If one of your players asked you if he could have a glove laced with contact poison, which he intended to use IN COMBAT, how would you run it? Would he have to make a touch attack? Or a normal attack? Would you even allow such a thing?
What if he had a vial full of inhaled poison that he wanted to throw at enemies in combat? Would that be a touch attack? Or a grenade-like weapon attack? Would you allow that? Would a single does effect multiple targets if they are within the area?
What if the glove and/or vial had multiple doses of poison upon it? Ho would you rule on it then?
What if the would be assassin baked a cake, and then put 3 doses of poison in it prior to feeding the cake to 10 people. Would all 10 people suffer the effects of 3 doses of poison? Why or why not? If not, how wold you run it and why?
1) Touch attack (just poison) or normal attack (unarmed strike damage + poison. One hit = one dose.
2) Ranged touch attack at square (AC 5 IIRC). One vial would only affect a 5' square IMO.
3) Glove - no multiple doses for either. Glove - only enough surface area for one dose - not one dose per finger or such nonsense. Vial - only large enough to hold one dose. Could possibly have a larger container for more doses (barrel etc.) In this case multiple doses would affect all at once and each dose fills an extra 5' square.
4) That's a hard one. Spread out so thin i'd say that it makes the poison pretty weak.
I'd say that the 3 doses ingested at once extend the duration by .5 twice, and the DC would increase by 4.
This is for 3 doses used against one person.
Then if it's used in a cake that's big enough to be eaten by 10 people it's duration and DC would then decrease by 10 increments. To a minimum of 1 minute duration and DC 10 i'd say.
So using the example of Arsenic the duration would go from 4 minutes to 8 minutes, then back down to 1 minute.
DC would go from 13 to 17, then back down to DC 10.
Point 4 is totally arbitrary tho, and not backed by any RAW.
1) Touch attack (just poison) or normal attack (unarmed strike damage + poison. One hit = one dose.
What if they put one dose on each finger? It is perfectly reasonable that I could touch you with all five fingers (and thus all five doses).
2) Ranged touch attack at square (AC 5 IIRC). One vial would only affect a 5' square IMO.
Inhaled poisons almost always fill a 10-foot cube. It's right there in the poison section.
3) Glove - no multiple doses for either. Glove - only enough surface area for one dose - not one dose per finger or such nonsense. Vial - only large enough to hold one dose. Could possibly have a larger container for more doses (barrel etc.) In this case multiple doses would affect all at once and each dose fills an extra 5' square.
I can understand this from a balance perspective, but not from any kind of logical perspective. There are 16 oz. to a pound. A barrel can hold maybe 30 lb. That's 480 doses of poison if I smash a barrel over someone's head. Do you really think it would cover 480 squares? That's more than a widened fireball's spread!
4) That's a hard one. Spread out so thin i'd say that it makes the poison pretty weak.
I'd say that the 3 doses ingested at once extend the duration by .5 twice, and the DC would increase by 4.
This is for 3 doses used against one person.
Then if it's used in a cake that's big enough to be eaten by 10 people it's duration and DC would then decrease by 10 increments. To a minimum of 1 minute duration and DC 10 i'd say.
So using the example of Arsenic the duration would go from 4 minutes to 8 minutes, then back down to 1 minute.
DC would go from 13 to 17, then back down to DC 10.
Point 4 is totally arbitrary tho, and not backed by any RAW.
I, personally, like to think it keeps its full potency (at least to a certain point--poisoning a banquet will effect everyone, poisoning the entire ocean will take decades of industry). My logic for it is that (1) there is no rule saying that 1 dose effects 1 target in the core rulebook and that (2) inhaled poisons specifically CAN effect multiple targets, so why can't other poisons do the same under the right circumstances?