[RPG] How do the poison rules work

pathfinder-1epoison

I’m unsure how poisons work in Pathfinder.

For example: black adder venom. From the frequency of the poison, am I required to make a saving throw per minute for every six minutes? Each time I fail a save, do I take 1d2 str damage? Or do I take all the strength loss once all failed rounds are finished/frequency is over? It just looks like quite a chore referencing each round for ability score drops and I am really unclear on the rules.

If I succeed at rolling a saving throw, do I no longer need to check? And to remove the poison effect (strength loss) I will need to be cured through the various tools offered?

Another type is this:

Sting—injury; save Fort DC 10; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect sickened for 1 round; cure 1 save.

I just really cannot seem to figure out how poison works. Does this sting/sickness stack each round I fail a save?

Best Answer

So, this is how poisons (and most other afflictions) work:

  • You suffer the effects every time you fail a save
  • The frequency tells you how often you make a save, once the onset time has passed
  • If there is no onset, you make a save immediately
  • The poison is finished when the conditions for a cure are met, or the duration has elapsed

For black adder venom, there is no onset, and the frequency is “1/round for 6 rounds”. The cure is “1 save”. That means that:

  • Since there is no onset, when you are hit by the poison, you make a save immediately.
  • If you fail, you take 1d2 Con damage. If you succeed, you've met the conditions for a cure, and so the poison is now out of your system.
  • Because the frequency is “1/round for 6 round” you repeat this once per round until you either make a save (and thus are cured) or 6 rounds have elapsed. Every time you fail a save, you take the damage. This damage can be healed by any of the normal means of recovering strength (restoration spells, resting, etc.)

The second example of a sting is almost identical: the frequency and cure are the same, but the effect is being sickened. The effect is that you're sickened until the poison is up, which is either the first time you make a save or after 6 rounds. (Note that if someone e.g. used magic to heal you of the sickened effect, it would return the next round. It's 1 round of sickened applied 6 times in a row, not 6 rounds of sickened applied once.)

This all follows from the general rules for afflictions -- a category which include poisons and diseases. Diseases tend to have a longer onset time and lower frequency than poisons, but the basic mechanics are the same. If you still find yourself confused, take the time to read through the afflictions page I linked to.

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