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 Stuck For a Starting Point (Magic Poisons)
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader

USA
5402 Posts

Posted - 26 Sep 2006 :  18:25:16  Show Profile  Visit KnightErrantJR's Homepage Send KnightErrantJR a Private Message  Reply with Quote  Delete Topic
So, I had this idea for something I thought would be a great feat, especially for, say, Talonites. It would be a feat that would allow them to enhance poisons with a "bonus," making the DC for the poison anywhere from +1 to +5 more difficult, and in addition, since it is a magical poison, you would have to make a caster level check to remove the poison once it had affected someone.

Then I had the idea to make another feat that would allow a Talonite to create a "disease focus," essentially working with the above idea. The "focus" would be something that could serve as the focus of a contagion, that would have the same +1 to +5 bonus mentioned above for a given disease, and also make it needful to make a caster level check to dispel the disease, unless the "focus" is found and destroyed, in which case the disease reverts back to its "normal" form.

Now, I think these are great ideas, but I'm having a hard time with the specifics (how much it would cost to use materials for the poison or the disease focus, for example). I tried to look at the rules for enhancing amunition, for example, for poison doses, but I'm kind of stuck for where to start as far as hard and fast rules.

Any fellow scribes care to offer some suggestions?

Kalin Agrivar
Senior Scribe

Canada
956 Posts

Posted - 26 Sep 2006 :  18:32:27  Show Profile  Visit Kalin Agrivar's Homepage Send Kalin Agrivar a Private Message  Reply with Quote
boy am I dopey today...are poisons under craft: poison or craft: alchemy?

since it would be craft skill, how does a "masterwork poison" work?

and as it is a skill (craft) then you modify some other skill feat, like skill focus

the disease idea is cool..you could make a skill like craft: diseasewright or pestilencemonger...and treat that skill the same way as the craft: poison skill..

Kalin Xorell El'Agrivar

- High Mage of the Arcane Assembly
- Lore Keeper of the Vault of Ancestors
- 3rd Son of the Lord of the Stand
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader

USA
5402 Posts

Posted - 26 Sep 2006 :  18:40:13  Show Profile  Visit KnightErrantJR's Homepage Send KnightErrantJR a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Yeah, the idea I had is that this helps to explain all of those poisonings and plagues that even clerics have a hard time dispelling, as well as kind of making a built in "plot hook" in that you might find out that the disease is magical, then track down the creator of it, then find the focus and destroy it before it can do any more damage.

I was wrestling with the exact same thing with the "masterwork" poison idea. Perhaps as a first step I should figure out what properties a masterwork poison would have. Would it make the poison increase its difficulty class, or would it modify its damage effect?

Still processing . . .
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Kalin Agrivar
Senior Scribe

Canada
956 Posts

Posted - 26 Sep 2006 :  18:45:30  Show Profile  Visit Kalin Agrivar's Homepage Send Kalin Agrivar a Private Message  Reply with Quote
to reason a masterwork poison maybe something like additional minerals/chemicals added to the poison to make it more potent...or perhaps a distillary (sp?) process...similiar to how metals are treated/improved

this process (enhancement or distilation) would then be the plot hook...eithor for the heros to prevent the BBGs finding it or by taking away from the BBGs (so a "masterwork cure" could be developed...

a quick but nice hook is have the heros hired secretly by the Talonites to hunt down the rare minerals/chemical needed so they can brew the "super poison"

and I would first increase the DC before damage...so higher level PCs woudl fear it more...than maybe make the third step "uber-poison" and increase damage

Kalin Xorell El'Agrivar

- High Mage of the Arcane Assembly
- Lore Keeper of the Vault of Ancestors
- 3rd Son of the Lord of the Stand
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader

USA
5402 Posts

Posted - 26 Sep 2006 :  18:52:58  Show Profile  Visit KnightErrantJR's Homepage Send KnightErrantJR a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Hm . . . there could be one feat for making the poison "magical" and more difficult to resist with its DC, and then another feat, dependant on the first one in the tree, that makes the actual damage greater?
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Kalin Agrivar
Senior Scribe

Canada
956 Posts

Posted - 26 Sep 2006 :  18:56:10  Show Profile  Visit Kalin Agrivar's Homepage Send Kalin Agrivar a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I'd go with that...

My cloudy memory today tells me there are a few feat dealing with poisons somewhere...but they may be from non-WotC d20 sources...

and the disease feats would be the same...I can imagine (in D&D) growing/culturing a disease is like most agricultural practices...just more evil

*has known some evil farmers*


Kalin Xorell El'Agrivar

- High Mage of the Arcane Assembly
- Lore Keeper of the Vault of Ancestors
- 3rd Son of the Lord of the Stand
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Foxhelm
Senior Scribe

Canada
592 Posts

Posted - 26 Sep 2006 :  19:10:05  Show Profile Send Foxhelm a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I don't know if this helps but...

The Cleric Quintet has a magical curse (created by Talonar) that has two effects: One in a gas form it can cause people to lose their inhabitions making them focus narrowly on one idea or task (like sex for a Cleric of Sune or self inflicting wounds for clerics of Ilmater). Second, if drunk it turns the victum into a powerful vampire.

Also in Cormyr, there is a disease created that has a anti-magical auara around the virus that prevents magical curing. The blood has to be drained and replaced with clean blood multiple times before the body could over come the virus by it's self.

These are just some ideas that seemed to be linked.

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Edited by - Foxhelm on 26 Sep 2006 19:11:46
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warlockco
Master of Realmslore

USA
1695 Posts

Posted - 26 Sep 2006 :  20:02:37  Show Profile  Visit warlockco's Homepage Send warlockco a Private Message  Reply with Quote
There is a 3rd party product out there that has Magical Poisons, I think it uses the Brew Potion feat to make them, or Craft Wondrous Item, I will need to double check and get back to you.

As to "normal" poisons.
Craft: Poisonmaking, should be able to make "any" type of Poison.
Craft: Alchemy, would be used for Alchemical Poisons.

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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36779 Posts

Posted - 26 Sep 2006 :  21:39:25  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I'd use something that blended Brew Potion and Healing. The latter to know how to affect the body, the former to actually make the substance to do it.

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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
31701 Posts

Posted - 27 Sep 2006 :  01:32:43  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Hmmm... I'd say Wooly's on the mark here.

Though, I get the feeling some kind of alternate check ought to be thrown in on either the "Brew Potion" side of this new feat or its "Healing" aspect, to better reflect the Talonite's difficulty in learning how to enhance the deadliness of the particular poison.

To get really technical, I would suggest that the feat requires the testing of an enhanced poison on a living subject (or series of subjects) to see how the poison affects certain creatures/races -- and decrease the next creation check (each time the poison is enhanced in this way) based on what the Talonite has learned and as his/her skill with the enhanced poison's use, increases.

That may be taking this idea a little too far though... As I've stated many times, rules aren't my thing, but I was intrigued by the idea itself that you've got here KEJR.

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Edited by - The Sage on 27 Sep 2006 01:34:00
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader

USA
5402 Posts

Posted - 27 Sep 2006 :  02:07:37  Show Profile  Visit KnightErrantJR's Homepage Send KnightErrantJR a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Yeah, at its core, it seems like you should be able to refine a poison, making a really pure strain that might be more potant than the basic poison itself. Thus a "masterwork" poison, and from there the basis for something that can be enchanted.

Keep the ideas coming guys, they are helping me refine this, and maybe I'll be able to makes something coherant from it soon . . .
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Kalin Agrivar
Senior Scribe

Canada
956 Posts

Posted - 27 Sep 2006 :  15:28:08  Show Profile  Visit Kalin Agrivar's Homepage Send Kalin Agrivar a Private Message  Reply with Quote
there is always the old-chestnut of making a "mini" PrC (5 levels) of a "master poison/pestilence maker"...probably a Vile class...each class leevl increases the DC or damage of the poison/disease...and maybe invents new, magical super poisons/diseases...like the ones Foxhelm mentions

Kalin Xorell El'Agrivar

- High Mage of the Arcane Assembly
- Lore Keeper of the Vault of Ancestors
- 3rd Son of the Lord of the Stand
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warlockco
Master of Realmslore

USA
1695 Posts

Posted - 28 Sep 2006 :  02:02:05  Show Profile  Visit warlockco's Homepage Send warlockco a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Complete Adventurer and Song & Silence I believe both have rules for "masterwork" poisons.

Plot & Poison, by Green Ronin has the Magical Poisons.

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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader

USA
5402 Posts

Posted - 28 Sep 2006 :  03:53:28  Show Profile  Visit KnightErrantJR's Homepage Send KnightErrantJR a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I couldn't find the "masterwork" poisons in CA, but I'll take another look through.

I had completely forgotten about Plot and Poison. Its not exactly what I was looking for, the but antimagic poison quality is definately a step in the right direction. The main thing that I'm not thrilled about in that book is that the magical poisons other than the antimagic ones are actually easier to dispel, as they can be dispelled as well as removed.

Thanks for the reminder though Warlockco!
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warlockco
Master of Realmslore

USA
1695 Posts

Posted - 28 Sep 2006 :  05:53:56  Show Profile  Visit warlockco's Homepage Send warlockco a Private Message  Reply with Quote
No problem, though now that I think about it, it might have been one of the Rokugan books about "masterwork" poisons. BTW all it does is increase the DC of the poison.

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