This pdf is 6 pages long, the SRD takes up 1 page and the first features a ToC.
The two b/w-artworks are nice, but have no connection to the topic at hand, poisons. I don’t mind, though.
The pdf features, of course, 2 dozen poisons for your perusal and they range from DC 14 to DC 24. They all feature a paragraph on where the poison is coming from and some actually feature nice characteristics to make them more unique in the context of the campaign, which in some cases make for nice adventure hooks.
Some poisons are rather far-out, like Ferrovore, which is essentially a rust monster-poison that kills the equipment of the poisoned one and e.g. Sineater has an …interesting story with regards to creation. I liked almost all of the poisons. I only disliked one particular poison, one that affects undead. I get the poison that affects outsiders (due to being VERY hard to manufacture), but I just can’t wrap my head around an anti-undead-toxin.
No onset time is given for the poisons, so I figure they all work without delay, which is a bit weird with ingested poisons like Basilisk Dung that petrifies its victims. I felt especially estranged by the fact that Grain Ergot had no onset time given. However, there is also one problem with this file that is more grievous for me: No cost is given for the poisons, which makes it hard to determine how long the actual crafting of the poisons might take – which is a pity, as my PCs love using poisons and some fluff-texts hint at exceedingly complicated and cool ideas with regards to crafting the poisons.
Formatting is ok, editing could have used another pass, though – I found some unnecessary typos.
Conclusion:
I really like the poisons, but the lack of costs as well as the lack of onset-time for the poisons, while not making the book useless, limit its appeal. If I take the typos and the low price into account, I’ll rate this book two stars – it could have easily been a 5-star-file, though.
