D&D 5E Poison and the poison condition

[Arravis]

So I've looked over the threads that deal with this, but I still have no clarity on this.
Do all poisons cause the "poisoned" condition? Do only some? The PHB is very unclear about this and the DMG is vague enough that I can't say with certainty. Does anyone know the answer to this? Thanks guys!

-Arravis

 

[jgsugden]

Something called a 'poison' does not inherently cause the poisoned condition. It only does when specified - which is often the case. Unless the rules say something happens, under RAW, then it does not happen. A DM, however, is always in his rights to decide how a poison works in a given situation.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

Only poisons that indicate they cause the Poisoned condition actually cause the Poisoned condition. Many are simply damage add-ons or cause other effects like paralysis or unconciousness.

 

[Paraxis]

Poison condition only if the poison states that is an effect.

Now for the hard questions around poison.

How long does the poison last once on a weapon?
How many successful attacks can you make before needing to apply more poison?
How much poison in a day can you take from a poisonous snake animal companion, or imp familiar?
Why are they called poisonous snakes and not venomous snakes?
Serpent venom sells for 200gp a dose, how many doses can a druid milk from himself or have the party rogue milk from him in a day? Why do they adventure for gold when they could just set up poison shops?

See these are questions because no where in the DMG does it mention things like number of strikes or duration, we have to infer answers to these questions from monsters and npc's that use poison. The assassin for example seems to be able to strike multiple times per round, all combat long with poisoned blades.

Basic poison is of little help from the PHB, as it says.
Poison, Basic. You can use the poison in this vial to coat one slashing or piercing weapon or up to three pieces of ammunition. Applying the poison takes an action. A creature hit by the poisoned weapon or ammunition must make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or take 1d4 poison damage. Once applied, the poison retains potency for 1 minute before drying.

"once applied, the poison retains potency for 1 minute before drying" - so basic poison lasts on a dagger for one minute after application but is it good for only 1 strike or all strikes during that minute. What about the other poisons mentioned in the DMG?

One last question, if the average assassin (the one listed in the npc section of the MM) can afford to use 1,200gp wyvern venom on both of his short swords, and all of his crossbow ammunition every fight just how much does he charge to kill people so he can make a profit? Where does he keep the pet wyvern?

 

[Arravis]

Only poisons that indicate they cause the Poisoned condition actually cause the Poisoned condition.

So the ones that seem to more or less fit that description in the DMG would be: Assassin's Blood, Carrion Crawler Mucus, Drow Poison, Essence of Ether, Malice, Oil of Taggit, Pale Tincture, Torpor, & Truth Serum.

Those have some instance of the word "poisoned". NONE say directly to apply the Poisoned condition though. This seems surprisingly unclear.

 

[thalmin]

If the poison description says the victim is "poisoned" for a set amount of time, it is saying how long the poisoned condition lasts, sometimes with an additional effect for the duration.

 

[Paraxis]

One more thing, why does poison only last 1 minute before drying on a piece of ammunition or weapon but seems to last for centuries if applied to poison needle traps, poison arrow traps, and poison spiked pit traps in dungeons?
Did the ancient dungeon builders use advanced super science to get poison to last so long?

I am not saying it's aliens, but it's aliens.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

One last question, if the average assassin (the one listed in the npc section of the MM) can afford to use 1,200gp wyvern venom on both of his short swords, and all of his crossbow ammunition every fight just how much does he charge to kill people so he can make a profit? Where does he keep the pet wyvern?

He's like Arcade from Marvel comics. He's an eccentric zillionaire that operates on a loss for each hit! Vast wealth is the best superpower.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Poison condition only if the poison states that is an effect.

Now for the hard questions around poison.

How long does the poison last once on a weapon?
How many successful attacks can you make before needing to apply more poison?
How much poison in a day can you take from a poisonous snake animal companion, or imp familiar?
Why are they called poisonous snakes and not venomous snakes?
Serpent venom sells for 200gp a dose, how many doses can a druid milk from himself or have the party rogue milk from him in a day? Why do they adventure for gold when they could just set up poison shops?

See these are questions because no where in the DMG does it mention things like number of strikes or duration, we have to infer answers to these questions from monsters and npc's that use poison. The assassin for example seems to be able to strike multiple times per round, all combat long with poisoned blades.

Basic poison is of little help from the PHB, as it says.
Poison, Basic. You can use the poison in this vial to coat one slashing or piercing weapon or up to three pieces of ammunition. Applying the poison takes an action. A creature hit by the poisoned weapon or ammunition must make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or take 1d4 poison damage. Once applied, the poison retains potency for 1 minute before drying.

"once applied, the poison retains potency for 1 minute before drying" - so basic poison lasts on a dagger for one minute after application but is it good for only 1 strike or all strikes during that minute. What about the other poisons mentioned in the DMG?

One last question, if the average assassin (the one listed in the npc section of the MM) can afford to use 1,200gp wyvern venom on both of his short swords, and all of his crossbow ammunition every fight just how much does he charge to kill people so he can make a profit? Where does he keep the pet wyvern?

Good questions! The druid ones hadn't occurred to me.

I think I'm going to let poisons last for all weapon strikes for about a minute. The pricing is still just way too high. I'm considering having the listed prices apply to either 5 or 10 doses of poison (and assume that poison is usually sold in such increments).

 

[thalmin]

So the ones that seem to more or less fit that description in the DMG would be: Assassin's Blood, Carrion Crawler Mucus, Drow Poison, Essence of Ether, Malice, Oil of Taggit, Pale Tincture, Torpor, & Truth Serum.

Those have some instance of the word "poisoned". NONE say directly to apply the Poisoned condition though. This seems surprisingly unclear.

it is not strange that these poisons don't use the term "poisoned condition" as most of the conditions don't use the added word "condition." For example,

INCAPACITATED
An incapacitated creature can't take actions or reactions.

does not say "incapacitated condition creature."

This is different from the "Poison" damage type.