There are three different classes of poisons - toxins, deliriants, and animal venoms. These are very distinct categories and work in different ways. Within each class there are several types of poison.
Toxins: These are usually derived from vegetable or fungal components. There are a number of sub-categories, each generally affecting only a particular group of creatures. Their effect is to disable or kill.
Deliriants: These are also usually vegetable- or fungal-based; they produce hallucinations and, in some cases, insanity.
Animal Venoms: These are derived, as might be expected, from venomous animals. Their effect is to disable or kill.
Obtaining Poisons[]
Characters may obtain poisons (as long as the gamesmaster agrees they are available) as given in the Consumer Guide. Occasionally local laws may prohibit the sale of a particular poison, but in many cases they are freely available. Bought poisons may not be at maximum strength, since they deteriorate quickly.
Manufacturing Poisons[]
Characters with Prepare Poisons skill may manufacture poisons. This generally takes place between adventures, but under special circumstances the gamesmaster may permit a character to manufacture poison during the course of a game. It is, however, a long and complicated process and the GM should make sure that the character takes sufficient time to do it. Before starting to manufacture poisons, characters must:
Find Premises - A room at an inn will probably do; the characters should, however, be careful about letting the landlord know what is going on.
Find Equipment - The characters must have some basic equipment, such as a small hand balance, a pestle and mortar, a burner, flasks, and bottles.
Find Materials - Ingredients for poisons are generally rare difficult to find, and you may decide that characters may only obtain them at certain places (for example, where it is stated in a published adventure that ingredients for poisons are available). Alternatively, they might be purchased from a suitable source, such as an NPC Pharmacist or Alchemist - in this event, most poisons will require D4+1 ingredients, which are all Rare, each costing 3D10 Shillings per dose. Note that openly buying ingredients for poisons is likely to arouse suspicion.
These basic preparations will take time - at least a day in a large town or city and longer in a smaller town where some of the necessary items may not be available. Provided that these preparations are successful, a character may prepare poison thereafter, at the rate of one dose per day.
Administering Poisons[]
Once a poison has been prepared or otherwise obtained, the next step is to administer it to the intended victim. Since most of the poisons used in the Old World have a liquid base, the two most common methods will be to add the poison to the victim's food and/or drink or to introduce it via a wound. These methods require two slightly different forms of poison, which are called additive poisons and blade venoms.
Additive Poison: This can be given to a victim in a number of ways; as well as sneaking it into food or drink, more enterprising characters might attempt to persuade the victim that it is in fact a patent cure or magic potion.
When consuming food or drink that has been poisoned, the victim has a chance of noticing that something is amiss; this is based on the size of the serving, which in turn affects the concentration of the poison and therefore the strength of any tell-tale flavour. These chances are:
- Goblet: 15%
- Tumbler or small dish: 10%
- Tankard or large dish: 5%
The check is made secretly by the GM.
These percentages are based on one dose of poison; for each additional dose in a serving, add a similar percentage (so that the base chance of spotting two doses of poison in a tankard is 10%, for three doses 15%, and so on). This percentage is then averaged with the victim's Int and a test made against the resulting number, modified by skills such as Brewing or Cook. If the test is passed, the victim notices that something is wrong with the food or drink and can stop consuming it before taking enough poison to do any damage. If the test is failed, the victim fails to notice the poison and consumes the full dose.
Blade Venom: This is prepared in the normal way, but must then be distilled down to a resinous paste. This process takes an additional day and is rather wasteful, requiring two doses of poison to produce one dose of blade venom. At the GM's option, a character who has access to a fully-equipped alchemist's or pharmacist's laboratory may be able to reduce the waste, producing two doses of blade venom from three of raw poison.
One dose of blade venom can be used to poison one edged or pointed weapon. This must be no larger than a shortsword. When the weapon next wounds a creature, the poison enters its system. Blade venom is only good for one blow and becomes useless if it is not used within D4 hours of application.
Poison Tests[]
A test can be made to see if character is overcome by poison or drugs. Test against characters' T x 10. If successful, the character resists the poison and suffers no ill effects. If it is failed, the poison has full effect. Optionally, the gamesmaster may decide that some poisons are more powerful than others, introducing modifiers to the test; in the case of the most powerful poisons, the victim might suffer some minor effect even if the test is successful. Where multiple doses are involved, the victim may test once for each, each successful test negating one dose.
The Effects Of Poison[]
Toxins: Each toxin only affects a certain race or group of races, as shown below:
| Toxin | Affects |
|---|---|
| Manbane | Humans, Dwarfs, Halflings, Gnomes |
| Elfbane | Elves |
| Blackroot | Orcs, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Snotlings |
| Trollbane | Ogres, Trolls, Giants, Treemen |
| Lizardbane | Reptiles |
| Daemonbane | Daemons |
| Truefoil | Weres in animal form |
| Beastbane | Most animals and monsters |
| Graveroot | Undead |
Toxins may affect creatures of other races, although these effects will rarely be more than stomach cramps and nausea. This is left to the gamesmaster's discretion. The effect of a toxin on the target group depends on how many doses the victim has received:
| Toxin | 1 dose | 2 doses | 3 doses | 4 doses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manbane | Unconscious | Paralysed | Dead | Dead |
| Elfbane | Paralysed | Dead | Dead | Dead |
| Blackroot | Unconscious | Paralysed | Dead | Dead |
| Trollbane | Drowsy | Unconscious | Unconscious | Dead |
| Lizardbane | Drowsy | Unconscious | Dead | Dead |
| Daemonbane | Repelled | Repelled | Paralysed | Dead |
| Truefoil | Repelled | Revert | Revert | Revert |
| Beastbane | Drowsy | Paralysed | Dead | Dead |
| Graveroot | Repelled | Destroyed | Destroyed | Destroyed |
Deliriants: These affect most humanoid races and are also effective against most domestic and wild animals. They will not affect mindless or magical creatures such as Undead or Daemons.
All deliriants have a mild hallucinogenic effect. Each dose requires the creature to make a WP test; if this is failed the creature must take D6 Insanity Points. Other effects of delriants are as follows:
| Deliriant | 1 dose | 2 doses | 3 doses | 4 doses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Lotus | Drowsy | Unconscious | Paralysed | Dead |
| Nightshade | Drowsy | Dead | Dead | Dead |
| Adder Root | Drowsy | Paralysed | Dead | Dead |
| Madman's Cap | Drowsy | Drowsy | Drowsy | Unconscious |
| Oxleaf | Drowsy | Paralysed | Paralysed | Paralysed |
Animal Venoms: These affect all non-magical creatures. They are similar to toxins, but frequently stronger, although they generally deteriorate more quickly once taken from the animal which produces them.
| Venom | 1 dose | 2 doses |
|---|---|---|
| Scorpion | Drowsy | Dead |
| Snake | Dead | Dead |
| Spider | Paralysed | Dead |
Only the strongest and deadliest venom in each species-group is covered here - animal venom can vary tremendously in potency and you should feel free to reduce the effects as you see fit.
Explanation Of Effects[]
- Dead - This is self-explanatory.
- Destroyed - The creature crumbles to dust.
- Drowsy - The creature is conscious, but groggy and disoriented. All percentage characteristics are reduced by 10 for a number of hours equal to D8 + 4, minus the character's T.
- Paralysed - The creature is paralysed for a number of hours equal to D8 + 4, minus its T, and cannot be woken by normal means. Once over the effects of the paralysation, the creature is still Drowsy for a further D6 hours.
- Repelled - The creature must move away from the source of the poison on the next round. At the GM's option, a WP test may be required to approach the source of the poison again.
- Revert - The creature resumes its normal human form and must make a WP test to change form again.
- Unconscious - The creature is unconscious for a number of hours equal to D8 + 4, minus its T, but can be awoken by normal means. Once awake, the creature is still Drowsy for a further D6 hours.
Recovering From Poison[]
Characters who are not killed outright by a poison will recover over a period of time. The base recovery time is given in the explanation of effects; this may be varied at the GM's discretion to take into account the strength of the poison and the size and general health of the victim.
Chaos Attributes[]
Some Chaos mutations may give a creature the attribute of being poisonous. If the creature's attribute is directly related to a monster from the Bestiary, the rules for its venomous attack can be used. Otherwise, you may develop your own rules for each poisonous creature, based on the standard poisons above, or draw from the venomous creatures of the Bestiary for inspiration, such as using the rules for the Giant Scorpion's sting for mutants who have developed scorpion tails.
For the sake of simplicity, the gamesmaster can also use the simple rule that poisonous attacks cause death or coma in 2D6 rounds unless the victim makes a Poison test.