Another dumb noob question: Identifying poison

[Gonzzo]

I couldn't find any specific rules on this one. I want to set a vial of poison among a few cure light wound potions and try to trick one of the PCs into sipping it as they would a potion in an attempt to identify it. What are the skills a PC would use in order to identify a poison besides ingesting it. Is there a procedure or rule for IDing poison that I couldn't find in the rulebook.

[ossian666]

Umm having Poison Use as a class skill, Craft: Alchemy, Survival (depending on the poison), and maybe Knowledge: Nature would give them a check if they tried to single it out to identify it. Keep in mind that Alchemists can ID potions just by holding and looking at them.

Potions wrote:

Identifying Potions: In addition to the standard methods of identification, PCs can sample from each container they find to attempt to determine the nature of the liquid inside with a Perception check. The DC of this check is equal to 15 + the spell level of the potion (although this DC might be higher for rare or unusual potions).

Other than that...just be prepared to what this will do to gameplay when it comes to potions in the future. They will begin to distrust them and may spend longer to ID them. Kind of like making them all walk around after a fight and stab each enemy in the throat to make sure they are dead. Just adds extra steps sometimes.

(Not saying don't do it...just making sure you understand how it will impact the game going forward)

Edit: Also I'd think Detect Magic should also give away that the poison isn't a potion since it won't show up as magical...unless you make the flask magical.

[Gonzzo]

Thank. Really helpful advice. I think I might reconsider doing that for now as the players are new to the game and I don't need to frustrate them too much right out of the gate. I'll wait untill they gain a level or two and then mess with them and I'm not trying to over-complicate the game as they are also kind of young. I'm trying to put together a simple dungeon crawl for my 3 sons to play. I started them off with the beginner box and they loved it, and beg to play everyday. so Im trying to move them up to the advanced rule set, but I don't want to make it too boring, complicated or frustrating. So I think I'll take you advice.

[Kthulhu]

Have someone else ingest it. If they say "Yummy!" and stop bleeding, it wasn't the poison.

If they say "ICK!" and start coughing up blood, it WAS the poison.