Friday 28 April 2023

Poison damage Death and Dismemberment Table

It's been sitting in my drafts for a couple of years, but I've finally finished the Poison damage death and dismemberment table. This part of the same effort as the Psychic damage table from 2018. The original set of tables is excellent, but for a 5e-hack like I typically play, there are a few damage types. Notably still missing is thunder damage, force damage, and radiant damage. Perhaps the subject of future posts, ideally in less than 5 years! 

Google Doc link is HERE 

This is designed to work well with my basic "Poison is OP" rules. I want to have rules for specific poisons where needed, but still have a general damage table for situations where magic or special abilities deal unspecified flavours of poison damage.

Poison & Disease

Poison Death Dice work the same as Bleed dice, but are harder to remove or work around. Normal healing does not remove these dice, and “staying down” does not protect against their effects unless the character makes a saving throw (DC 10 + number of poisoned dice).


1

You feel fine! 

2

You get a barf in your mouth a little. Super gross. 

3

A surprise vomit. You can’t take reactions until your next turn. Poison 1.  

4

Sharp pain in the affected area. Pain 1.

5

Vomiting or diarrhea make a real mess.
Clothing destroyed, if wearing armour it needs serious cleaning. 

6

Feeling pretty sick, not gonna lie. Poisoned Condition.

7

Little bit of internal bleeding never hurt anyone... Bleed 1. Pain 1  

8

Your arm is stiff and your fingers won’t clench. Arm useless until you gain HP. Drop held objects. Poison 2. Pain 1.

9

Your immune system is fighting back. Poison 1, +1 on saves against this poison or disease in the future, lose Poisoned condition if you have it (not damage, dice etc, just the condition.)

10

Your leg goes numb, and you  feel yourself sag towards the ground.
Prone. Poisoned. Leg useless. Bleed 2. Pain 1.

11

One side of your torso is completely numb. Poisoned Condition. Arm useless. Poison 2. Pain 2.

12

The nerve damage has eaten away your leg, and the flesh is poxed and scabrous.
Recovery Time 1d6+6 weeks. Leg useless. Poison 2. Trauma 1. Pain 1.

13

Spots dance before your eyes, and the room goes black. You weep inky fluid. Blinded until you gain HP. Bleed 2.

14

Your head feels light and floaty, and your limbs are like lead. Save vs Doom or fall unconscious until you regain HP. Difficulty Speaking, Cannot cast spells with verbal components or that require concentration, Poison 1, Pain 1.

15

Your chest heaves as you struggle to breathe. Half movement until you gain HP. Poison 1. Pain 1.

16

Your rash turns into a network of bleeding sores and pustules. Cruel Scarring, -2 Charisma, Pain 1, Poison 2.

17

Blood vessels all over your body are bursting, causing bruising. Nerve damage. Permanent -1 to all your statistics. Poison 2. Pain 2.

18

Your lungs and throat are searing in pain, and you cough up blood. Lose turn Coughing & Vomiting, Poisoned Condition. Bleed 1. Trauma 2. Pain 2.

19

Your pulse quickens and your skin grows cold as you go into shock. Lose a turn. Poison 1d4. Pain 1. Trauma 1.

20

The filth in your veins has eaten away at your eyes, leaving you Blinded until you gain HP, Permanent -4 to ranged attacks. Poison 1, Pain 1.

21

The toxins have fully saturated your tissues. Roll 1d6. You gain 1 Poison, and an additional Poison dice every: 1-2 day, 3-4 hour, 5-6 minute. This effect is permanent unless negated with Cure Poison or better. 

22

The toxins burn their way out of you, neutralising some of their effects but leaving you permanently damaged. Roll all Death Dice you have currently and permanently subtract the total from your maximum hit points. All death dice are then removed.

23

You clutch at your chest as your heart feels like it’s bursting out of your chest.  Heart damage. Permanent -2 Con. Poison 4. Pain 2. Trauma 2.  

24

No external signs, but your internal organs are ruined and you permanently gain Vulnerability to Poison Damage.

25

The creeping death has reached your nervous system. Unconscious until you are above 0 hit points. Poison 6.

26

The vile stuff eating you from the inside has left you a husk. Maximum hit points permanently set to 1, gaining levels can add to your max hit points as normal.

27

Your eyes roll back and black tar leaks from your lips as you are chemically lobotomized. You die and immediately become a zombie, which acts on your same initiative count.

28

Instant death, but the poison leaves you a strangely beautiful and well-preserved corpse (as Gentle Repose)

29

Your blood has become a toxic slurry. You will die at the beginning of your next turn unless you are healed to at least 1 hit point or the poison/disease is negated before then.

30

You collapse in shock from the tremendous pain. You will die in 1d4 minutes, and are incapacitated until then. Healing cannot prevent this, but more powerful magic might work.

31

You are so poisoned as to become a permanent biohazard. Trauma 4 and any living creature that touches you or your corpse with bare skin gains 1 Poison.  

32

Massive heart attack. The pain is overwhelming and you thrash about making horrible gurgling noises as you die over 1d6 rounds.

33

You are filled with a strange sense of peace and clarity. On your next turn you get one round of normal actions, and lose any status effects (poisoned, incapacitated, etc). At the end of that round, instant death.  

34

Anathema. Natural creatures will not approach your body, and if you somehow survive or are resurrected, this effect continues unless broken by a Remove Curse.

35

You are neatly split in half, from head to groin; the halves slide uncomfortably down to the floor.

36+

Melted. Your body is so ruined that only True Resurrection or better can bring you back. 



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