Table reference · Tool proficiency

Poisoner's kit

A small, lacquered case — vials, mortar, glass droppers, gloves, stable reagents. Identify, brew, harvest, and apply.

Quick reference

During play — the only lines that matter mid-combat

Apply One Action coats one weapon or up to 3 pieces of ammunition.
Duration Coating lasts 1 minute, or until first hit (whichever comes first).
On hit Target makes a Con save vs. the poison's listed DC.
Miss Coating remains on the weapon — try again next turn.
Save effect Most poisons: half damage on success, or condition negated.
Without proficiency 1-in-20 chance per application of poisoning yourself.

What proficiency does

A poisoner's kit is a tool proficiency — same bucket as thieves' tools or a smith's tools. With proficiency you add your proficiency bonus to any check involving poison: identifying an unknown substance, neutralizing a dose, brewing a fresh batch, or applying one to a weapon without botching.

Possession of the kit matters as much as the proficiency. The rules require you to use the kit, not just be trained with it. Lose the case, lose the bonus.

You can do

Identify poison by sight, smell, or residue
Apply a dose without spilling it
Harvest venom from a felled creature
Brew poison from a recipe and reagents
Neutralize a poison on someone else

You cannot do (with the kit alone)

Cure an already-poisoned creature without an antitoxin or magic
Improve a poison's save DC beyond the listed value
Apply poison to natural weapons (claws, fangs)
Coat an area or trap with one dose

Applying poison

Draw a dose Object interaction

Free interaction on your turn — pulling a vial from your kit. Drawing a second dose in the same turn is itself an Action.
Coat the weapon Action

One Action covers one weapon, or up to three pieces of ammunition. Roll a Dex (poisoner's kit) check only if circumstances are unfavorable — moving, in poor light, under fire.
Attack normally

The first attack that hits delivers the poison. The target makes the listed Con save. Whether they pass or fail, the dose is spent.
Track the timer

Unused coating evaporates / dries / oxidizes after 1 minute (10 rounds). After that, the weapon is clean again.

Edge cases worth ruling on

Crit — the poison still applies once. Damage doubles per the weapon, but the save and effect are unchanged.
Multiattack — only the first hit delivers poison unless the weapon was coated with multiple doses.
Sheathing — putting away a coated weapon is fine; the poison persists on the blade until the timer ends.
Allies handling it — anyone without proficiency who touches a coated blade triggers the 1-in-20 self-poisoning check.

Harvesting from creatures

When a venomous creature falls, a poisoner's kit check made within an hour can extract a usable dose. The creature must be intact enough — burned to ash or disintegrated yields nothing.

Creature CR	DC	Doses on success	On failure
CR 0–2	DC 12	1 dose	Sample ruined
CR 3–6	DC 15	1d4 doses	Sample ruined; on a nat 1, expose self to dose
CR 7–10	DC 17	1d4+1 doses	Sample ruined; on a nat 1, save vs. own poison
CR 11+	DC 19	1d6+2 doses	Sample ruined; on a nat 1, take 2d8 poison damage

DCs are guideline values; the DM may adjust based on creature type, condition of the corpse, and whether it's a creature whose venom is well-documented (lower) or exotic (higher).

Crafting poison

Crafting requires a recipe (or a sample to reverse-engineer), the kit, raw materials at the listed gold cost, and downtime. Workshop optional but helpful — bonuses to the crafting check vary by table.

Tier	Materials	Time	DC
Basic poison	100 gp	1 day	DC 13
Drow sleep poison	~600 gp	3 days	DC 15
Serpent / wyvern venom	~1,200 gp	7 days	DC 17
Purple worm poison	~2,000 gp	10 days	DC 19
Essence of oblivion Rare	DM-set	DM-set	DC 20+

On a successful check, one dose is produced. Failure burns half the materials and yields nothing. Failure by 5 or more burns all materials — and on a nat 1, the crafter is exposed to the in-progress batch.

Common poisons

Poison	Type	Save	Effect on failed save
Basic poison	Injury	DC 10 Con	1d4 poison damage; poisoned 1 minute, save end-of-turn.
Drow sleep poison	Injury	DC 13 Con	Unconscious 1 hour, or until damaged or shaken awake.
Serpent venom	Injury	DC 11 Con	3d6 poison damage; half on success.
Wyvern poison	Injury	DC 15 Con	7d6 poison damage; half on success.
Crawler mucus	Contact	DC 13 Con	Paralyzed 1 minute, save end-of-turn.
Purple worm poison	Injury	DC 19 Con	12d6 poison damage; half on success.
Essence of oblivion	DM	DM	DM-defined — typically erasure of memory or identity.

Poison types. Injury requires breaking skin — coats blades and arrows. Contact works on touch — coats doorknobs, hilts, gloves. Ingested requires consumption. Inhaled is a powder or gas in an enclosed space.

Mishaps & self-poisoning

Without proficiency

Each time someone untrained applies a poison, roll a d20. On a 1, they expose themselves and must save against their own poison.

Natural 1 on a kit check

Even with proficiency, a nat 1 means something has gone wrong: a vial broken in the case, a dose oxidized, a glove punctured. The DM picks the consequence. Most often: lose the dose; sometimes: lose two; rarely: poison self.

Treating a poisoned ally

A poisoner's kit check (DC equal to the poison's save DC) on a poisoned creature ends the effect early — but only one attempt per dose. Failure means waiting it out, or finding an antitoxin or lesser restoration.

House rules

At this table

Application is an Action by default. Bonus Action is allowed only if the character is proficient with the kit AND has a feature that says so (Assassin, Master Poisoner, etc.).
Pre-coated weapons declared at the start of an encounter cost no Action — but consume the dose whether or not you hit, and the timer starts at round 1.
Crafting downtime happens between sessions. Bring a list to session zero of the next arc.
Harvesting needs to be declared at the moment the creature drops. Walking away and coming back later means the venom has spoiled.
Selling poison is illegal in most civilized settlements; possession of more than 3 doses is a magistrate's matter.