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That early Realms article of mine on poisons does exist and was purchased by TSR, so it’s still NDA-covered, I’m afraid. I suspect it was ‘suppressed’ for the usual ‘we don’t want any lawsuits’ reasons that has kept real-world poisons from being discussed overmuch in Realms products.

Let’s glance very briefly at those real-world poisons. Being in the UK, you have a lovely (if that’s the right word) resource not easily available to gamers not on the Sceptered Isle: the Poison Garden at Alnwick Castle, in Northumberland. (By the long arm of inane and entirely irrelevant coincidence, I live in the namesake county of Northumberland in Ontario, Canada.) There you can go and see many poisonous plants growing (literally like weeds: remember, in medieval times these plants would rarely have been cultivated, so hardy wild plant species were the only plants folk had to test and try and build up lore about), some of them caged and guarded around the clock for public safety.

I’ll list a few poisons known and used in medieval times, in no particular order: monk’s-hood (wolfbane, foxglove: aconite), deadly nightshade (belladonna), box tree, giant hogweed, hemlock, castor oil plants (ricin), mandrake, darnel (a poisonous GRASS!), henbane, hellebore (green and black, two different plants, both poisonous), laburnam (cytosine), monk’s pepper, hemp (cocaine; yes, overdoses poison, causing memory loss in particular), and Quaker’s Button (the plant has many other names, but its poison usually gets called either strychnine or curare [yes, this is the ‘death rictus’ grin-causing stuff]).

Please note that all of these plant-derived substances also have beneficial (or believed at times to be beneficial) medical uses. There are MANY good reference books on this topic, but one of the most pleasant to read and therefore inspiring for DMs who don’t want to devote more than an hour or so of reading to such matters is BROTHER CADFAEL’S HERB GARDEN (1996; Little, Brown and Company; by Rob Talbot and RobinWhiteman, various ISBNs for various editions, but two of the hardcover ISBNs are 0-316-88224-0 and 0-8212-2387-9, available at many libraries in the UK and North America). Another good ‘quick and popular,’ but not as inspiring, text that North American libraries may have is MAGIC AND MEDICINE OF PLANTS published by Reader’s Digest (1986, written by “Reader’s Digest,” ISBN 0-89577-221-3).

In Realmsplay, I’ve always assumed that these are present in the Realms, and used much as they were in real-world medieval England (in other words, I’ll never invent effects for them, or distort their real effects into something different). In the Realms as in real life, priesthoods, cults, guilds, and other power groups such as private clubs and cabals often make use of the hallucinogenic effects of herbs and concoctions. The state of seeing hallucinations [this also touches on Verghityax’s query about diseases (on which I’m working :})] is known in the Realms, by the way, as ‘godmad’ (because all visions, nightmares, etc. are believed to be sent to mortals, for one reason or another, by the gods).

On to the imaginary poisons.

I trust you’re familiar with the drugs published in the 3e LORDS OF DARKNESS tome (I contributed some of them, but Sean Reynolds fixed and fine-tuned all of their game rules details) and the poisons that appear in various e3 D&D rulebooks. Earlier in this thread (back on Page 23) I provided names and effects - - sans specific game rules - - of some other drugs, including both poisonous ones and poison antidotes.

Faraer kindly listed poisons (usually of my creation) that have appeared in earlier rulebooks: belpren, drow sleep poison, dwarfbane, huld, jeteye, lhurdas, night sleep, orvas, prespra, saisha, ulcrun, and varrakas. Do you need references or details for these?

Lastly, here are two ‘new’ poisons from my files, both of them principally derived from entirely imaginary plants.

Horel: a distillation of the leaves of a certain lilypad-like floating freshwater weed called “halfling’s hand” or “oxhrel,” mixed in particular (and secret) proportions with dried and powdered horseradish. This greenish liquid does no harm by contact or ingestion, but if insinuated into the bloodstream (by means of a sharp or pointed weapon), it causes violent, involuntary convulsions, onset 1d2 rounds and lasting for 1d4 rounds (effects: 4-point penalty on victim’s AC and attack rolls, inability to remain still or complete delicate tasks such as pouring liquids without spillage, putting a small key in a lock, arranging beads, tying or untying knots, buttons, or pouch-toggles, etc.).

Tharace: a precise and secret mixture of the powdered roots of two grasses (“talltuft” and “marath”), a streambank plant known for its tiny three-leaf white flowers (“lurteasel”), and a groundvine known for its many tiny red edible berries (“blood-drops” or “bloodfall”). This brownish powder NEVER clumps or cakes, even if wet or frozen. If ingested or insinuated into the blood (but not by mere contact), it numbs all bodily sensations and entirely disrupts all commands sent by nerves to body limbs and extremities (onset time 1d4+1 rounds, duration 3d4 rounds). The head and always torso are unaffected. In other words, a victim can speak, breathe, and swallow, but can’t cling to anything or hold anything (weapons will be dropped). The total blanketing of pain greatly lessens shock, so tharace is often administered before amputations or other surgery. It has also been slipped into food to make an intended murder victim helpless to defend himself or to prevent him from involuntarily crying out when struck (e.g. when stabbed from behind) due to the pain. Any quantity of tharace that gets baked in desert heat or beside a campfire (i.e. in garments being dried out) or cooked in food, or that comes into contact with alcohol, loses all of its effects forever - - but not when such contact occurs in the body of a victim upon whom the tharace is working (in other words, drinking much wine or eating food before or after eating tharace-laced food doesn’t stop tharace effects, but tharace can’t be slipped into wine, ale, or food that will then be cooked, and still be effective when ingested). Only pine gum and various tree saps can ‘bind’ powdery tharace to a metallic weapon such as a dart, needle, or dagger blade without harming it; water just washes it off, and most sauces and glues react with both the metal and the tharace to neutralize the tharace. (This effect doesn’t occur with wooden weapons, thorns, or the like.)

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So saith Ed. Who now turns to this, from Dagnirion: “Hey, all. I mistakenly asked Krash a query, thinking that he had been the creator of something, but I was mistaken, and pointed me in the proper direction. Srindym, an Elven poison mentioned in one of the vignettes of Elminster in Hell...Can you share more about this, lore-wise, if anything exists. I'm mainly interested in how it's made (as in, the who, what, when's, and so on), and it's prevalence. Going by his description in that ill-fated DRAGON article, "An iridescent, silver liquid, this poison was created by the eladrin millennia ago and often used by less principled individuals of that race against 'lesser' races", it sounds like something the Eldreth Veluuthra would use. Before I make anything up, however, I'd like to go straight to the source.”
Ed replies:



A fiction-related NDA may stop me answering this (relating to lore help I gave an author), so I’ll have to check to see if I can answer you.
I can say this much: very few eladrin or anyone else know how to make srindym, so it’s rare and expensive, and its making involves eladrin blood, moonlight, the casting of multiple spells, and other ingredients; the method of its making (and where any caches of it are kept) has always been a closely-guarded secret.
More when/if I know I can dispense lore freely.

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Originally posted by TheIriaebanA magic based poison isn't really a poison, right? It uses magic to attack the systems and if it is something with an extended effect, it would be like a spell with a duration on the person.

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Originally posted by Athreeren

Ayrik's message gives me an idea: you could enchant a mundane toxic substance to make it harmless, so you get a very fast magic poison as soon as the magic dissipates: convenient if you need an alibi!

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Originally posted by George Krashos

In a world of magic and spells and walking gods, you have to keep some wiggle room for RW things with a twist. Poisons and diseases are in my view right in that category. While none of the poisons I have written up have been "magical", the one featured in "Cormyr: A Novel" certainly was. In simple terms, anything can be made with magic and created to have resistances and immunities from other magic, including poisons and diseases. I remember Ed making a revelatory comment years ago that an anti-magic shell was still magic and that powerful wizards could create specific spells that trumped said magics (look at the mage Mythanthar's use of a "spell shear" (whatever that is) in "Elminster in Myth Drannor" to defeat a Starym anti-magic trap set for him). So basically. with a proper back story and origin, anything s possible, including "magical" poisons - Talona no doubt very much encourages the creation of these among her faithful.

-- George Krashos

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Originally posted by Athreeren

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Originally posted by TheIriaebanA magic based poison isn't really a poison, right? It uses magic to attack the systems and if it is something with an extended effect, it would be like a spell with a duration on the person.

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The poison in Cormyr: a Novel was antimagic, similar to what sleyvas suggests with a magic resistant poison. It definitely was a poison (and magical, as George points out).

Ayrik's message gives me an idea: you could enchant a mundane toxic substance to make it harmless, so you get a very fast magic poison as soon as the magic dissipates: convenient if you need an alibi!

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Refa:
You walked away from the greatest power I have ever seen! And now you expect me to do the same? They are the key to my eventual rise to the throne! Why would I abandon them?

Londo:
Because I have asked you. Because your loyalty to our people should be greater than your ambition. And because I have poisoned your drink.

[Lord Refa looks in astonishment at Londo]:

Londo:
Yes…and it is very interesting poison. It comes in two parts. Both are harmless on their own. But when combined…quite lethal. The first settles into the bloodstream, and the intestinal walls. It stays there for years. Silent…dormant…waiting. When the other half of the poison enters your system the two meet, have a little party in your cardiovascular system…and suddenly, you are quite dead.

Refa:
Why? Why did you do this?

Londo:
To guarantee your cooperation! And because sooner or later, you would do it to me! As we are returning to the old ways, Refa, and poison was always the instrument of choice in the old Republic, being something of a sentimentalist, I got here first.

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Originally posted by George Krashos

I remember Ed making a revelatory comment years ago that an anti-magic shell was still magic and that powerful wizards could create specific spells that trumped said magics (look at the mage Mythanthar's use of a "spell shear" (whatever that is) in "Elminster in Myth Drannor" to defeat a Starym anti-magic trap set for him).

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Originally posted by sleyvas


It still comes down to how do you define something as a "magic poison" versus a necromantic spell, a curse, or even a potion/ointment that triggers a deleterious spell effect. To be clear, I don't mind if some npc CALLS something a "magic poison"... I'm just speaking from a rules effect perspective.

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