Green Ronin has released their Dragon Age pen and paper RPG, and one thing that has been pointed out is that there are some elements from the CRPG missing. As I was preparing for my first session of the game, I asked a rogue player what he wanted. “Darts with tranquilizer poison” and that when I realize…”This game needs some poison rules”. And here they are.
Talents, Focus and Equipment
The rules basically extend the game by adding a new talent – the Poison talent, and the Poison ability focus. The focus is a Cunning based skill, and as in the game, it requires at least the Focus to use poison (without accidentally harming yourself). Poison typically works best on edged weapons, and unlike the CRPG, you can apply it on bolts and arrows.
Components for crafting poisons should be rare to come by – no price is listed (yet), and if the players are foraging, a Cunning roll against a difficulty of 11 should be made (if the character is in an environment where such things could grow) to locate the crafting component needed. A downtime of one day minimal is needed for a single flask of poison, which is good for 3 doses. Poison expires within a minute – exposure to air quickly cause them to lose their effectiveness.
Deathroot Extract
Equipment: Deathroot, Flask
Requires: Cunning 1, Novice Poison talent, Poison focus
Attack deals +1 Spirit damage, and you can use 4 Stunt Points to stun the target for 1 round.
Venom
Equipment: Venom Extract, Flask
Requires: Cunning 1, Poison novice talent, Poison focus
Attack deals +1 Spirit damage, and you can use 4 Stunt Points to reduce target’s Speed by 2 and Initiative by 2.
Concentrated Deathroot Extract
Equipment: Deathroot, Flask, Distillation Agent
Requires: Cunning 2, Novice Poison talent, Poison focus
Attack deals +2 Spirit damage, and you can use 3 Stunt Points to stunt the target for 1 round.
Concentrated Venom
Equipment: Venom Extract, Flask, Distillation Agent
Requires: Cunning 2, Novice Poison talent, Poison focus
Attack deals +2 Spirit damage, and you can use 3 Stunt points to reduce target’s Speed by 2 and Initiative by 2.
Crow Poison
Equipment: Toxin Extract, Deathroot, Distillation Agent, Flask
Requires: Cunning 3, Journeyman Poison talent, Poison focus
Attack deals +3 Spirit damage, and you can use 2 Stunt points to stun target for 1 round.
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