Poisons
Given their insidious and deadly nature, poisons are illegal in most societies but are a favorite tool among assassins, draw, and other evil creatures.
Poisons come in the following four types.
Contact. A creature that touches contact poison with exposed skin suffers its effects.
Ingested. A creature must swallow an entire dose of ingested poison to suffer its effects. You might decide that a partial dose has a reduced effect, such as imposing disadvantage on the attack roll or dealing only half damage.
Inhaled. These poisons are powders or gases that take effect when inhaled. A single dose fills a 5-foot cube.
Injury. A creature that takes slashing or piercing damage from a weapon or piece of ammunition coated with injury poison is exposed to its effects.
Purchasing Poison
In some settings, strict laws prohibit the possession and use of poison, but a black-market dealer or unscrupulous apothecary might keep a hidden stash. Characters with criminal contacts might be able to acquire poison relatively easily. Other characters might have to make extensive inquiries and pay bribes before they track down the poison they seek.
The Poisons table gives suggested prices for single doses of various poisons.
Poisons
| Item | Type | Price per Dose |
|---|---|---|
| Assassin’s blood | Ingested | 150 gp |
| Burnt othur fumes | Inhaled | 500 gp |
| Carrion crawler mucus | Contact | 200 gp |
| Dark elf poison | Injury | 200 gp |
| Essence of ether | Inhaled | 300 gp |
| Malice | Inhaled | 250 gp |
| Midnight tears | Ingested | 1,500 gp |
| Oil of taggit | Contact | 400 gp |
| Pale tincture | Ingested | 250 gp |
| Purple worm poison | Injury | 2,000 gp |
| Serpent venom | Injury | 200 gp |
| Torpor | Ingested | 600 gp |
| Truth serum | Ingested | 150 gp |
| Wyvern poison | Injury | 1,200 gp |
Sample Poisons
Each type of poison has its own debilitating effects.
Assassin’s Blood (Ingested)
This poison makes an attack with a bonus of +0 vs the Constitution defence of any creature subjected to it. On a hit, the creature takes 6 (1d12) poison damage and is poisoned for 24 hours. On a miss, the creature takes half damage and isn’t poisoned.
Burnt Othur Fumes (Inhaled)
This poison makes an attack with a bonus of +3 vs the Constitution defence of any creature subjected to it. On a hit, the creature takes 10 (3d6) poison damage and is attacked again at the start of each of its turns. On each successive hit, the creature takes 3 (1d6) poison damage. After three misses, the poison ends.
Carrion Crawler Mucus (Contact)
This poison must be harvested from a dead or incapacitated carrion crawler. The poison makes an attack with a bonus of +3 vs the Constitution defence of any creature subjected to it. On a hit, the creature is poisoned and paralysed for 1 minute. The creature is attacked again at the end of each of its turns. On a miss, the effect ends.
Dark Elf Poison (Injury)
This poison is typically made only by dark elves and only in a place far removed from sunlight. The poison makes an attack with a bonus of +3 vs the Constitution defence of any creature subjected to it. On a hit, the creature is poisoned for 1 hour. If the attack hits by 5 or more, the creature is also unconscious while poisoned in this way. The creature wakes up if it takes damage or if another creature takes an action to shake it awake.
Essence of Ether (Inhaled)
This poison makes an attack with a bonus of +5 vs the Constitution defence of any creature subjected it. On a hit, the creature is poisoned for 8 hours. The poisoned creature is unconscious, but wakes if it takes damage or if another creature takes an action to shake it awake.
Malice (Inhaled)
This poison makes an attack with a bonus of +5 vs the Constitution defence of any creature subjected to it. On a hit, the creature is poisoned and blinded for 1 hour.
Midnight Tears (Ingested)
A creature that ingests this poison suffers no effect until the stroke of midnight. If the poison has not been neutralised before then, then this poison makes an attack with a bonus of +7 vs the creature’s Constitution defence. On a hit, the creature takes 31 (9d6) poison damage, or half as much damage on a miss.
Oil of Taggit (Contact)
This poison makes an attack with a bonus of +3 vs the Constitution defence of any creature subjected it. On a hit, the creature is poisoned for 24 hours. The poisoned creature is unconscious. The creature wakes up if it takes damage.
Pale Tincture (Ingested)
This poison makes an attack with a bonus of +6 vs the Constitution defence of any creature subjected to it. On a hit, the creature takes 3 (1d6) poison damage and becomes poisoned. The poisoned creature is attacked again every 24 hours, taking 3 (1d6) poison damage on a hit. Until this poison ends, the damage the poison deals can’t be healed by any means. After seven misses, the effect ends and the creature can heal normally.
Purple Worm Poison (Injury)
This poison must be harvested from a dead or incapacitated purple worm. The poison makes an attack with a bonus of +9 vs the Constitution defence of any creature subjected to it. On a hit, the creature takes 42 (12d6) poison damage, or half as much damage on a miss.
Serpent Venom (Injury)
This poison must be harvested from a dead or incapacitated giant poisonous snake. The poison makes an attack with a bonus of +1 vs the Constitution defence of any creature subjected to it. On a hit, the creature takes 10 (3d6) poison damage, or half as much damage on miss.
Torpor (Ingested)
This poison makes an attack with a bonus of +5 vs the Constitution defence of any creature subjected to it. On a hit, the creature is poisoned and incapacitated for 4d6 hours.
Truth Serum (Ingested)
This poison makes an attack with a bonus of +1 vs the Constitution defence of any creature subjected to it. On a hit, the creature is poisoned for 1 hour. The poisoned creature can’t knowingly speak a lie, as if under the effect of a zone of truth spell.
Wyvern Poison (Injury)
This poison must be harvested from a dead or incapacitated wyvern. The poison makes an attack with a bonus of +5 vs the Constitution defence of any creature subjected to it. On a hit, the creature takes 24 (7d6) poison damage, or half as much damage on a miss.
Crafting and Harvesting Poison
During downtime between adventures, a character can use the crafting rules in the Player’s Handbook to create basic poison if the character has proficiency with a poisoner’s kit At your discretion, the character can craft other kinds of poison. Not all poison ingredients are available for purchase, and tracking down certain ingredients might form the basis of an entire adventure.
A character can instead attempt to harvest poison from a poisonous creature, such as a snake, wyvern, or carrion crawler. The creature must be incapacitated or dead, and the harvesting requires 1d6 minutes followed by a DC 20 Intelligence (Nature) check. (Proficiency with the poisoner’s kit applies to this check if the character doesn’t have proficiency in Nature.) On a successful check, the character harvests enough poison for a single dose. On a failed check, the character is unable to extract any poison. If the character fails the check by 5 or more, the character is subjected to the creature’s poison.