POISONED

These rules can be added to any OSR style game. Instead of resolving
poisions as simple roll versus poison effects, poisons act as
attacks to a victim’s Constitution.
The severity of a creature’s poison will generally
be in proportion to its capability. At minimum, a poison inflicts 1d6 of
Constitution damage. For every hit die over the first that the
creature possesses, increase the damage of the poison by 1d6.
A poison can either be fast or slow. A fast
poison inflicts all of its damage at once. A slow poison inflicts
its damage over time, at a rate of 1d6 of damage per hour. The maximum time
a poison will be active and virulent within a victim is twice the hit dice of the
poisonous creature, measureed in hours. Roll a die equal to the hit dice of the creature to
determine a variable duration of the poison’s efficacy. Potentially, particular herbal poultices
or treatments such as bloodletting may slow or delay the onslaught of a slow poison.
Every time the poison inflicts damage, roll 1d6 to determine an outward
manifestation and secondary effect of the poison. The results are cumulative over
the duration of the poison’s virulence.
1. spasms: chills, twitches; -1 to general dexterity-type rolls, -2 to missile attacks
2. fever: pallid skin; -1 to all rolls
3. vertigo: loss of balance; -1 to all rolls
4. weakness of limbs: slouching; -2 to all physical rolls, -2 to damage rolls
5. cramps: hunching, contorting; movement halved
6. skin irritations: welts, boils, or hives; -1 to all rolls
These effects reflect mundane poisons. Fantastic poisons may afflict more serious and
stranger conditions instead of, or in addition to, those listed here.
Indomitable Fighting Spirit: fighting men, dwarfs, and other fighter types,
poisoned during combat, can spend a turn to earn a roll against the poison. During
this turn, they can take no other actions and lose any Dexterity bonuses to
their defenses. On a successful roll, they may ignore any secondary effects
of the posion while in combat. However, at the end of the battle, they
immediately suffer an additional 1d6 of Constitution damage.
Constitution lost to poison will recover at a rate of one point per day of
complete rest. Hardcore Variant: at the end of the poison’s duration,
the victim rolls versus Death. Failure indicates a permanent attribute point
loss from (roll 1d4): 1. Strength, 2. Dexterity, 3. Constitution, 4. Charisma.

by Todd Terwilliger
Copyright 2018 Hexed Press, http://hexed.press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 International License.
Sébastien Grandpierre (Order #13868328)