Is there a RAW skill to identify diseases and poisons?


Rules Questions


I'm looking at the heal and knowledge skill sections of the rulebook and don't see any DC's to identify disease or poison.

I checked the PFS faq and saw nothing either.

Is there an OFFICIAL ruling on how this works? If I see nothing I will probably just use the save DC of the affliction for a heal or relevant knowledge check.


Appologies, part of my answer is a 'well the answer depends' and unfortunately, this is an extrapolation. Generally speaking though in my experience when a capaign or encounter involves stuff that needs to be indentified it gives you a DC i assume it is the case for PFS as well. but here goes.

Heal tells us the DC to treat poisons and diseases is the DC of the poison.

When Crafting poisons the DC to craft is the poisons DC.

So from this you can extrapolate whatever skill is used the DC to identify it is likely the DC of the poison.

Second the easiest answer for 'what skill is used to idenfity them' is Craft alchemy. Answering information about the stuff you are making falls under the Craft skill.

But your thinking shouldnt it be a knowledge skill? I would assume it would depend on the poison but knowledge dungeoneering and nature should cover any poisons i can think of depending on what they are made of.

What is it you need the info for in general? Ie are you trying to idenfiy stuff in scenarios (which i assume will tell you what Dc and skill to use)


Mojorat wrote:

Second the easiest answer for 'what skill is used to idenfity them' is Craft alchemy. Answering information about the stuff you are making falls under the Craft skill.

But your thinking shouldnt it be a knowledge skill? I would assume it would depend on the poison but knowledge dungeoneering and nature should cover any poisons i can think of depending on what they are made of.

These seem like the most applicable of the basic skills for this purpose to me, as well.

If you want a a character with a more specific skill it could be Profession: Toxicologist, or Profession: Pathologist.

I find myself wondering though, since we have a Detect Poison spell, and a Diagnose Disease spell, should we look to them to guess what the intended checks should be?

Detect Poison uses Wisdom, or Craft: Alchemy

Diagnose Disease is less straightforward, only gives you a bump on Heal.

Knowledge: Nature still seems like a good compromise solution (unless the poison or disease is crafted or magical), since it covers "identify natural hazard". If it's magic, Knowledge: Arcana. If it's crafted, Craft: Alchemy.

I've seen these checks made with a variety of skills in actual play though, most commonly it's been a Wisdom check, or a Heal check. It seems much like the RAW for "Identify a monsters abilities and weaknesses". It's tough, since pathfinder lumps a lot of things in to the categories for "poison" and "disease", and they can have widely varying sources.


Hi Mojorot, thanks for responding

In this scenario, the disease is contracted just for being in an area, not by a creature.

The scenario does not specify the identification DC. It is Demon Fever, DC18 two saves.


silverace99 wrote:

The scenario does not specify the identification DC. It is Demon Fever, DC18 two saves.

Demon fever:

Despite its name, demon fever is actually a deadly disease carried by night hags and not demons. It is passed on through a hag's bite and has absolutely no incubation time; effects occur immediately. Multiple strains of the disease exist, some of which can only be cured by magical means. If left untreated, it can kill an average human in under four days.

Heh. That one has all the identification problems. :)


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@aboniks, the detection spells just tell you poisons or diseases are there, they offer no help idenfitying them.

@silverace99 Ahh, So its like an aura around the creature of filth or such?. My guess is you probably cant tell ahead of time visually other than its dirty.

Knowledge X for the creature will tell the PC the right info.

If the PC get diseased I would go with a DC 18 heal check to idenfity the poison.

If its an outerplanar creature that they have failed to identify Heal is the appropriate skill in my opinion. The rules for heal on this stuff are fairly clear.


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Well, for identifying a disease, you'd need something on which to base an identification. Under mundane circumstances, they couldn't just walk up to the edge of the area, make a check, nd then go, "Yup, Demon Fever." Are there infected creatures or corpses within sight from outside the area? If so, then they could make a Heal check to identify the disease based on visible symptoms (if any).


Mojorat wrote:
@aboniks, the detection spells just tell you poisons or diseases are there, they offer no help idenfitying them.

Agreed, on Detect Poison. Diagnose Disease actually does identify the disease for you. I was just looking at how they work mechanically to get an idea of which skills made sense for identifying.

In the OP's situation, diagnose disease would be a perfect solution, since it can tell you about an entire area. But...it's not a skill check, so it's not really what was asked for.


I'd say that, for a poison or disease currently afflicting someone, it would be a Heal check to determine the effects the thing is having, its continued onset, and how difficult it is to resist/cure (ie., a good nights' rest while being tended to, an antitoxin, etc...or indicating how many consecutive saves would be required...in some non-gamist terms). I would increase the DC by the caster level required to cast the lowest level spell necessary for removing a disease or poison that cannot be cured naturally for the Healer to judge that no mundane means are available to counter this problem.

I would relegate identifying the actual affliction itself to a Knowledge check corresponding to the source of the poison or disease: Nature would give you information about natural poisons and diseases (from plants, common animals, fungus, natural processes, etc... so Filth Fever would come in here...and from fey, etc...); Arcana would allow you to ID poisons and diseases originating with dragons, or certain spells (maybe), and other things covered by that Knowledge skill.

In this way, you could have someone who knows what a particular affliction will DO, but not necessarily know how to stop it, or where it's from, while on the flip side, you could have someone who knows those bits of information, but cannot tell you which poison or disease is affecting you.

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