Looking to change up poison damage.

[Armok]

I'm not a huge fan of how 5e implements poison damage. Mostly it's on a "save or take a huge amount of poison damage" basis, all at once. I guess you could see that as like the body's systems going into shock from the poison, but it doesn't really click with me.

I was toying around with the idea of doing one die of damage from the poison over X rounds, X being the number of dice in the poison damage, and applying the poisoned effect during the duration of the damage. Anybody else messed with 5e's rendition of poison, or have thoughts on it?

[quinron]

That seems like a good solution - I also find the poison mechanics a little less than stellar. Big question: if you're permitted a save when you first take the damage, do you get a new save each turn? And do effects that previously did bonus poison without a save, like a yuan-ti's arrows, do ticking damage now? And can you save to end that damage early?

Mind, these aren't criticisms or attacks on the concept; just things to think about. I think it's a great idea - elegant in its simplicity, as they say.

[Potato_Priest]

For, say, a sea serpent's or naga's bite (Sea serpents are homebrewed by me) I prefer to dish out all the damage at once. I think it better represents a sudden jet of toxin going into your bloodstream than a more gradual reduction in health. For things like poisoned arrows and darts, it seems like a damage over time effect could be interesting.

Would poisoned arrows stack?

If, for example, Tim the fighter is shot with a poisoned arrow that dishes out 1d8 damage at the end of each of his turns for a minute. He is then shot with another identical poison arrow. Does he take 2d8 or 1d8 damage at the end of his next turn? If he is then hit by a poisoned dart that deals 1d4 poison damage at the end of his turns, how much damage is he taking?

[Armok]

That seems like a good solution - I also find the poison mechanics a little less than stellar. Big question: if you're permitted a save when you first take the damage, do you get a new save each turn? And do effects that previously did bonus poison without a save, like a yuan-ti's arrows, do ticking damage now? And can you save to end that damage early?

Mind, these aren't criticisms or attacks on the concept; just things to think about. I think it's a great idea - elegant in its simplicity, as they say.

Yeah, I'd have to really think about that one. My first instinct is to say no, since the save is made to resist the poison and at that point it's entered your system and begun to wreak havoc. (This also has the added benefit of making Lesser Restoration slightly more useful.) But... on the other hand, it would feel inconsistent with 5e's "save every round" approach to a lot of things. Maybe that's not a bad distinction though. It would certainly add a bit of spice and uniqueness to make poison stand out.


For, say, a sea serpent's or naga's bite (Sea serpents are homebrewed by me) I prefer to dish out all the damage at once. I think it better represents a sudden jet of toxin going into your bloodstream than a more gradual reduction in health. For things like poisoned arrows and darts, it seems like a damage over time effect could be interesting.

Would poisoned arrows stack?

If, for example, Tim the fighter is shot with a poisoned arrow that dishes out 1d8 damage at the end of each of his turns for a minute. He is then shot with another identical poison arrow. Does he take 2d8 or 1d8 damage at the end of his next turn? If he is then hit by a poisoned dart that deals 1d4 poison damage at the end of his turns, how much damage is he taking?

I do like the idea of certain poisons keeping the massive system shock damage. I'll have to think about poisons from multiple sources stacking... If I'm going to try and keep the mechanical balance intact, I might need to treat each poisoned arrow like it's own instance of poison, with its individual damage tied to its own timer. So for your example, poor Timmy is gonna take 2d8 for the next turn, but maybe only 1d8 after that once the first poison has run its course...

[ChubbyRain]

What poison needs to be, is essentially its own "spell system" where you have a bunch of minor poisons, moderate poisons, and major poisons.

You can then have class features that allow you to manipulate what each poison you know can do...

Like...


If you are a rogue (poison master) you know how to make or use X poisons and can make so much a day. Because you typically wont have a lab to make these and because they go bad... Your poison may not be the same as another poison of the same name.

So, you have a minor poison, on contact it deals 2d6 acid damage plus makes the target see weird colors and taste the number 5.

Poison needs to be very specific with many different types and a crafting system (build your own poison).

Some poisons may do ongoing damage (1d4)

Some may do just effects.

But make it as diverse and inspired as a wizard spell list.

[Foxhound438]

sounds good on paper but it's a tracking nightmare in more complex encounters.

There are some poisons in the game already that do DOT, off the top of my head pit fiends.

[Thrudd]

Just return to old school style. Save or die. Or, if you want to be nice, if you fail the save you need to make a death save. Much easier book keeping. Maybe some poisons can give exhaustion levels, instead.

[Foxhound438]

Maybe some poisons can give exhaustion levels, instead.

now this one I like. A lot.

[Dhuraal]

I'm not a huge fan of how 5e implements poison damage. Mostly it's on a "save or take a huge amount of poison damage" basis, all at once. I guess you could see that as like the body's systems going into shock from the poison, but it doesn't really click with me.

I was toying around with the idea of doing one die of damage from the poison over X rounds, X being the number of dice in the poison damage, and applying the poisoned effect during the duration of the damage. Anybody else messed with 5e's rendition of poison, or have thoughts on it?

I like the idea myself, and incorporate it sparingly, but keep in mind how this interacts with Concentration checks. I would imagine that that is the reason they made the damage all at once.

[Foxhound438]

I like the idea myself, and incorporate it sparingly, but keep in mind how this interacts with Concentration checks. I would imagine that that is the reason they made the damage all at once.

I imagine that having to stop at everyone's turn with "were you still poisoned? okay, let me roll this 1d6, and please erase your hp to adjust for this 2 damage, now were you concentrating on a spell? okay, please roll another concentration check" would get slow and annoying. I already hate DOT spells as a DM, doing it for poisons too would just be cancerous.

Just a piece of free advice, never ever give Hunger of Hadar to an NPC. game grinds to a halt for something pitiful like 7 damage at the start and end of every turn, both me and my players hated that encounter.