Sunday 3 March 2013

Poisons of Ix

As mentioned in my description of the Ixian infiltrator class, poisons are going to be available to player characters, not only to use but also to manufacture.

To that end I've come up with a few poisons to start with. All of these are illegal, but may be found through the black market.

They are listed with the following information:
Type: G = inhaled gas or dust, I = ingested, W = weapon or injected.
Difficulty: modifier to infiltrator's poisons roll, listed for detection/manufacture.
Cost: in bronze pieces (equivalent of gold pieces).
Effects: always involving a save versus poison.

Note that I've deliberately toned down the effects of poisons compared to those which are described in the Labyrinth Lord AEC. I've found that commonly available poisons which can cause instant or death large amounts of damage (= death) tend to start a poisons arms race of sorts, and bring a campaign into a power level which I'm not keen on. I'm especially aware of this in the context of poisons which can be used in combat (i.e. non-ingested poisons), which can easily turn into a shopping list of instant kills. Thus even the deadliest poisons in the list below don't have instantaneous effect.

Ghax juices
I
-40%/-20%
200bp

Very subtle and slow-acting, bringing on a wasting illness and loss of appetite. Causes a loss of 1 point of CON per day for 4d6 days (save for half duration).

Silica dust
G
+40%/0%
50bp

Bursts in a 10' radius area. Save or choke** for 1d4 rounds.

Vapour of the shadowed moon
G
0%/-10%
100bp

Affects a 10' cube area. Save or suffer weakness*** for 1d4 rounds, followed by unconsciousness for 1d6 turns.

Mantis venom
W
0%/0%
100bp

Save or begin bleeding from nose, mouth, wounds. Suffer 1hp damage per round for 2d6 rounds.

Ethers of revelation
I
-20%/-20%
100bp

Save or enter a trance for 1 turn wherein secrets will be revealed. Another save is allowed to resist revealing very important secrets.

Harg fluid
W
-25%/0%
250bp

Save or suffer weakness*** for 1d6 rounds, followed by 3d6 damage.

Red venom
W
+10%/-30%
1,000bp

Causes an initial period of weakness*** or stunning** (weakness if save succeeds) lasting 2d6 rounds. Subsequently, if the save was failed, paralysis and death within 1d6 rounds.

Distillation of Sardo
I
-30%/-30%
400bp

Within 1d6 minutes of ingestion, causes massive internal damage. Save or die. 3d6 damage is save succeeded.

Desert lotus' blessing
I
-10%/-50%
300bp

Causes paralysis and death within 2 minutes of ingestion. A successful save reduces effects to paralysis lasting 1d6 turns and 4d6 damage.

Extract of Wesk-gland
W
0%/0%
25bp

Save or suffer weakness*** and shivering lasting 1d6 turns.

Reksh gas
G
0%/0%
100bp

Affects a 10' radius area. Causes bleeding from the eyes. Save or suffer 1d3 damage and blindness for 1 hour.

Asp venom
W
0%/+10%
20bp

Save or suffer swelling and irritation – 1 point of damage and -2 to attack rolls for 1 day.

** cannot act, no AC bonus fro DEX or shield, attackers gain +4 to hit.
*** -2 to-hit, half movement.

2 comments:

  1. I'm not a fan of save or die as the standard effect of poison, it seems very sudden and is frankly more boring than poison should be.

    This is a great way of fleshing poison out and making it interesting again, I particularly like the burst ones like Silica Dust, I can see wiley PCs plotting heists and using it to escape the guards.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree with Smiler, I'm not a fan of the save or die rule for poison. I like that these rules have may different effects. I could see me using some of these in any of my games.

    ReplyDelete

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.