30 Poisons
30 poisons, some of which bring swift death, others that cause various kinds of agony,
1-Thirstweed
This small hairy shrub if eaten causes great thirst for several hours...if the person has access to a large arount of water, a lake for example, he or she may well drink until water intoxication and then death sets in.
2-Fuseroom
This mushroom, when chopped up and mixed with other harmless mushrooms can be easily fed to someone and at first there are no ill effects at all, hence it's name as it is like a lit fuse because of the time it takes to *go off*. A few hours later the person gets a mild stomach ache that gets worse and worse until they cannot move. Not long after this the effects of the poison destroy their liver and death will soon follow. There is an antidote which if taken early enough, will cancel the poison before real damage is done, but most people do not know how badly they have been poisoned until it is too late.
3-Spellbane
The frog-spawn of a certain kind of toad, this poison has no effect upon the poisoned one until he or she casts a spell, when it fails, horribly. Fireballs or lighting bolts will sear the user's hands or if cast using an item, will consume that item. Healing spells will do no good, whilst spells of disguise or illusion will be easily seen through, and any major act of magic such as the summoning of a demon will fail horribly and most likely with the loss of life of the affected caster. Many a magical career has been ruined by placing this in someone's food or drink.
4-Cracklewort
If eaten this herb causes eczema all over the body, if the person gives in and scratches, and most people do, their body is soon covered with red bleeding wounds that without treatment won't heal and might well leave white scars when they do. It rarely kills unless the person is seriously infected, so it is normally used to destroy the beauty of for example, a beauty queen, so she can never compete again, or used by those who are jealous of the good looks of other people.
5-Splitreed
When ground and put in someone's food, the person will be unable to get on with most people and will in effect be rendered almost unemployable. In a country without a welfare state, he or she will be reduced to begging, stealing or mooching off relatives. A good way to dispose of a rival without killing or maiming him or her.
6-Limbloser
A poison scraped from the back of a certain lizard that has to be caught whilst wearing gloves for the poisoner's own safety, and normally delivered through darts or shuriken to get straight into the bloodstream, this makes the limb's blood vessels contract, leading to pins and needles quickly, then numbness and if an antidote is not found quickly, the atrophy and rotting of the affected limbs, leading to either their amputation or to death by gangrene.
7-Ob weed
Gathered from where it lies in a certain lake in the Wan Sheng mountains and dried, this weed if ingested causes fat to be put on four times quicker then normal and it's effects last for an entire year. In starvation conditions this may save someone rather then killing them, but otherwise a fit person will soon be turned into a fat person and a fat person into a grossly obese blob whose heart will soon give up under the strain.
8-Shakrack plant
The purple flower petals of this plant act on the bones making them brittle to the point where even normal exercise is likely to make them snap. Unable to move much, the person can either be murdered in a more direct way, or will face gross muscle wastage, the danger of bedsores and will be unable to feed themselves for long. Even if they rise as an Undead, the damage caused will prevent them being any serious threat.
9-Daydeath
The juice of this cactus causes acute photophobia, as well as making the skin burn within seconds of any exposure to sunlight, although moonlight and other sources of light do not cause harm. It also makes a couple of the front teeth legethen a litte so they look like fangs. If burns or cancer do not kill the affected person, then he or she is at risk of being thought to be a vampire and dealt with accordingly.
10-Drunkard's Ruin
These seeds of a certain plant react badly with alcohol, making the person throw up even if they drink weak beer. If someone is a chronic alcoholic this can be just what they need to get them back on the wagon, otherwise it is highly annoying for the affected person.
Note-I'm turning this into a Codex for others to add their own ideas and hopefully bring this up to a 30 some day.
11:The Black Hangover
This horrible concoction leaves its victim with the worst hangover of their life. Headache, nausea, photophobia and irritability guaranteed.
12: Smellbane
A mixture using extracts of skunk feces, SmellBane causes its victim to only smell the pungent odor of a skunk's musk. Taste is also strongly affected. Smellbane is popular among thieves for use on tracking animals, such as dogs.
13-Red Rage
The red petals of this flower when ground and added to any sort of alcohol creates an insane rage in the drinker that lasts for hours and can easily cause the affected person to commit murder and other such things.
14-Watcher's Waste
By combining the Cyclops toad extract with a common invisibility potion produces this rare poison. Watcher's Waste liquefies the eyes of it's victim, leaving them totally blind. Another side effect includes difficulty recalling detailed memories of things the person saw in the past. The memories are basically there only more jumbled up than usual.
15-Glass Man
This poison is extremely rare, expensive, and difficult to find as it requires many rare ingredients and a tricky procedure to craft it. The poison is for ingestion only. The poison has no smell or taste and is easily mixed with any food or drink. The poison makes the digestive system of it's victim it to stiffen and harden over about the next 72 hrs. If the person receives any kind of a blow to the torso during that time the digestive system will shatter marking a slow and painful doom to the victim. If the person eats a heavy meal just before or after their system hardens their system will not process the food and the meal will block their system completely also marking a painful death. Only if the poison is discovered before the 72 hours is up does the person have hope. If the person submits to only drinking a vegetable broth for about 20 days and avoids any vigorous activity that could shatter their system, their system will repair itself and return to normal.
16-Snifflewort
This poison causes the victim to have intence cold-like sympotms. Perfect for causing unintended absences, making people miserable, and pranking one's superiors.
17- Pain Stem
This dark red stem of Pain's Whip, a plant well known for its thorny vines greatly intensifies any sensations of pain upon those it fed to. Often used to enhance torture.
18-Trustbane
This ground herb makes the taker incredibly trustworthy and they can be tricked into signing legal documents, into buying useless stuff, or lured into ambushes with ease.
19-Pink Salt : A naturally occurring substance, that acts as a diuretic, a hallucinogen, and neuro-toxin. On the upside it is rather pretty looking and can be substituted of garlic salt in most recipes. That is if the diuretic hallucinogenic neuro-toxic aspects of the substance won't spoil the meal.
A versatile mineral, Pink Salt (also known as Numbing Dust), is an occupational health hazard for miners working in geologically active caves, a favored food flavoring for some of the heartier races, a recreational drug for the less health conscious and favored poison for the assassin or the assailant wishing to cause a prolonged painful death. This naturally occurring mineral is found as a pinkish crystal in sodium and arsenic rich geologically active earth. The crystals are eight sided, translucent and generally have a salmon color. The crystals dissolve readily in water and taste of garlic and salt to the standard human pallet. There are five stages of Pink Salt poisoning; progression through the stages is dependant on the dose.
Stage 1: Stage 1 can be brought on by even the smallest dose. Stage 1 is characterized by tightness in the muscles, a feeling of euphoria, and pronounced delayed in the reaction time to tactile stimuli. The subject still feels tactile sensations with same intensity as before dosing, the reaction time is just delayed.
Stage 2: If the dose is high enough to progress past stage 1 the subject will begin to find the tightness in the muscles constricting as voluntary movements become painful, the sense of euphoria becomes more intense, and the subject begins to experience auditory and tactile hallucinations. This is the dose often aimed for by recreational users. As result of the pain associated with basic locomotion, recreational Pink Salt users are known for their prolonged and unhealthy durations of immobility. Accidental death sometimes occurs at this stage from the resulting dehydration on.
Stage 3: At this stage voluntary movement becomes so painful as to be almost impossible, the cramps are so severe that they can cause muscle damage when movement is attempted. Lockjaw and inability to carry out fine motor movement are typical at this stage. Subjects also report a painful ringing in the ears that renders one functionally deaf, and complete numbness of the skin. The sense of euphoria progresses to a general feeling of confusion and in some cases panic.
Stage 4: Doses that induce stage 4 reaction are considered to be life threatening. At this stage muscle cramping has produced a complete paralysis, seizures are common, auditory sensation is lost, breathing becomes labored and shallow, there is intense pain resulting from the muscle contraction but ironically the skin has no sense of touch, hot or cold. The subject at this stage is also extremely dehydrated. Death at stage 4 usually is a result of complications from a seizure or dehydration. Those that recover from stage 4 in variably report some a loss sensation in the extremities and a life long ringing in the ear.
Stage 5: No subject has recovered from stage 5, at this point the paralysis is severe that even involuntary movement begins to fade and the subject eventually suffocates. A dose large enough to induce a stage 5 pathology takes 6-12 hours to fully manifest, with the subject progressing through each stage. Consumption of copious amounts of water can extend the duration of the affect, and perhaps has prevented some subjects from progressing to more severe stage.
As with all drugs the effective dose varies with weight of the subject, but in general a few micro-grams is enough to induce a stage 1 phenotype. Indeed many miners or excavators likely encounter stage 1 poisoning without reporting overt effects.
20-Yebber Plant
Whilst not directly causeing harm, this destroys the body's immune system within ours of ingestion, meaning that even a common cold could kill the person. If the poisoned one stays healthy for six months the effects will slowly wear off.
21-Mindrender
When ground and put into alcohol, this red fungus resets a person's brain to that of a newborn child. If left alone the person will starve, however if cared for he or she will progress as if the brain was undamaged;eg-within five years they will have the brain of a five year old,within eighteen years, that of an eighteen year old.
22-Telmorase's Oil: A poison used primarily to coat blades, and other sharp instruments. While a short lived toxin which is rarely fatal, this noxious substance acts quickly to hobble the target by painfully and violently destroying muscle tissue.
Telmorase's Oil is produced by rendering the fatty material of the Eastern Goat Fly Larva (Caperious sulcifrons; also know as the known as the red tailed fly or meat fly) into a clear water resistant grease. This poison is widely available in any area that supports or patrons the Priestesses of Telmorase. Indeed production of this specific poison is one of the eight crafts an initiate must master before becoming a priestess. The poison acts directly on muscle tissue causing the tissue to hemorrhage and inducing massive cell death. The poison is extremely (acid) pH sensitive however, and must be administered directly into the muscle tissue. This usually accomplished by coating daggers, darts or arrowheads with oil. Oral consumptions of the poison or direct skin exposure have not been associated with any pathology. The effective dose of the poison is also quite small, even a micro gram on a needle can induce life a threatening condition.
The specific effects and kinetics of the poison however place limits on its lethality and for this reason it not favored by the more efficient assassins. The poison is broken down with seconds up entry into healthy tissue. The symptoms of poisoning manifest almost immediately following exposure and are often resolved less then a minute (dependant on amount of Oil given with respect to the size and metabolism of the subject). The poison acts specifically when ever an affected muscle is used. Thus a insertion of oil into the quadriceps would only cause damage to the quadricepts if the muscle contracted dramatically. Movement results in massive tissue destruction and this can be associated with shock or internal bleeding that may be life threating. If victim knows he or she has been poisoned it advisable to splint the effected area and remain immobile for at least an hour. With the average person metabolizing the poison in less than minute, an hour of immobility is ample time to clear the toxin. Yet while not a weapon for subtle assassins who want a definite kill; the poison is employed by warriors and soldiers to increase the lethality of their blades. The Priestesses of Telmeroase often find much more sadistic and wicked uses for the substance, sometimes pricking young men with poisoned needles while in the dancing line or cutting them during love-making.
23-Trustbane's Cure
The white petals of this flower if eaten will cure someone suffering from Trustbane's effects, but if too much is taken or the person was not affected by trustbane in the first place, then the person will have the opposite problem, and becomes paranoid and unable to trust anyone for several hours.
24 Z-dust (Hemetaxin): The active agent in the poison Z-dust is anionic molecule called Hemetaxin or tomb-rot toxin. The toxin binds irreversibly to hemoglobin preventing, red blood cells from exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide causing the victim to quickly suffocate.
The toxic agent Z-dust is produced naturally by the hemophilic bacteria referred to as tomb-rot (Viridianus Nitroococcus). The bacterium secretes the molecule referred to as hemetaxin whenever it is in an oxygen low, iron low environment. The toxin allows the bacteria to efficiently sequester iron-containing molecules. The bacterium also expresses a surface receptor that binds to the toxin once it has attached itself to an iron-containing molecule. Normally, these bacteria live harmlessly in the soil taking up ionic iron and not possessing a threat to any one. If ingested the bacteria may produce some toxin while in the gut leading to a transient anemia. But it is likely cleared quickly or lives quite comfortably in the gut with the other bacteria. Being that it is sometimes found in corpses and no active pathologies have been associated with it the bacteria, we may safely assume the later.
Problems arise when the bacteria finds its way into a corpse or rotting animal. In that environment it will invariably begin to produce the toxin. Again in most environments this is not a problem either, as the bacteria re-absorbs and breaks down the toxin. Hazards arise when a corpse carrying this bacteria is placed in a dry area, such as a well made tomb. Here the bacteria produce the toxin but because of the growing lack of water (actually the growing salt concentration) it is not able to use the toxin efficiently. The bacteria form 'nests' of toxin filled biofilms and then enter a dormant phase as the drying continues. These dry nest can achieve quite a considerable mass, sometime weighing up to several hundred grams, and giving the afflicted region of the corpse a very distinctive greenish tone. If the dried corpse is disturbed the and the nest aerosolized the effects are quite deadly as any animal breathing in the dust quickly succumbs to the suffocation.
This fast toxicity compounds the problem, because as more creatures succumb to tomb-rot poisoning more and more nests form in the corpses of the dead creatures. This causes some tombs or dry caves to become a tomb of horrors. It can become even worse if the dead become unnaturally animated. An undead plaque becomes a considerably greater public health concern if the zombies are shedding Z-dust. Even a mild poisoning has pronounced effects of the victims stamina and constitution. The resulting anemia lasts until the victim can produce new red blood cells to replace the tainted ones. Indeed some undertakers and crypt keepers suffer from a chronic low level poisoning. It is held by many that this explains the lethargic lifeless attitude and pale-green pallor of many of those working in the grave tending fields.
As a weapon Z-dust can be quite effective, particularly if the hemetaxin can be purified. The purified toxin is much smaller than the dried bacteria or the dried pieces of the biofilm's extra cellular matrix and thus can stay airborne much longer. The smaller molecules also enter the alveoli of the lungs more readily and thus the lethal dose is much smaller when working with the purified toxin. The problem with the purified toxin is that it so deadly that working with it safely requires specialized training and tools. Anyone wishing to deliver a lethal dose of pure Z-dust without themselves being a victim of the poisoning better make sure their delivery system has a long arm.
25-Slowbreath weed
If ground up and eaten or inhaled this has the sinister effect of making the automatic part of the brain that controls breathing shut down. The person can still breath but has to think "Breath In, breath out." In the short term this is highly annoying but not fatal. The person can still think of other things although concentration is much reduced.The real problem comes when the person tries to sleep-without a ventalator or some magical means of getting air into the lungs, first sleep will be impossible as the person starts choking as soon as it comes, and then when it does come the person will choke and never wake again.
26-Heartbreaker toxin
This nasty toxin changes the heart muscle so it is like the muscle of the arm-with the result that it will after a few minites get *tired*. The person can *rest* it, but only for a very short time...within an hour or two at most, far less if the person is allready sick or old, the person will die of a heart attack with no sign of the poison if an autopsy is done,as it fades from the bloodstream very quickly.
27-Fearfeeder
Fearfeeder is a poison that, when ingested, causes the victim to experience hallucinations and nightmares that only increase their greatest fear. For example, if someone is terrified of spiders, they'll think there are spiders all over their body and they'll see giant spiders trying to attack them. Eventually, this poison literally scares the victim to death. How long they have before death depends on how afraid they are. Most people live for about a year before they're finally killed.
28-Wyrmlings
The eggs are normally found inside fish and look and taste like the finest cavier, but the wyrmlings inside can survive even the acid of the stomach and then grow like tapeworms in the intestines,feeding on whatever the infected PCs eat, slowly draining them of energy and then migrating down to the leg where they cause a burning sore.If the PCs go into water, the wyrmlings then shoot out into the water and lay eggs of their own,which are eaten by fish and the cycle continues.
hell blood
igredients
basilisk venom: 30 ml
manticore poison 40ml
dragons blood 50 ml
cockotrice urine 90 ml
root of wolfsbane 100 grams
juice of Khyashma Baharavaush flower 20 ml
wisper weed 80ml
history
created in the age of magic and assanination this lethal poison is called hells fire for it must be brewed by the very flames of hell itself it must use a unicorn's horn as a stirring rod a dragon hatchlings skull as a couldron and the hand of a murderer so twisted and foul that the devil himself would fear him atached to the casting arm of the greastest mage to ever live stitched to the body of the stongest man ever to the legs of the fastest runner to have lived and the head of a great saint
basiclally this is ass hard to get so only the assasin god althuna whould have it
apearence
it is the color of week old gore mixed with stomach green and blood red and the grey of brains
if a entire plane of existance were combined to create one being a drop this poison would kill it
first it would feel the agony of every existing pain the it would multiply a thousand fold and cumminate in slow painfull agonizing death
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? Responses (20)
Update: Note-I'm turning this into a Codex for others to add their own ideas and hopefully bring this up to a 30 some day.I cannot complete it myself.
Some useful additions to add to a druid or rangers list of effective wilderness weapons, nicely done so far.
Nice idea and nice start. I'm not a huge fan of #1, but I do like #3, #6,& #9. I'll have to give this one some thought and see what I can contribute.
An interesting beginning and some nasty poisons.
I can't believe we went this long with out this!
Thanks to Cheka for starting this one, a handy go to for any DM blind sided by a PC's sudden plan to use poison.
Please axle for the love of easy reading, break up the wall of text with a few paragraphs/line breaks.
Are you a medical student?
Actually I'm a nurse and diabetic care specialist, but I fail to see how this has any relevance to the current conversation.
To axle, no, I'm not.
He is asking Silveressa, Cheka.
Good List. Good additions!! One for the ol' GM binder. Like Trustbane, Glass Man and Watcher's Waste. Cyclops toad ftw! Also, Pink Salt...intricate and tasty
A great idea and great list, though I really object to #1 - it essentially equates being turned black to being poisoned.
I wonder if it would be more effective as a general skin-changing drug, one that produces a random shade. Maybe adding side-effects would make it more poison and less potion.
Perhaps one that simply makes one appear diseased as opposed to racially incompatible.
Within an hour to a day I'll fix #1 and try and add a #22 and a #23.
Update: #1 replaced.
Cheka, this is brilliant. I find this extremely inspirational. You did an excellent job, and it's quite creative. I like how you're letting others contribue.
Yet another great 30 from you Cheka.
keep churning em out!
Thanks for the link Siren.