D&D 5E Characters using elite warrior drow poison

[werecorpse]

How have people handled (or suggest handling) characters defeating some elite drow warriors and looting them for their poison?

I am aware of a sage advice comment along the lines that the poison damage is a monster effect like a snakes bite but you can get poison from a dead snake in the game and to me it makes no sense that you can’t access the drow poison.

so that’s a weapon poison that does +3d6 poison damage which imo is a hell of a boost. Especially if applied to a quiver of arrows.

According to the rules (As I understand them) each use of the poison is a dose and for characters it takes an action to apply a does to a weapon, so that lessens the benefit gained.

I can justify the elite drow having some florid fighting technique that allows them to re apply for free but getting 2 attacks a round they gotta be carrying at least 20 doses each?

same goes for the hand crossbow sleep poison.

looking for suggestions for in world ways to allow the characters some benefit but not let it be too overpowering.

heres where I am at the moment.

• the poison degrades fairly quickly unless it’s stored properly etc.(no sunlight etc)
• the drow use a special attack technique which maximises the poison effect so it maybe does less damage without this technique
• the poison flicks about a bit when on the weapon so risks a bit of self poisoning unless you have the correct technique (say on a roll of 1 to attack)

anyway just looking to see how other GMs have handles drow or harvested poison.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

Monsters aren't generally assumed to live for long when going up against a party of PCs, so it is likely that the Drow warriors only have a couple of doses of poison. - possibly kept in sealed scabbards/bolt cases. - when confronting anything as threatening as a PC party, they break the seal, draw the weapon, and the poison on it lasts for every attack for the next minute.

Just as you can't just stick snake venom onto a knife and have it work as poison, effective identification and use of Drow poison may well require a poisoner's kit.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Probably...just probably it is a magical ability like the 8th level abilities of clerics which coat the weapon in poison.
So maybe drow elite warriors have some kind of blessing from Lloth that improves the damage of the poison applied to their weapon and extends the duration?

 

[Oofta]

Like @Cap'n Kobold said, the easiest way is that there is a limited supply in their scabbard/quarrel. To get use of it you'd actually have to use their weapons. Being drow, their weapons are probably trapped. If using the quarrels, one of the bolts is a trigger for a trap that causes the quarrel to explode releasing the remaining poison into the air.

They carry resources to replenish their poison, but there are several steps and if you get it wrong it releases a poison gas. The correct steps ae a closely guarded secret.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Like @Cap'n Kobold said, the easiest way is that there is a limited supply in their scabbard/quarrel. To get use of it you'd actually have to use their weapons. Being drow, their weapons are probably trapped. If using the quarrels, one of the bolts is a trigger for a trap that causes the quarrel to explode releasing the remaining poison into the air.

They carry resources to replenish their poison, but there are several steps and if you get it wrong it releases a poison gas. The correct steps ae a closely guarded secret.

That is also possible, but opens up too many doors for "inventive" players.
If there is a secret, it can be found out.

So i just go "it's probably innate magic".

 

[DEFCON 1]

To get a good sense of the power of the drow poison, treat the +3d6 as though it was the bonus coming from a magical weapon. That way you can align it against equivalent magic weapons in the DMG to figure out for yourself what level makes the most sense for the PCs to have it, its rarity, and so forth. You'll be more comfortable then deciding whether the damage is for one attack per round, every attack, once every two rounds, etc.

As an example... the Spider Staff that PCs can acquire at the end of Lost Mine of Phandelver (usually 5th level or so) gives +1d6 poison
damage on every attack, as well as charges to cast the spider climb and web spells. So an archer with Extra Attack could get a total of +2d6 every round from the poison bonuses, as well as the spells to cast on other rounds. Is +3d6 on one attack in a round about equivalent? Then you might have an okay thing to give out for 5th level PCs.

At least that's how I'd look at it.

 

[Oofta]

That is also possible, but opens up too many doors for "inventive" players.
If there is a secret, it can be found out.

So i just go "it's probably innate magic".

Having a magical component is fine. But if it is something that could theoretically be replicated, that just sounds like a potential campaign arc.

Let's see, first you have to uncover the secret formula which is not going to be simple. Then you have to gather the ingredients, figure out how to breed a specific type of spider and "milk" them. Hope they don't escape and kill half the town while you're at it. Suffer a couple of potentially fatal experiments along the way. Oh, and the spiders prefer goblin blood so you'll have to round up a bunch of those. Then if the drow catch wind of this (which they inevitably will) you have built in nemesis possibility.

So sure. Spend significant resources, years of adventuring time, probably thousands of GP setting up appropriate laboratory diverting all your resources and adventuring time in pursuit of this goal while ignoring whatever overarching threat to the region. End of the day you find that one key ingredient needs to blessed by a priestess of Lollth ... which brings us back to the magic thing. Just in a slightly less direct way.

 

[aco175]

I have run into this a couple times in the past. Most games the players do not pick up the poison though. I found that poison doses are a bit like potions in that the players tend to hold them and never use them until way later in the game. I tend to have a dose last 1 minute and the PCs find 1d4 doses if looked for.

You could require a check to apply the poison without injecting yourself or you can also have the dose loose potency over weeks or months. This way the 3d6 poison now only deals 1d6 a few weeks later.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

If they are one uses doses I don't see a huge issue with letting the PCs to acquire some and indeed it would be a nice and appropriate reward for defeating such rather dangerous foes.

 

[Flamestrike]

How do I handle it?

''Sadly, the poison is expended / has lost potency/ is a blessing from Lolth, and No.''