Hey there, I'm a new DM and I have my players doing contract jobs for the Temple of Talona (Faerun: poison/disease goddess) Basically, their contracts involve them finding the raw components or ingredients for poisons and in some cases, bringing a carcass or live animal back to the temple for extraction.
There's the backstory... here's my problem....
many d 20 ogl have good poisons, there some great ones in the DMG, however, the research I have done has not led me to the sources of these poisons.
For example: Bloodroot poison.
great poison, obviously comes from a plant... but which one?
I saw an entry for a likely canidate in the Fiend Folio... but I'm still not sure.
Anyways, does any one know of any ogl sources or is it mentioned somewhere in a book where these poisons come from?
(other than the obivious ones of course... no responses about carrion crawler and drow sleep poison.. thanks but I've already figured those out)
Any reponse or suggestions would be helpful.
~Inara
Just incase anyone needs to know where the SRD can be found here.
The poisons are listed under "Special Abilities and Conditions".
Many poisons are obvious where they come from (Black lotus extract, Dragon bile, Striped toadstool, Arsenic, Id moss, Lich dust, Dark reaver powder, Black adder venom, Small centipede poison, Drow poison, Medium spider venom, Wyvern poison, Large scorpion venom, Giant wasp poison, Purple worm poison) but even then you can make interpretations. What type of dragon has the best vile? What do you need to do to lich dust to make it poisonous? Where does black lotus grow?
Others Give you a good hint where they come from (Sassone leaf residue, Malyss root paste, Terinav root, Burnt othur fumes, Bloodroot, Greenblood oil, Blue whinnies, Nitharit, Oil of taggit, Ungol dust). But you get to use even more imagination. Are any of those roots from intelligent plants? What is a Blue Whinnies? Plant or animal or other? Greenblood oil, is it even green or come from something green? Is it derived from blood or even the oil boiled off of the moldy clothes of corpses?
Then there is the purly descriptives (Insanity mist, Shadow essence, Deathblade). Those are obviously cool and hard to get.
If you want more idea concepts of possible poison sources feel free to ask. Making that stuff up is one of the funnest things about being a DM.
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Also, just because the poison is from a plain old plant doesn't mean that there can't be an expedition to the Peaks of Deadly Doom to find the elusive Bloodroot plant that only grows in that location and finds the nutrients it needs in Frost Giant droppings. Or whatever, just an example.
In the wonderfully short 1st level adventure from Paizo called Hollows Last Hope(gods, I feel like one of the Paizo guys with the relevent links to their products) the party is after medicinal mushrooms to help out the town but the mushrooms only grow in ruins. The closest ruins are overrun with monsters (kobolds, wolves, etc.).
Change the mushrooms from medicinal to poisonous, change the hook to a contract from the Poisonous Temple and you could run the adventure there almost as is.
Again, not saying you should use it but you certainly could.
FH
How about the ingredients needed for a certain poison can only be found in a certain mountain vale. The mountain vale (or cavern or whatever) is hard enough to reach but not only that there is a tribe there who considers the vale a sacred site. To gain access to the vale the players can a) sneak in b) kill the tribe or c) prove themselves worthy somehow (maybe some kind of test or performing an important service for the tribe). The service could be to recover a captured hero from a rival tribe. Ideally you can make it so that the PCs begin to feel some kind of attachment to the tribe. However, the rival tribe offers the PCs access to the vale which is actually their sacred territory and was recently captured by the first tribe encountered. The PCs then have to decide whether to warn the first tribe and help them defend themselves or to aid the second tribe in recovering their sacred lands. Alternatively you could make it so that the second tribe was in the right and the first tribe was evil but the second tribe wouldn't allow access to the valley, thus forcing the PCs to choose between doing what was right and failing their contract or fulfilling their contract at the good tribes expense.
Hope that both helps and makes sense.
Mayhaps a number of poisons are only poisonous if collected under certain conditions. For example the bloodroot is a relative of the typical mushroom but one cultivated with the blood of a cobra, scorpion, and unicorn in the mulch. Some other times or events: Full moon, blood moon, blue moon, solstice, anniversary of the graveowners death, one hundred years, planetary alignment, after forest fire, during a forest fire, sacrificing a virgin, seventh scorpion of a seventh scorpion, comet, part of a regicide.
Adventures could also be trips to trade with other poison makers such as the drow, bullywugs, a foreign king's assassin, myconids, Scorpion X ranch. Something as simple as a cattle stampede can be used, but the cattle are giant spiders, vipers, or the like. A great number of adventures could be defending the temple from self-righteous, paladins, vermin specialist rangers.
This guide was written for AD&D2E, but I have frequently referred to it for ideas relating to herbs, poisons, and plants. Check it out:
http://www.republicofnewhome.org/lair/games/herb5/herb5illo.html
Most entries identify the source of the information and there is a list of real-world herbs somewhere near the back
Hey guys,
I've seen some really great suggestions. (btw I've already sent them on a poison toadstool and mushroom contract) and as for the tribe territory that could potentially kill them... yeah, been there, they survived, they plan to go back in.
I'll be checking out that website for AD&D as well.
Thanks alot!
This is a problem that bothers me almost constantly as an experienced DM. They give you exact instuctions for putting together magic items, but as far as poisons and alchmical items, there is nothing in the way of how they are put together except a few clues as to their sources. There is a product for D20 from another company that deals exclusively with poisons, but nothing "official" from the people at Wizards. If they are truely interested in more money maybe they should look into stuff like that instead of coming out with new editions.
There's a lot of real-world material on how to make poisons as opposed to how to make a magic item. If you're looking for something official from WotC, I can't help you, but I can give you my rules on it.
1.) Acquire the raw materials for the poison. It's usually an animal, plant, or mineral product. Have the PC in question make a Craft (poison) to successfully harvest the raw goods. I'd make it at least DC 15, +/- 2 depending on the difficulty. Animal-based poisons are usually in the form of glands, digestive juices or other nastiness. Plant-based poisons can be anything, from leaves to roots to immature or raw fruits or berries. Mineral poisons are usually gathered from one source or another.
Equipment required:
Inhaled poisons: Mortar and pestle, breathing mask
Injury poisons: Small brazier, spatula, spoons, empty vials
Contact poisons: As Injury, but thick gloves
(You could combine all these into a poisoner's kit for 100 gp. Likely illegal in some areas, but easily explained away with a good Diplomacy or Bluff roll.)
2.) For each DC beyond 10, the time to complete the poison increases by one day. (Meaning the player could quickly make a poison, but to make a really good poison takes some time.) Increase the difficulty if the character is unfamiliar with the poison they're making, either in the creation or use. The character must make a Craft check each day. Beating the DC by 5 or more increases the potency by one, while missing the target DC by 5 or more decreases the potency by one.
Hope this helps out.
Actually, I've done most of that myself.
I've studied herbalism for a while and I know what sort of equipment you'd need. I also have converted some Earth poisons (herbal and some animalistic) into my campaign.
Funny enough, I created a "poison" extraction kit, specifically designed for med. to large sized creatures. The kit includes gloves, glass utensils and even a large syringe device (with refillable/removeable chambers) for extracting poison out of inconvient places (like the brain juice from a carrion crawler).
My temple of Talona sells MW (a +2 Craft(poisonmaking) bonus) for 500GP.
I've also been using the Poison Crafting article out of the Dragon Magazine ( I forget the issue number) it summarizes and possibly simplifies the rules. I found it to be a great asset.
There is an excellent resource available on this subject. It's called Poisoncraft, from Blue Devil Games.
http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=2718
There is an excellent resource available on this subject. It's called Poisoncraft, from Blue Devil Games.
http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=2718
Thanks for that info. I'll be checking into it.
I just recently received a great source for my campaign:
Pale Designs: a poisoner's handbook , by Bastion Press
I've only read a few chapters of it yet... but it follows the ogl as well as introducing a few new poisons.
It's made me very happy!
Excellent. I recall that one came first. I'm still fond of Poisoncraft due to the many excellent options, but either will serve you well.