Poisons

I fuckin’ love exotic substances in my games, whether they’re drugs or food or different varieties of hardwood. Here’s some poisons I’ve been working on.

Gozyaslari Cream. This smooth, lotion-like cream smells sweet and nutty. Very safe and stable to handle, no proficiency with poisoning is required to apply it (though recognizing it might be an issue). It can be safely ingested, applied to wounds, rubbed anywhere on the body, smelled, etc. without ill effect. When mixed with a piping hot drink though the oils in the cream activate, both creating an intense savory flavor and becoming a potent sedative and amnesic agent. When ingested while activated (It remains activated while mixed with a liquid that’s at least 180 degrees Fahrenheit, and up to one minute after going under that temperature. Heating the cream itself does not have the same effect as the cream will smoke and burn.), the drinker must succeed on a fairly tough STR save (DC 17). On failure, they drop into a deep restful sleep for d4 hours and wake refreshed as though they had slept the full time required for their species (this counts as 8 hours for the purposes of spell recovery). On success, their STR and DEX are temporarily reduced by 5d4 points. They can feel no pain in this state, their vision and hearing are reduced to a meter range, and they have absolutely no memory of anything that transpires during this time or during the minute prior to being affected. This state lasts for d4 hours. This poison is absurdly rare and is generally only accessible by Crown spies in Istanil. One dose goes for anywhere from 8-20 thousand GP on the hidden market.

Schmososhni Milk-Oil. One of the more common poisons available among the city states of the Nidaj Sea and more frequently referred to as “The Shmodge”, this dark pink and mildly opalescent grease must have blood contact with its victim. It’s usually applied to weapons, but really anything that would come in contact with a wound works fine as well. Mucous membranes and eyes can work for application but the transfer is much slower and would need to sit there for 1d4 minutes, causing an intense stinging sensation the entire time. It has an extremely intense rich, fatty, creamy smell and taste… though ingestion is likely (70% chance) to cause gut pain, and 2-3 day long vomiting and diarrhea. Almost everyone in the Nidaj region is familiar with this stuff and recognizes it immediately by sight or smell. Because of the social issues with how cheap it is, it has recently become highly illegal. Expect execution if you’re caught selling it. If you’re caught buying, expect execution unless you’re willing to provide info on who sold it to you, then you’re in the clear. If applied to a wound, the victim must make a fairly easy CON save (DC 12). On success, the victim takes d4 poison damage in addition to weapon damage (if any). On failure, the victim takes d4 poison damage and loses their next turn as they convulse (they can remain standing if they already are) in an almost comical manner (think boneitis from Futurama). This poison is stupid common and cheap… commoners can afford it. About the same price per dose as a pint of decent beer, so 5 or 6 copper.

Blue Iron. This stuff is scary. There’s currently only one alchemist who knows how to make it, but it’s making its rounds very quickly in the region. No one knows yet where it’s coming from and when they do, this stuff will explode in quantity. The alchemist making it is actually an apprentice at the college in Nar’Qashi and made this stuff as an experimental hallucinogen for her friends, but realized its metallurgic properties and has started distributing it secretly to various hidden markets. Blue Iron is a very fine metal dust of a dark blueish grey tinge. It can be taken orally in barely visible amounts for a powerful out-of-body experience that is often life-changing. When sprinkled on steel however, it bonds with the metal and permeates through it turning the object itself (usually a weapon, of course) poisonous. The weapon remains poisonous for 2d4 minutes before beginning to crack and crumble into oily flakes. When you make an attack with a weapon affected by Blue Iron and hit, the victim must make a decent CHA save (DC 15). On success, roll a d4 (1: Their personal gravity is reversed for a moment and they fall upwards to a maximum of 30 feet before falling back down the next round. 2: Projectile vomiting. Take one level of exhaustion. 3: You lose the past d8 days of memory. 4: In exactly 10d4 minutes, you drop into a week-long coma.) On failure, you take 3d12 psychic damage and catch on magical purple fire (2d6 fire damage each round) that bursts from cracks in your skin. You get another DC 15 CHA save at the end of each of your turns to end this effect. If you have ever failed a save against Blue Iron, there is a 1% chance every day that the primary effect of the poison will recur for one round at some point during the day. Anxiety and high stress aggravate this effect. This poison is hard to find, mostly because it’s in such small production. High demand has driven the price through the roof. Expect the price not to be in gold, but in favors or barter.

That’s all for now, but I’ll have plenty more coming soon.