3e poisons in 5e

[Beelzebub1111]

I am not a fan of how poison works in 5e. I find the 3e rules were a bit truer to how toxins actually work in real life. I know that ability damage has been removed from this edition, but what do you think about bringing it back in this instance?

[Unoriginal]

I would say that neither are close to how toxins work in real life, and that trying to be realistic here would not be a great idea.

"Poison causes damages/apply a condition if the save is failed" works, IMO. But if there was something you enjoyed in 3.X about poisons, sure, using it shouldn't cause problems as long as you account for the effects it'll have on the game.

That being said, what do you mean by "ability damage has been removed from this edition"?

[Beelzebub1111]

There is no ability damage ot level loss in 5e, anywhere. I've checked.

And it gives more variety to what poisons can do. They can affect your mind, affect your joints and muscles, kill you, knock you out or even permenantly scar your health. It's closer to life than hurting to you immediately no different from being stabbed.

[Lombra]

There is no ability damage ot level loss in 5e, anywhere. I've checked

There's at least one spell that reduces the target's intelligence if I remember correctly and the monster Shadow has a strength-draining ability.

That being said poisons in the DMG are just examples, as a DM you can do whatever you see fit. Just remember that getting stats back to normal should be built in what causes their loss, because restoration spells no longer restore those AFAICT.

Edit: greater restoration does restore ability score loss.

Edit 2: the spell I was referring to is Feeblemind.

[Unoriginal]

There is also the Intellect Devourer.

[Oerlaf]

I am not a fan of how poison works in 5e. I find the 3e rules were a bit truer to how toxins actually work in real life. I know that ability damage has been removed from this edition, but what do you think about bringing it back in this instance?

There are no more ability damage per se in 5e, but some monsters have ability to drain Strength (shadow), Intelligence (intellect devourer). Wraiths can be possibly an example of a monster who drains Constitution in a more easier way, reducing the hit point maximum instead, so it is easier to calculate. However, all kinds of such a drain restores to its normal after finishing a long rest.

So, it is just a question of how each of the scores can be affected with as few calculations as possible to stay in line with 5e spirit.

[wilhelmdubdub]

feeblemind

[Knaight]

There's still a few cases of ability damage/drain, and they're still obnoxious. If you want to bring in something more 3e style then having a growing penalty to specific ability checks will generally do it, with constitution poisons also doing damage (damage per hit die will get a lot of this across). There's a few oddities here, but they're worth it for not having to deal with the recalculations all the time.