In the previous chart, the number of rounds active column indicates how many rounds the victim loses hit points. A victim injected with an Intensity 3 poison would lose 1d6 hit points at the beginning of each round for 1d4 rounds. Note that the victim begins taking damage the round after being poisoned. [Poison Reactions | Alignment Considerations]
Note that in almost all cases, a victim will get to make a Save vs. Poison to avoid the effects of a poison. However, as indicated in the table, the more powerful poisons are harder to resist in this way. A victim will only lose his Save vs. Poison if his body is so saturated with the poison that there is no way for his system to shrug off the effects - simple injections or inhalations are not enough to cause this effect.
If a victim is struck with multiple toxic poisons of the same intensity, the damage dealt per round does NOT increase, while the duration of poisoning does. For example, suppose a character is hit with an Intensity 2 poison and rolls to determine that he will be taking 1d4 points of damage for the next 2 rounds. The next round, he is hit by another Intensity 2 poison and determined that he will be taking 1d4 damage for the next 3 rounds. So, 1 round of the first poisoning has already gone by, which means that the character will be taking 1d4 damage for the next: 2 - 1 + 3 = 4 rounds.
If a victim is inflicted with toxic poisons of different intensity, the affects of the poisons stack. So, if a character has 6 more rounds of 1d4 damage remaining and suddenly is hit with 2 rounds of 2d10 damage, for the next 2 rounds, he will be suffering 2d10 + 1d4 damage.
An additional effect of toxic poisoning is that the poisoning victim functions at –1 per intensity of the poison while affected by it. If under the effects of multiple poisons, the penalties are cumulative. This penalty applies to all rolls, including attack, parry, saves, and noncombat checks.
Optional Rule - Complex Effects Caused by Poisoning: If the GM chooses to use the rules, the poisoned character also experiences painful side effects as his or her health decreases. Note that using these rules greatly increases the power of poisons.
|
Optional Rule: The GM may allow that Fey gain a +1 save versus poisons
not specifically crafted for the Fey metabolism.
|
|
Table: Toxic Poison Reactions |
|
|
Health Level (HP) |
Effect |
|
75% or better |
No combat or stat degradation, but victim feels queasy, and either chilly or feverish. |
|
50% to 75% |
Stomach pain, muscle pain, and nausea manifest. Penalties: -3 to BAtCh, Dex(-2), Str(-1). |
|
25% to 49% |
Tremors and minor convulsions manifest (or mild to moderate numbness). Victim feels icy cold or burning hot. Vision begins to dim (treat as twilight). Victim loses balance (Dex check needed to walk.) Penalties: -6 BAtCh, Dex(-5), Str(-3), Int(-2). Severe pain and nausea. |
|
1% to 24% |
Severe convulsions (or complete paralysis). Combat impossible. Meaningful movement impossible. Pain is unimaginable. Uncontrolled mouth foaming or vomiting. |
|
0% or less |
Victim is comatose. Once hit points fall below -10, victim is dead and can only be revived by supernatural means. |
While intentionally poisoning a sentient being with the intent to kill is always an evil act, using non-lethal poisons to incapacitate a foe is rarely considered evil. If a foe is rendered helpless by an anesthetic poison, the morality play occurs afterward: does the character harm the helpless foe?