Poisoning


Rules Discussion


I'm having a hard time justifying the anti-stacking for poisons.

From what I can get out of it:
Let us say you get hit by Giant Centipede venom-
It has a maximum duration of 6 rounds. If you get hit by another dose of this venom at or near the end of its duration, I would expect it to restart the duration over. Except, that it specifically states in the rules (p458 under Multiple Exposures) that it's the old duration that counts. The only effect of the new dosage is a single initial saving throw that may increase the stage, assuming that the stage isn't already at max value.

For poison to make sense, I'd rather have the new effect restart the maximum duration.


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i agree that's weird that it doesn't reset the duration.

like, if you are poisoned by a week-long poison, and minutes before it expires you're poisoned again, it does nothing, but if you become poisoned 1 min after the old duration ends it gives you another week of poison.

that's just illogical.

let alone that this sentence alone kills one of the most common tropes of "keeping someone poisoned" or "slowly killing someone with poison" since the duration never extends.


Yes, whatever logic the designers had for this rule is weird.


Shain Edge wrote:
The only effect of the new dosage is a single initial saving throw that may increase the stage, assuming that the stage isn't already at max value.

Increasing the stage inflicts damage. And if you are at max value, the stage repeats itself, inflicting damage again.

Honestly, for most poison, if you ever get to maximum duration, the target is long dead. 4 to 6 rounds taking tons of damage is not something most can handle.


SuperBidi wrote:
Shain Edge wrote:
The only effect of the new dosage is a single initial saving throw that may increase the stage, assuming that the stage isn't already at max value.

Increasing the stage inflicts damage. And if you are at max value, the stage repeats itself, inflicting damage again.

Honestly, for most poison, if you ever get to maximum duration, the target is long dead. 4 to 6 rounds taking tons of damage is not something most can handle.

that's nice and all for injury poisons that last like 6 rounds.

but it all breaks apart when you start going into long lasting ingested/contact poisons that are supposed to "kill over a period of days or longer".

not having the duration refresh is simply bad design imo, it hinders so much storytelling and it's immersion breaking when a poison can last for a wekk if ingested 1 minute after the previous one expires but if ingestested 1 minute before that it doesn't.


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I think a good house rule is simply to change the saving throw to increase the stage portion of the rules to saving throw or it resets the duration (while stage stays the same).

In this way, if you're poisoned again you don't immediately get worse but the poison is now coursing through you for longer.

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