Quick Alchemy and poisons

[BastionofthePants]

Quick Alchemy items become "inert" at the end of your turn. However, if they are used before then, their effects will linger. Antidotes continue to provide their buffs, bombs continue to provide their perpetual damage, and mutagens don't suddenly wear off.

So how about poisons? Do they only need to be applied to a weapon or mixed into a drink before the end of the round, or do they lose their potency if you don't actually inflict the poison on an enemy by the end of your turn.

In the latter case, then it would seem that toxicologists effectively get *nothing* at level 7. At best, they could spend all 3 actions to make a single strike that potentially deals an extra 1d6 damage on a failed fort save, and even then they can only do that while using a one-handed melee weapon, nothing in their off-hand, and only if they start the turn in melee range of an enemy. The odds of that being even remotely useful are almost nonexistent.

On the other hand, if alchemists only need to apply the poison by the end of the round, that would seem as if a lvl 7 toxicologist could poison all the weapons a party carries in between fights. That's not *too* overpowered, since the lvl 1 poisons don't do much damage, but it still feels like more power than the toxicologist was supposed to have at level 7.

[Lightwire]

I’d have to spend more time with the books than I have right now to say on what should happen RAW. But I would certainly lean towards the second interpretation in my games. It’s minimal damage at that point and one of the only uses that one of their other abilities is likely to see too. That being the boosted DC as otherwise its always better to make an at level poison that’s save is likely to be at least as good as your DC. We do have some dry points for poison that the ability fills in as well but those will also vanish as more books make it out. Its certainly in line with the potential power the other alchemist get at that point. Handy but unlikely to break anything.