't have any crafting at all, so it's reasonable to expect that many DMs will just let you use it after you succeed on your DC 20 Nature check for milking.

That doesn't mean a DM couldn't use different rules, but it would never occur to me for one to do so.

Huh. My own assumption is that most GM's would have some kind of crafting rules for poisons. Then again, that's largely because I'm aware that, as a rule, venom loses potency very quickly once it's out of the snake, so just collecting it and dribbling some on your arrows isn't going to have quite the desired effect.

*shrugs* Potayto, potahto.

[uraniumrooster]

As the others have pointed out, you'd need to use a Poisonous Snake not a Flying Snake, per the spell description. Harvesting the venom would be pretty much entirely up to your DM though.

Personally, I'd allow harvesting snake venom once per day, but only if you also had proficiency with a Poisoner's Kit. If you were to use a real snake, I'd probably require an Animal Handling check to not get bit during the milking process, but since you'd be using your familiar I'd call harvesting the venom an auto-success. Once you had the venom, I'd say a DC 15 Poisoner's Kit check using Int+Prof would be required to turn it into one dose of Basic Poison or one dose of Antitoxin.

[AttilatheYeon]

Well guess i should stop trying to come up with new character ideas while being hing over. Thanks for letting me know. 😀

[JellyPooga]

Personally, I'd allow harvesting snake venom once per day, but only if you also had proficiency with a Poisoner's Kit. If you were to use a real snake, I'd probably require an Animal Handling check to not get bit during the milking process, but since you'd be using your familiar I'd call harvesting the venom an auto-success. Once you had the venom, I'd say a DC 15 Poisoner's Kit check using Int+Prof would be required to turn it into one dose of Basic Poison or one dose of Antitoxin.

That's more generous than I'd allow as GM.

I'd allow harvesting once a day, but I'd also require multiple days worth of venom for a single dose of poison or antivenom. Probably at least 2, but no more than 4 (possibly dependent on the Skill Check made to harvest on a given day).

No Animal Handling to milk the venom, as you say because it's a Familiar.

A DC:10 Dexterity (Poisoners Kit) check required to harvest, every 5 by which you beat the DC obtaining you an additional "days worth" of venom. An actual Poisoners Kit required, or suffer Disadvantage for using improvised tools.

Once you have enough venom to create a dose, I'd require an Intelligence (Poisoners Kit) check, DC:15 to create one dose. I'd also probably require the expenditure of certain additional gold piece cost. Basic Poison (DC:10, 1d4 poison damage) has a market value of 100gp. Charging an additional 50gp of material components per dose, on top of your harvested venom wouldn't be totally out-there. In addition, making a dose would probably take at least a couple of days work, again possibly dependent on how successful the Int (P.Kit) check was. Perhaps 3 days minus 1 day for every 5 you beat the DC by (minimum 1 day).

1) Harvest Venom - Max 1/day, Dex (P.Kit) DC:10
Result: Gain 1 days worth +1 day per 5 you beat the DC by.
Disadvantage if using improvised tools.

2) Craft Poison - Int (P.Kit) DC:15
Material Costs: 50gp (Poison) or 25gp (Antitoxin), plus 4 days worth of venom.
Takes 3 days -1 day per 5 you beat the DC by (minimum 1).
Result: 1 dose of Basic Poison OR 1 dose of Anititoxin
Disadvantage is using improvised tools.

I don't like giving things away for free in games I run, though and this is supposed to be Dungeons&Dragons, not Merchants&Miners.

[uraniumrooster]

That's more generous than I'd allow as GM.

I'd allow harvesting once a day, but I'd also require multiple days worth of venom for a single dose of poison or antivenom. Probably at least 2, but no more than 4 (possibly dependent on the Skill Check made to harvest on a given day).

No Animal Handling to milk the venom, as you say because it's a Familiar.

A DC:10 Dexterity (Poisoners Kit) check required to harvest, every 5 by which you beat the DC obtaining you an additional "days worth" of venom. An actual Poisoners Kit required, or suffer Disadvantage for using improvised tools.

Once you have enough venom to create a dose, I'd require an Intelligence (Poisoners Kit) check, DC:15 to create one dose. I'd also probably require the expenditure of certain additional gold piece cost. Basic Poison (DC:10, 1d4 poison damage) has a market value of 100gp. Charging an additional 50gp of material components per dose, on top of your harvested venom wouldn't be totally out-there. In addition, making a dose would probably take at least a couple of days work, again possibly dependent on how successful the Int (P.Kit) check was. Perhaps 3 days minus 1 day for every 5 you beat the DC by (minimum 1 day).

1) Harvest Venom - Max 1/day, Dex (P.Kit) DC:10
Result: Gain 1 days worth +1 day per 5 you beat the DC by.
Disadvantage if using improvised tools.

2) Craft Poison - Int (P.Kit) DC:15
Material Costs: 50gp (Poison) or 25gp (Antitoxin), plus 4 days worth of venom.
Takes 3 days -1 day per 5 you beat the DC by (minimum 1).
Result: 1 dose of Basic Poison OR 1 dose of Anititoxin
Disadvantage is using improvised tools.

I don't like giving things away for free in games I run, though and this is supposed to be Dungeons&Dragons, not Merchants&Miners.

This seems like a good method, probably a bit more balanced than mine.

[JellyPooga]

This seems like a good method, probably a bit more balanced than mine.

If I had a player really interested in the notion, I'd also allow for more potent poisons (and maybe even antitoxins). Just spit-balling ideas, but something along the lines of;

For each additional 1d4 damage and +1 DC to resist, I'd require an extra 2 days worth of venom, 25gp material components, an extra day of craft-time and increase the Craft DC by 2.

So to craft a poison that dealt 3d4 damage (DC:12 to resist) would require a total of 8 days worth of venom, 100gp of material components, take a DC:19 Int(P.Kit) check and take 5 days (-1 day per 5 you beat the Craft DC by).

[EKruze]

For DDAL play there was a Poisonous Snake offered at the Fai Chen table at Gen Con which allowed its owner to harvest Serpent Poison. After purchasing the snake its owner is required to increase lifestyle cost by 5gp and must spend 1 downtime day at the end of every adventure to care for it. The snake allows its owner to then spend 10 downtime days and 50gp to harvest one dose of poison. This might be a reasonable starting point for non-DDAL play.

[Waffle_Iron]

That's more generous than I'd allow as GM.

I'd allow harvesting once a day, but I'd also require multiple days worth of venom for a single dose of poison or antivenom. Probably at least 2, but no more than 4 (possibly dependent on the Skill Check made to harvest on a given day).

No Animal Handling to milk the venom, as you say because it's a Familiar.

A DC:10 Dexterity (Poisoners Kit) check required to harvest, every 5 by which you beat the DC obtaining you an additional "days worth" of venom. An actual Poisoners Kit required, or suffer Disadvantage for using improvised tools.

Once you have enough venom to create a dose, I'd require an Intelligence (Poisoners Kit) check, DC:15 to create one dose. I'd also probably require the expenditure of certain additional gold piece cost. Basic Poison (DC:10, 1d4 poison damage) has a market value of 100gp. Charging an additional 50gp of material components per dose, on top of your harvested venom wouldn't be totally out-there. In addition, making a dose would probably take at least a couple of days work, again possibly dependent on how successful the Int (P.Kit) check was. Perhaps 3 days minus 1 day for every 5 you beat the DC by (minimum 1 day).

1) Harvest Venom - Max 1/day, Dex (P.Kit) DC:10
Result: Gain 1 days worth +1 day per 5 you beat the DC by.
Disadvantage if using improvised tools.

2) Craft Poison - Int (P.Kit) DC:15
Material Costs: 50gp (Poison) or 25gp (Antitoxin), plus 4 days worth of venom.
Takes 3 days -1 day per 5 you beat the DC by (minimum 1).
Result: 1 dose of Basic Poison OR 1 dose of Anititoxin
Disadvantage is using improvised tools.

I don't like giving things away for free in games I run, though and this is supposed to be Dungeons&Dragons, not Merchants&Miners.

"And then if they do all that, I'd have halfling thieves steal all the poison, and they'd have to adventure to get it back, but it would be the wrong vials and when they do eventually track down the original it would be in a very deep pit lined in dangerous traps and crawling with high CR demons, because this is a fantasy game and fun is dumb."

-jellypooga, August 2016

[JellyPooga]

"And then if they do all that, I'd have halfling thieves steal all the poison, and they'd have to adventure to get it back, but it would be the wrong vials and when they do eventually track down the original it would be in a very deep pit lined in dangerous traps and crawling with high CR demons, because this is a fantasy game and fun is dumb."

-jellypooga, August 2016

I'd never do such a thing to my players...It'd be Pixies that stole the poison, not Halflings. Psh! Halflings. What kind of operation do you think I'm running here? :smallamused:

[Waffle_Iron]

I'd never do such a thing to my players...It'd be Pixies that stole the poison, not Halflings. Psh! Halflings. What kind of operation do you think I'm running here? :smallamused:

Lololol, my apologies good sir! 😄