Detecting poisons (without the spell)

[ixrisor]

Are there any rules for determining if food or drink is poisoned, either before or after consuming it? Ex: someone is given food with oil of taggit in it. Does she know after eating the food that she’s been poisoned, or does she just feel tired? Can she inspect the food to determine if it’s poisoned?

[Duke of Urrel]

Are there any rules for determining if food or drink is poisoned, either before or after consuming it? Ex: someone is given food with oil of taggit in it. Does she know after eating the food that she’s been poisoned, or does she just feel tired? Can she inspect the food to determine if it’s poisoned?

I don't know of any rules for this, but I believe there should be nonmagical ways to identify poison.

The text of the Detect Poison spell (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/detectPoison.htm) itself suggests that Craft (Alchemy) skill may help.

Another skill that is likely to help you identify poison is Craft (Poisonmaking), of course.

I would also be sympathetic to the idea that an extraordinary sense of smell, such as the Scent ability, olfactory Blindsense, or olfactory Blindsight, may help you to detect poison. Even a poison that is odorless to an average Humanoid may not be odorless to a creature with an extraordinary sense of smell.

The rules are also vague on whether you notice that somebody has tried to poison you if you make a successful Fortitude save against the poison, or whether you can identify a poison by the effect that it has on your body. I personally consider it unlikely that you can identify a poison by its effect on you unless you have experienced this effect before.

Of course, assassins develop resistance to poison as they advance. The Dungeon Master's Guide says that assassins "train with poisons of all types," which I interpret to mean that they develop resistance to poisons by exposing themselves to small amounts of them (like the Dread Pirate Roberts of "The Princess Bride"). So it makes sense to assume that an assassin can identify poisons by the effect that they have.