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View Full Version : Use Poison [Skill] [Please Move]



Ponce
2008-10-17, 11:00 PM
Inspired by thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=93872).

Intent: To create an alternative to existing poison rules that operates more fluently at all levels and allows PCs reasonable access to poison at all levels.

Nips and Tucks: Disassociate poison with evil. BoED's Ravages should be removed, and easily reclassified as regular poisons, if you want more material to work with. Any class or creature with the Poison Use ability (ex. Assassin) should instead receive Use Poison as a class skill. The Barbarian, Bard, Ranger, and Rogue should also receive it as a class skill (to count a few). The existing rules about applying poison and risking poisoning yourself when using an envenomed weapon need to be removed. All other rules regarding poison are retained.

The Skill: Use Poison (dexterity). To ready a poison (apply to a weapon for injury poison, smear on an object for contact poison, or deposit into an ingestible for ingestion poison) make a Use Poison check. If the result of your check exceeds the save DC of the poison, you successfully apply the poison. A failed check means that the poison is wasted. Failing by 5 or more means you accidentally poison yourself. Readying poison is a standard action that provokes an attack of opportunity. A single weapon, object, etc cannot have more than one instance of poison readied on it. Adding poison to an object that already has poison removes the previous instance.

For every point by which you exceed the DC of the check, you may add one point to a Poison Use Pool. These points can be expended to modify the characteristics of this particular poison application. This pool does not carry over from check to check. Points from this pool that are not used are wasted. Poison applications last indefinitely or until somehow disturbed (perhaps by rain, deliberate removal, or by activation, such as striking something with a poisoned weapon). The following effects (and their costs) can be added to the poison application:

Modify Save DC

The save DC of the poison can by increased by 1 by expending 5 points.
The save can be changed to Reflex or Will by expending 20 points.


Modify Acceptable Targets

The poison will affect plants if 7 points are expended.
The poison will affect outsiders if 7 points are expended.
The poison will affect oozes if 9 points are expended.
The poison will affect any creature otherwise immune to poison if 30 points are expended.


Modify Poison Longevity

The poison will be retained for 1 additional attack if 10 points are expended.
The poison dose will not be exhausted if 15 points are expended.*


Modify Poison Damage

The poison's initial ability damage (if any) instead targets an ability of your choice if 10 points are expended.
The poison's secondary ability damage (if any) instead targets an ability of your choice if 5 points are expended.
The poison's initial effect also deals 1 additional ability damage of your choice if 12 points are expended.
The poison's secondary effect also deals 1 additional ability damage of your choice if 7 points are expended.
The poison's initial effect also deals 1 additional ability drain of your choice if 20 points are expended.
The poison's initial effect also deals 1 additional ability drain of your choice if 15 points are expended.
The poison's initial or secondary effect (your choice) also conveys one of the following effects at the specified cost:


Dazed for 1 round (15)
Stunned for 1 round (25)
Sickened for 1 minute (10)
Dazzled for 2 minutes (5)
Deafened (20)
Blinded (25)
Confused for 1 minute (30)
Paralyzed (30)
Petrified (30)
Dead (40)
The poison's (unmodified) initial effect is repeated 1 minute after the secondary effect if 30 points are expended.
The poison's (unmodified) secondary effect is repeated 2 minutes after the secondary effect if 28 points are expended.


* every use of this ability permanently increases the application DC (and not the save DC) of the surviving dose by 5.

Competence bonuses do not apply to Use Poison checks. A character may not take 10 or 20 on a Use Poison check. Use Poison is not a valid choice for any class ability that would allow you to take 10 or 20 on a skill when you normally could not.

Pros: Makes poison viable! Makes poison interesting!
Cons: I suspect that poisons with high ability damage but low DC may be abusable under this system. I'm really looking to have poisons that rely on the skill on the character, but not to have one or two poisons that whore themselves out to this system making all other poisons useless.

Feats:

Deft Venom
Requirements: Use Poison 4 ranks
Benefit: Any poison you ready while having this feat increases the save DC (but not the Use Poison DC) by 1.

Multipoison
Requirements: Use Poison 13 ranks
Benefit: You can Use Poison in such a way that you can have two doses of discrete poison on one weapon (though you could also choose to apply two doses of the same poison). Doing so is a full round action that provokes an attack of opportunity. Make Use Poison checks for each poison separately. Saves are made against each poison seperately. Both poisons are activated when contact is made or the material ingested.

Poison Shuffle
Requirements: Use Poison 4 ranks
Benefit: You can Use Poison in such a way that method of delivery does not matter. You can Use Poison so that the poison can be utilized as one of contact, ingestion, or injury poison (your choice). Using this feat lowers the save DC (but not the Use Poison DC) by 2.

Swift Application
Requirements: Use Poison 8 ranks
Benefit: You can Use Poison as a move action instead of a standard action, or a standard action instead of a full-round action if you use Multipoison. It still provokes an attack of opportunity.

Edit: Posted in wrong forum. Should be in Homebrew, sorry.

Sstoopidtallkid
2008-10-17, 11:02 PM
Homebrew. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=15)words