Roguish Archetype: the Poisoner
by Sam West
Many rogues can get by with storebought poisons, some even getting some rudimentary tools to craft their own. Rogues looking to perfect the art of poisoning and crave crafting lethally effective brews become Poisoners.
Poisoners use many methods to deliver their toxins to their foes specialized for every situation. Most use their gifts for assassination. Others choose to specialize in other jobs like coaxing information out of creatures or non-lethally incapacitating groups of enemies for grand heists.
How you decide to use this craft is up to you.
Poisoner Table
| Level | Feature | |
|---|---|---|
| 3rd | Trained Poisoner, Expedite Delivery, Poisoncraft | |
| 9th | Developed Immunity, Medical Basics | |
| 13th | Targeted Agents, Synergistic Properties | |
| 17th | Instant Death Decoction |
Trained Poisoner
3rd-level Poisoner feature
You gain proficiency with the poisoner’s kit. If you already are proficient with it, you gain proficiency with one artisan’s tools of your choice or the disguise kit instead.
At 6th level, you can optionally choose your poisoner’s kit proficiency with your Expertise feature in place of a skill or thieves’ tools.
Expedite Delivery
3rd-level Poisoner feature
You can use the Bonus Action granted by your Cunning Action to draw a poison or potion and apply an injury poison to a weapon you’re holding, make an attack with a contact poison, release an inhaled poison, or administer a potion to a willing creature.
Posioncraft
3rd-level Poisoner feature
You have learned the fundamentals of crafting poisons. Over part of a long rest, you can use your poisoner’s kit and ingredients scavenged during adventuring to craft poisons that gain potency when you finish the rest.
You craft poisons equal to your Intelligence modifier + half your rogue level, rounded up. They remain potent for 24 hours or until you craft poisons again with this feature.
When you craft a poison, choose a type and one ingredient from the ingredients table at the end of this subclass. The poison is the chosen type and gains the ingredient’s effect. Some ingredients have a prerequisite level to craft with referring to your level in this class.
When a creature is affected by one of your poisons, it makes a Constitution saving throw against your poison save DC, suffering effects based on its ingredients.
Poison save DC = 8+ your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier
If you have chosen your poisoner’s kit proficiency with the Expertise feature, add double your proficiency bonus to the DC instead.
When a creature makes a saving throw against one of your poisons, it becomes immune to duplicate effects from other poisons you’ve crafted for 24 hours unless otherwise noted.
Developed Immunity
9th-level Poisoner feature
You gain immunity to the poisoned condition and gain resistance to poison damage.
Medical Fundamentals
9th level Poisoner feature
Whenever you create poisons over a long rest, you may create up to your Intelligence modifier total potions of healing and/or antitoxin. They last for 24 hours or until you craft items with this feature again.
You can create potions of greater healing with this feature at 13th level, and potions of superior healing at 17th level.
Targeted Agent
13th-level Poisoner feature
Whenever you craft a poison with your Poisoncraft feature you can change the poison’s saving throw type from Constitution to Strength or Intelligence.
Synergistic Properties
13th-level Poisoner feature
When you craft poisons with your Poisoncraft feature, if the ingredient doesn’t have a prerequisite, you can add a second different ingredient with no prerequisite to the poison, granting it both effects.
A creature makes a single saving throw roll for both effects. A creature affected by a poison that has two or more effects that allow it to repeat the save at the end of each of its turns may make one save for both, ending the effects on a successful save.
Instant Death Decoction
17th-level Poisoner feature
Whenever you craft poisons with your Poisoncraft feature, you boil a precise combination of toxic herbs and chemicals to create one additional poison with a unique effect: an Instant Death Decoction.
A creature that suffers the effects of the decoction dies on a failed save, or takes 30d6 poison damage on a successful one.
Creatures immune to poison damage or the poisoned condition automatically succeed on the save.
Poison Types
Each of the four poison types changes how you deliver their effects.
Contact
As an action, a creature can attempt to smash a vial of poison onto a creature within 5 feet of it or throw the vial up to 20 feet, shattering it on impact.
In either case, it makes a ranged attack against a creature or object, treating the contact poison as an improvised weapon with the finesse trait. The poison’s crafter is proficient with it.
A hit creature is affected by the poison and takes 1+ the attacker’s Strength or Dexterity modifier slashing damage from the shattering vial..
Ingested
A creature can drip the poison onto a consumable substance, such as in a drink or on an apple. The first creature that consumes a portion of the substance consumes and is affected by the poison.
A creature that succeeds on an Intelligence (Investigation) or Wisdom (Medicine) check with a DC equal to the creator’s Poison save DC detects the substance has been altered.
A poisoned substance remains poisonous until the poison loses potency 24 hours after creation or if the creator uses their Poisoncraft feature to craft poisons again.
Inhaled
You can release inhaled poison in a 5 ft. wide cloud in a space within five feet of you. Any creature exposed to the cloud is affected by the poison. It then immediately dissipates.
Injury
Injury poisons can be applied to a weapon or a piece of ammunition that deals piercing or slashing damage.
When a creature is hit by a weapon or piece of ammunition coated in an injury poison it is affected by the poison.
The poison lasts 1 minute once applied or until a creature is affected by it, after which it loses its potency.
Poison Ingredients
To use any ingredient when crafting poisons, you must have your poisoner’s kit, and you must meet its prerequisite level in this class.
You don’t need the exact named ingredient to gain its effect, and know how to easily substitute readily available alternatives that provide identical effects.
Rare Ingredients
You may find unique ingredients as you adventure. At your DM’s discretion, you can add ingredients that provide specific effects to the ingredients section to craft poisons from.
Some may require specific, hard-to-find ingredients that can’t have no substitutes, while others may work the same way as all of the ingredients gained through this archetype.
Poison Ingredients Table
| Name | Prerequisite Level | Effect Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Bloating Shrooms | - | Reduces creature's speed |
| Dizzying Spores | - | Induce random movement |
| Nauseating Herbs | - | Applies the poisoned condition |
| Rageleaf | - | Infuriates creature, forcing aggression |
| Venom | - | Deals poison damage |
| Delirium Oil | 5 | Masks friend from foe |
| Extracted Rose Oils | 5 | Induces friendliness |
| Icepetal | 5 | Shrinks to tiny sizes |
| Cloudsheep Hoof | 9 | Drops unalert creatures to sleep |
| Mageroot | 9 | Empowers magic targeting the creature |
| Nightmare Mold | 9 | Causes frightening visions |
| Cockatrice Bile | 13 | Petrifies the target slowly |
| Infernal Blood | 13 | Primes target to spontaneously combust |
| Pixie Dust | 13 | Transforms creature into a harmless form |
Bloating Shrooms
An affected creature’s speed is reduced to 10 for 1 minute on a failed save, or until the end of its next turn on a successful one.
At the end of each of its turns a creature that fails the initial save can make another saving throw. On a success, the effect ends.
Dizzying Spores
An affected creature must move at least half its speed in a random direction and fall prone at the start of its next turn on a failed save, or just fall prone at the start of its next turn on a successful one.
Nauseating Herbs
An affected creature becomes poisoned for 1 minute on a failed save, or until the end of its next turn on a successful one.
At the end of each of its turns, a creature that fails the initial save can make another saving throw. On a success the effect ends.
Rageleaf
An affected creature is enraged for 1 minute on a failed save, or until the end of its next turn on a successful one.
On its turn, an enraged creature must spend its action making a melee weapon attack or unarmed strike against a creature within its reach if able. If no creature is within its reach, it acts normally.
At the end of each of its turns, a creature that fails the initial save can make another saving throw. On a success the effect ends.
Venom
An affected creature takes 3d6 poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
At Higher Levels. This poison’s damage increases by 1d6 when you reach 9th (4d6), 13th (5d6), and 17th (6d6) level in this class.
Creatures affected by venom don’t become immune to it for 24 hours.
Delirium Oil
Prerequisite: 5th level
An affected creature becomes confused for 1 minute on a failed save, or until the end of its next turn on a successful one.
Whenever a confused creature chooses another creature as a target, it must choose the target at random from among the creatures it can see within range of the attack, spell, or other ability it’s using.
At the end of each of its turns, a creature that fails the initial save can make another saving throw. On a success, the effect ends.
Icepetal
Prerequisite: 5th level
An affected creature is shrunk for 1 minute on a failed save, or until the end of its next turn on a successful one. A creature can choose to willingly fail saves against this poison.
A shrunk creature’s size is halved in all dimensions, and its weight is reduced to one-eighth of normal. This reduction decreases its size by one category to a minimum of Tiny, and the creature has disadvantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws. The creature’s weapons and equipment also shrink to match its new size, reducing the weapon’s dice size by one category (from d10 to d8, as an example) to a minimum of a d4.
At the end of each of its turns, a creature that fails the initial save can make another saving throw. On a success, the effect ends.
At Higher Levels. You can up this ingredient’s potency as you gain levels in the class. Starting at 13th level, when you craft a poison with this ingredient, you can have it quarter a creature’s size in all dimensions instead, reducing its weight to one-sixteenth of normal. The reduction decreases its size by two categories to a minimum of Tiny, and reduces weapon’s dice size by two categories (d10 to d6, as an example) to a minimum of a d4. .
Extracted Rose Oils
Prerequisite: 5th level
An affected creature becomes unnaturally amicable to the next creature it notices, becoming charmed by the next creature it sees for 1 hour on a failed save, or until the end of its next turn on a successful one.
Each time the affected creature takes damage and when the charmer takes a hostile action towards it it can repeat the saving throw. On a success, the effect ends.
Cloudsheep Hoof
Prerequisite: 9th level
An affected becomes drowsy, falling unconscious for 1 minute on a failed save. A sleeping creature is awoken if it takes damage or is alerted by a large commotion. As an action, a creature can shake or slap awake a sleeping creature they can reach.
On a successful save, the creature’s speed is halved and it has disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks until the end of its next turn.
An alert and threatened creature has advantage on the initial save.
Mageroot
Prerequisite: 9th level
An affected creature’s form becomes more susceptible to magic for 1 minute on a failed save, or until the end of its next turn on a successful one.
While susceptible to magic, the creature has disadvantage on saving throws made against spells, and the creature suffers one additional die of damage when it takes damage from a spell.
Nightmare Mold
Prerequisite: 9th level
An affected creature sees frightening hallucinations around it, becoming frightened of each creature it can sense for 1 minute on a failed save, or until the end of its next turn on a successful one.
At the end of each of its turns and when another creature informs a creature that failed the inital save that the hallucinations aren’t real it can repeat the saving throw. On a success, the effect ends.
Cockatrice Bile
Prerequisite: 13th level
An affected creature begins to turn to stone- its speed is halved, and it can either move or take an action, not both, on its turn for 1 minute on a failed save, or until the end of its next turn on a successful one.
At the end of each of its turns a creature that failed the initial save must make another saving throw. If it successfully saves against this effect three times, the effect ends. If it fails saves three times, it becomes petrified.
When you create a poison with this ingredient’s effect, you can’t again until you create poisons again using your Poisoncraft feature.
Infernal Blood
Prerequisite: 13th level
An affected creature is primed for spontaneous combustion. After 1d4+1 rounds it takes 10d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
At Higher Levels. This poison’s damage increases by 4d6 to 14d6 at 17th level.
Pixie Dust
Prerequisite: 13th level
To craft with this ingredient, you additionally must mix in a bit of fur, hair, skin, or scales from a CR 1/8th or lower creature.
An affected creature transforms into the CR 1/8th or lower creature as if under the effects of the Polymorph spell, ignoring the type requirement, for 1 hour on a failed save, or until the end of its next turn on a successful one.
When you create a poison with this ingredient’s effect, you can’t again until you create poisons again using your Poisoncraft feature.
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