#poisoner

The Poisoner's Revelation

His trade tends towards the macabre and the misunderstood, but that doesn’t diminish the brilliant spark of a discovery. –

Inspired by leather, fiction’s loveable villains, and a stinky start to spooky season.

Painted in watercolor, gouache and colored pencil on 140lb Arches hot press paper. Accented with genuine gold leaf and framed.

The entire tarnation coven!!

(art by IrenHorrors on DeviantArt)

Whether you want to have something to wear down a superior foe, slay someone subtly without it being traced back to you, or so on, poison is often the tool of choice. It may not be considered the honorable option, but if you’re considering using poison in the first place, you’ve probably dispensed with such a stuffy limiting notion to begin with.

Named for the 1E rogue archetype of the same name, the poisoner has you covered, specializing in providing various poison-related abilities from the alchemist class alongside a few unique tricks of their own to make themselves all the more deadly.

It’s all pretty much mundane poison though, so if you’re looking to emulate some of the poison-focused caster classes and archetypes from First Edition, you’ll have to look elsewhere. However, if you’re seeking to blend even more poison into your rogue, ranger, or other class, this may be what you’re looking for.

This archetype also has a Remastered version in addition to the original, but as far as I can tell, they share all the same abilities albeit under slightly different names and wording, so without further ado, let’s begin!

The baseline dedication for the archetype grants the knowledge of how to make cheap poisons each day, borrowing some techniques from professional alchemists to do so.

Some prefer to deliver their poisons via blowdart thanks to their subtle nature, making it easier for them to land the attack in a vital area as well as remain hidden afterwards.

Working with poison does mean the risk of exposure, and whether it be repeated accidental exposure or deliberate, many develop a decent resistance to such things.

Poison works best when it reaches the systems it is meant to attack faster, and with a cruel twist of their weapon, these poisoners can drive the envenomed blade deeper towards those areas of the body.

With training, they can increase the number of poisons they can brew for free each day, increasing their on-hand arsenal.

Whether it is a careful coating or hidden needles, many trap their own clothing to deliver a punishing surprise to those that would accost them.

They are also quite fluid in the act of applying poison to a weapon, drawing vials and doing so in fluid motions. What’s more, they learn to make some simple poisons as well.

With expert formulation and concentration, their poisons can be brewed to last longer, withering their foes for a greater duration.

Some learn to supercharge their immune systems so that they can better resist a poison not just with the initial dose, but for the rest of the day as well.

Normally a poison gets washed off or absorbed by the body once it’s used, but with a tacky medium, some learn to mix poisons that can last through multiple strikes.

Later on, some learn to improve their most basic poisons to be more potent.

A foe is less likely to guard against a poison if they don’t see it coming, so it’s only natural that some of these professionals would specialize in delivering poisons to the unaware through stealthy attacks or delivery of inhaled toxins and the like.

Finally, the most skilled among them can actually slash at foes in such a way that some of the poisoned blood of their foes splatters on other enemies, afflicting them as well.

This archetype is interesting, though I find it has some questionable aspects, such as why you’d have both free alchemical poisons daily as well as the ability to also gain the basic generic poison uses associated with certain rogues as well, but I suppose that if you’re going to make poisoning your enemies your entire deal, you would like to never run out of poisons. As for what class to take this with, you could blend it with alchemist or rogue, obviously, as well as pretty much any and all martial classes, though typically only non-good champions would ever utilize it. Most spellcasters would only dabble in it at best to have a backup in case they were ever forced into melee without any spell options whatsoever, but whatever makes sense for you.

At the end of the day, mastering poison is a skillset. Some folks will treat it as their special interest, something they dedicate their time and passion to, while others simply master it because it’s useful for their work. How that dynamic plays out is of course up to you as a player.

Seeking dominion over the natural world, the cult of the demon Ironclaw has concocted a scheme that is as foolhardy as it is dangerous, Use the most potent poisons to overcome the might of the legendary Wardens of the Wild, starting with the Warden of Caves and Burrows, so that it’s dominion over vast mineral stores could be taken and exploited.

Kholo, or gnoll, cultures typically consume their dead out of reverence, so the undead are rare among their kind, but when they happen, it is their solemn duty to lay these poor lost souls to rest. Such is especially true for Natepi, who is also a duskwalker in addition to kholo. When the lord of a nearby land begins utilizing a strange new poison that raises those slain with it as easily controlled undead, she dedicates herself to destroying the source of this monstrous toxin, but she knows she cannot do it alone.

Yippee, yahoo.

I actually coloured something. Hehe, I do have some changes and more concepts to fully explore for them, but hehe. Some townies will come next since these are from my tos2 dnd/murder mystery I run for my friends, and I wanna clean them all up. :3

Medusa - Medelyn,

High fashion, old money, runs the boutique with her husband, a blind tailor and toymaker.

Poisoner - Posey

High energy tavern worker at the Foamy guard. Enjoys when someone (usually trickster) starts a bar fight.

Ritualist - Rito

Lead journalist, runs the local newspaper. Arrogant and running on about 9 cups of coffee an hour, those all nighters really don't come for free you know!

Hex Master - Roku

Possible tools of Louisa’s trade. Now that Louisa Lindloff’s lawyer, George Remus, dealt with the arsenic hued elephant in the (court)room, it was time to address a far more problematic aspect of the case — Louisa’s pinpoint prophesies of death. Obviously, correctly predicting the exact expiration date for (at least) seven separate people is a tough mountain for any defense to climb. Yet, this…