Aid for a nonmagic Doctor

[Grendelkhan11]

So long story but I'm a old fashioned heal skill and alchemy based doctor, I've gotten items for healing and lots of supplies but have one issue....my charisma is 5 and I'm terrifying so I need something to put patients under. I need something cheap. Assume they auto fail the save, just anything with a sleep or unconscious affect and it has to be cheap.


Any source in 3e or 3.5 is fine.

[Kayblis]

Sleep is a 1st level spell that puts a creature of 4 or less HD to sleep if they fail a will save. A wand costs 750gp with 50 uses, and a very low save of 11. Deep Slumber is the stronger version, 3rd level and works up to 10 HD.

Drow Poison is a DC 13 injury poison(you can apply it with anything that deals 1 damage, like a syringe or a fanged ring). Costs 75gp a pop, but an alchemist has many tricks to lower this into the single digits.
EDIT: Oil of Taggit is an ingested poison with a DC of 15, and makes the target unconscious after one minute(on its secondary effect, first effect is nothing). You can mix it with juice and give to patients by proxy, asking a party member to do it for you. Costs 90gp a dose.

[Feantar]

You did not specify your level, so I am assuming level 1. I am also assuming you're asking for something that puts someone to sleep for an hour or more, not something that gives your a couple of rounds or a minute or two.


From serpent kingdoms, there's Sleep Poison (DC:17, Unconsciousness 1d3 rounds / 1d3 hours) which would be alright but expensive (390 gp). Much much cheaper(75 gp) is Drow Knockout Poison (DC 13: Unconsciousness 1 min / 2d4 Hours). On the other hand, if you're only concerned of pain, from the book of vile darkness there's the drug Sannish(DC 9, 15 gp) which makes you immune to pain for 1d4 hours - it also causes euphoria, so I am unsure if they would care how ugly you are. There's also vodare, which would seem useless but if you give two doses (total cost 80 gp, DC 15) it says the user becomes catatonic, and has no specified duration.

Remember that one can willingly fail a save.

Finally, and I hate to suggest this, using a sap you can knock them unconscious without lasting damage. Would not help building a reputation though - reminds me of psychological warfare from Asterix.

[Kayblis]

Also, it's important to remember poisons with readily available raw materials start at one sixth of the base price to craft. So if you can get a source for Drow Poison, with no class/feat investment at all each dose costs 12.5gp. You would usually use Craft(Poisonmaking) to make those, but you can either do that or roll Craft(Alchemy) at a -4 penalty for the same effect. If you're starting at a point where you can make the check easily with a -4 penalty, you don't even have to invest skill points at all outside of your usual Alchemy skills. Drow Poison and Oil of Taggit both have a craft DC of 15.

[ericgrau]

Well you can be rude and have the worst bedside manner and still be a doctor that people go to. Less popular, but if they're ill and don't have other options they will manage. Likewise putting them to sleep won't help for before they decide to come to you. And if the sick patients don't have the choice in an epidemic or war, they won't flee from their bed to avoid that grumpy looking doctor.

But assuming you get that resolved one way or another (cheap sleep poison or not worrying about it), the other issue is that the heal skill must be used on dozens of patients for it to be worth it in a magical world. And something you do between combat, on the side of the real main combat focus for your character.

[Psyren]

Being rude/abrasive doesn't mean you'll be a bad doctor, just look at House or Stephen Strange. If you instead mean that you're completely fugly, just wear a disguise or something, like a plague mask - it's not a beauty contest.

I second the sleep poison suggestion.

[Grendelkhan11]

Being rude/abrasive doesn't mean you'll be a bad doctor, just look at House or Stephen Strange. If you instead mean that you're completely fugly, just wear a disguise or something, like a plague mask - it's not a beauty contest.

I second the sleep poison suggestion.


Yeah, I do have the plague doctor aesthetic but my low charisma is kind of played as just naturally unnerving and discomforting.

[SangoProduction]

I'm normally against a self resetting magic trap but, for an operation table, a trap of Sleep/Deep Slumber would seem to be an actually appropriate magic device for a surgeon.

[Sto]

If a target takes enough non lethal damage they fall unconscious. Optimize your fists to the point of silliness and punch all of your patients in the face.

[Darrin]

You can use a Mister (150 GP, Drow of the Underdark p. 92) to deliver contact and inhaled poisons to a person. You can also deliver ingested poisons, but the target gets a DC 15 Ref save to avoid contact with the mist. The mister is automatic if you use it against yourself or a willing target, or it's a 5' ranged touch attack against an unwilling target. This provokes an AoO, but you can avoid that with a dip into Exotic Weapon Master 1 to pick up the Close Quarters Ranged Combat stunt.

So... what poison? Drow sleep/knockout poison comes to mind: 75 GP per dose, DC 13 (DMG p. 297). There's a stronger version in Savage Species, called "Drow arrow poison": 120 GP per dose, DC 17. These are both injury poisons, which don't work with the mister unless the target has open wounds that haven't been treated with a Heal check yet.

Oil of Taggit (90 GP, DMG) is decent if you have a willing target who voluntarily fails the second DC 15 Fort save, although there's no duration listed on the unconsciousness, so apparently it's permanent?

Sleep-smoke (25 GP, City of Splendors: Waterdeep p. 152) is the cheapest. DC 15 inhaled poison, and presumably you can use this with the mister to avoid the expanding cloud of gas.

There are several drugs that paralyze or render the target comatose as a side effect or an overdose (see Agony/Vodare in BoVD, or Kammarth in Lords of Darkness), but there may be damage or other adverse effects that make them inappropriate for medical use.

[ericgrau]

I'm normally against a self resetting magic trap but, for an operation table, a trap of Sleep/Deep Slumber would seem to be an actually appropriate magic device for a surgeon.

Or just an at-will magic item. 1800 gp. It's reasonable with sleep because sleep can't really be abused with infinite stacking. Worst abuse you can do with it is use it to imprison a creature Sleeping Beauty style, except you only need a slap to break it not a prince. To avoid abuse maybe have a clause that says the creature must spend an hour awake after an hour of sleep.

Only problem is that wounding a creature wakes it from a sleep spell, in case you need to cut out an object. You can ready action to re-sleep, but it may hurt for an instant. Maybe the DM could allow something custom that causes unconsciousness instead at a higher price.

Technically punching a creature into unconsciousness works without any harm to the creature, but most people aren't too happy with that. Sneak attack with a sap could do it more quickly and so less painfully. That or a high str. A simple sneak attack trigger is a bluff check to hide (a standard action), then you move to hide, and then pop the patient.

Doctor: Oh-em-gee, what's that over there!
Patient: I don't see anything.
Patient: Hey where'd you go.
Doctor: Whammy!

Alternatively, nurse with a sap to flank, but that's scarier than a surprise bop.

[Malphegor]

if you want an example of a magic sleep item to work out costing, Heward’s Fortifying Bedroll is generally used to instantly get all the effects of 8 hours of sleep in one hour, including natural healing.

It is a fairly natural assumption that it casts sleep on a willing occupant, and works on higher hd than just sleep, otherwise no player would be using it.