How many arrows can I affect with one vile of poison??? Need help ASAP, in a tournament tomorrow!!!
william, if you are out there I hope you see this!!!
Um, 10, if one vial = one ounce. My quick, not very well thought out answer. I might vary it depending on the type of poison, with more potent poison affecting more arrows.
SexiShump,
First, before using poison, I suggest you familiarize yourself with its rules and use from the DMG 3.5 page 296 so as to speed play at your tournament.
As for your question regarding how many arrows you could coat, the answer to your question is covered in the DMG 3.5, page 296 under the entry for price (in regards to poisons):
“Price: The cost of one dose (one vial) of the poison. It is not possible to use or apply poison in any quantity smaller than one dose.”
So, if you go by the DMG, you will need to have to purchase one dose of poison for each arrow you wish to coat. This can be quite expensive depending on what poison you were going after. ;-) It will also make record keeping simpler since basically the DMG is saying that one dose will coat any size weapon. Therefore, if you needed to coat a large weapon, one vial will still have you covered. If you need a “worldview” rationale, think of the abstract nature of D&D combat. You never specify what edge or point of your weapon impacts the target, so you can presume that when using poison, you are striking with the poisoned edge or point when landing a successful attack.
Finally, bear in mind, that unless the class you are playing has Poison Use as an ability, you have a 5% chance of exposing yourself to the poison whenever you apply it to a weapon or otherwise ready it for use. Also, if you roll a natural 1 on an attack roll with a poisoned weapon, you must make a Reflex save DC15 or accidentally poison yourself. So have a really good Fortitude save for certain. :-)
I hope the above is useful and good luck with your tournament.
Good gaming,
Mark
Marcos and Lillith,
Thanks for the feedback. It was helpful. I ended up using Dragon Bile because it specifically said 20 arrows in the rules. I did horrible in the tournament, but as a new gamer what I have learned about the rules preparing for this was priceless. We did a regular session after the tournament and what I learned has already helped my normal character and my party.
Thanks,
Diana