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Post by bestialwarlust on May 1, 2016 19:09:59 GMT -5
I'm curious to see how you handle poisons in your games. Do you use the Judges guild reference? do you just make up your own effects? And what about saving throws? If the player fails the roll do you have the character die immediately or is there an onset time? Has anyone adapted the poison chart from Metamorphosis Alpha to try for d&d games?
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Post by Admin Pete on May 1, 2016 19:14:48 GMT -5
I just make up my own poisons and effects. If a saving throw is missed some poisons kill immediately, some kill slowly, some don't kill at all but put the character down for the count and have lingering effects, some have permanent effects that are difficult to remove. And many other variations.
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Post by Vile Traveller on May 1, 2016 21:00:04 GMT -5
I use the Judges Guild poisons as a starting point, but there are lots of possible variations. Far too many for the players to be able to predict reliably ...  |
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on May 2, 2016 5:26:05 GMT -5
I'm curious to see how you handle poisons in your games. Do you use the Judges guild reference? do you just make up your own effects? And what about saving throws? If the player fails the roll do you have the character die immediately or is there an onset time? Has anyone adapted the poison chart from Metamorphosis Alpha to try for d&d games? Do you mind giving a brief rundown on the JG reference? This is the first I recall hearing of it... |
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Post by bestialwarlust on May 2, 2016 8:05:00 GMT -5
I'm curious to see how you handle poisons in your games. Do you use the Judges guild reference? do you just make up your own effects? And what about saving throws? If the player fails the roll do you have the character die immediately or is there an onset time? Has anyone adapted the poison chart from Metamorphosis Alpha to try for d&d games? Do you mind giving a brief rundown on the JG reference? This is the first I recall hearing of it... Each poison type has a number associated with it from 0-9. The higher up the number the stronger the poison. Besides the damage per round taken each poison has a secondary affect if the save is failed such as - half action, coma,ill paralyzed, but the affect is different based on the size type of the victim -- man sized, ogre sized and dragon sized. And the duration of the secondary affect is also based on the size code. It's available as a pdf www.drivethrurpg.com/product/932/Ready-Ref-Sheets-1978?manufacturers_id=31&it=1 |
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Post by robkuntz on May 2, 2016 11:11:28 GMT -5
I have my own poison tables for World of Kalibruhn. Very granular and also dependent upon certain immunities in cultures having dealt with local types, etc., etc.
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Post by hengest on May 2, 2016 12:02:29 GMT -5
For my present and long-to-be-unplayed setting, I'm planning the odd psychic "poison" with an unusual (to me at least) save-reversal. The idea in-world is that it's a leftover from the previous culture (boring stuff left out here) that communicated with absorbable substances. Save and you resist or shake off the effect, are only confused for a bit. Fail your save, and get a confusing but somewhat orienting mental picture of the surrounding area that will be mostly correct (there is indeed a secret room there, but maybe it's a floor down, some detail off). Not a giveaway map, but a description to the player of what they generally feel about the surrounding 50' sphere (or so). Or I may tie it to a specific location as it was at a certain time, in which case the information will be perfectly accurate, but way way out of date.
To me the save-reversal seems justifiable. Would be interested in thoughts from the poisoners on this thread.
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Post by robkuntz on May 2, 2016 12:27:32 GMT -5
I believe that multi-staged results, longer ranged and/or permanent changes/effects, increasing immunity, as well as the variances you suggest, should be (and are in WOK, excepting your reversal kind) part and parcel of the granularity of poisons. A very overlooked area
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on May 2, 2016 12:28:21 GMT -5
Do you mind giving a brief rundown on the JG reference? This is the first I recall hearing of it... Each poison type has a number associated with it from 0-9. The higher up the number the stronger the poison. Besides the damage per round taken each poison has a secondary affect if the save is failed such as - half action, coma,ill paralyzed, but the affect is different based on the size type of the victim -- man sized, ogre sized and dragon sized. And the duration of the secondary affect is also based on the size code. It's available as a pdf www.drivethrurpg.com/product/932/Ready-Ref-Sheets-1978?manufacturers_id=31&it=1Thanks for the info. I'll be investigating this further... |
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Post by captaincrumbcake on May 2, 2016 13:57:56 GMT -5
This is one of those oh-mmm-gee components of the game that I take issue with; iow, I dislike.
For me, it doesn't belong in the SAVE vs. group--as it stands. So, I'm working on my own concept of poison, and all that includes.
Hopefully, I will be able to add it to the files of The Lost Lands campaign folder.
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Post by Admin Pete on May 2, 2016 14:53:55 GMT -5
This is one of those oh-mmm-gee components of the game that I take issue with; iow, I dislike. For me, it doesn't belong in the SAVE vs. group--as it stands. So, I'm working on my own concept of poison, and all that includes. Hopefully, I will be able to add it to the files of The Lost Lands campaign folder. I look forward to seeing your own concept in The Lost Lands. I am curious as to what you dislike about saving throws for poisons. Not all poisons kill even if the saving throw is missed and looking at @hengest' variation it could actually be beneficial. |
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Post by hengest on May 2, 2016 15:57:01 GMT -5
I remember bringing up in college how it seemed unlikely that substances could have such crazy effects. My friend said that anything you ingested besides food was likely to do either nothing or something, and some of the something ones might kill you, in which case there isn't a lot to say, but the other somethings would do something apart from kill you or nourish you. Which made some sense. I suppose my suggested variation is really an imperfect form of communication that allows a save since the "victim" isn't going to unconsciously go along with it, not knowing what it is. I admit it's not really poison in the usual sense, although there could be interesting effects that combine illness with desirable effects in a way that forces choices on the players. No saves, all effects automatic. For example: (each of the first three levels comes with correct anticipation of the fun effects of the next level. The final level leaves the character with a thirst for more...but there is no more) | Total Amount Drunk | Fun | No Fun | | sip | detect an item of interest nearby
(gold, enchanted item, secret door) | acute vomiting episode after ~30s delay | | mouthful | certain knowledge of several such in surrounding
area ("dungeon" or outdoors, within an hour's walk or so). Items are good, but not necessarily worth retrieving in the circumstances. | extreme and shrieking vomiting episode after ~30s delay, make a wandering monster check or alert locals to the presence of the party (as appropriate). Drinker incapacitated for duration of episode, disgusted afterwards. | | half bottle | as above, plus intuitive understanding of a mystery relevant to the drinker (DM's choice) | extreme vomiting as above, speech possible but near-paralysis for 1 turn (no combat, no spells, crawling a little like a worm possible with great effort) | | full bottle | as above, plus brief flash of understanding of the home culture of the potion. Give some pieces of cryptic but correct information with some immediate relevance to the PCs. Perfect understanding of a spatially or otherwise troubling trick area of the level or dungeon (should be solvable without the potion, although disturbing and difficult). | as above, deathlike torpor for ~2 hours, onset after turn of crawling. Party members may assume character to be dead (looting, abandonment). Magic but not observation will detect nondeath. Scavengers may begin to eat abandoned character. |
Or more likely, adjust situation and put it on an unmovable tap so players have to decide whether to keep drinking or move along, no saving it for safety (sip and 1, 2, or 3 swallows, whatever). In any case, I really look forward to seeing captaincrumbcake 's poison material and that of robkuntz as well. Edit: I suppose this is sort of a simplification and re-skinning of the old "magic pools". Difference just that the effects, good and not good, scale somewhat predictably with amount. One could easily come up with a dozen of these things and then reverse-think their origins and intended functions. Hey, maybe I'll do that. What a hobby. |
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Post by Admin Pete on May 2, 2016 17:33:53 GMT -5
@hengest, I like this idea, it looks like a lot of fun. I do a lot of things with potions and other liquids IMC. The first drink causes a change with I describe and sometimes the player just keeps drinking and the changes become more extreme and yet he keeps drinking.  |
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Post by tetramorph on Jul 22, 2016 15:20:09 GMT -5
I've recently turned to thinking about this. How about the following?
Thus all poison should be deadly for normals. I imagine the "nd6+n" poison to be something like hemlock that slowly affects every organ (thus every "HD") of the victim. The nd6+n types remain dangerous to higher level characters, although survivable, while not affecting normals any more than the first category.
What do you think?
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Post by Crimhthan The Great on Aug 3, 2016 15:05:46 GMT -5
My poisons and venoms do all kinds of different things, some with a save and some without.
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