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Poisons of the Realm

Every canonical poison from the 5.5e Dungeon Master's Guide — delivery, save DC, effect, price — alongside the rules for application, the spells and items that cure them, and the species and class features that resist them.

Using a Poisoner's Kit →

Damage & Condition

Poison is one of the thirteen damage types. Many undead, constructs, oozes, and fiends are immune.

Poisoned condition — disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks while affected. It does not impose disadvantage on saving throws.

The Four Delivery Methods

Contact
Smeared on skin or a surface. Triggers on touch. One dose is consumed per exposure.
Ingested
Must be swallowed. A full dose is required for the full effect.
Inhaled
Released as a cloud (typically a 5-ft cube). Holding breath does not help once inhaled.
Injury
Coats a weapon or piece of ammunition. Consumed on the first hit, or after 1 minute.

Applying Poison to a Weapon

Default rules. Applying an injury poison to a weapon takes an Action. The poison lasts on the weapon for 1 minute or until it strikes a target.

With the Poisoner feat (2024 PHB, lvl 4+ Origin feat). Apply as a Bonus Action; ignore Poison resistance of targets struck by your poisoned weapon; once per long rest, deal an extra 2d8 poison damage with a weapon hit.

The Fourteen Canonical Poisons

Name
Type
DC
Effect
Price
Assassin's Blood
Ingested
10
6 (1d12) poison; Poisoned 24h on fail
150 gp
Burnt Othur Fumes
Inhaled
13
10 (3d6) poison; repeats start of turn for 3 turns
500 gp
Carrion Crawler Mucus
Contact
13
Paralyzed 1 min on fail
200 gp
Drow Poison
Injury
13
Poisoned 1h; if fail by 5+, also Unconscious until damaged or 1 min
200 gp
Essence of Ether
Inhaled
15
Poisoned 8h, Unconscious while poisoned (wakes on damage)
300 gp
Malice
Inhaled
15
Blinded 1h on fail
250 gp
Midnight Tears
Ingested
17
Activates at midnight after consumption; 31 (9d6) poison, half on save
1,500 gp
Oil of Taggit
Contact
13
Poisoned 24h, Unconscious while poisoned (wakes on damage)
400 gp
Pale Tincture
Ingested
16
3 (1d6) poison + Poisoned; repeats every 24h. Damage does not heal until cured.
250 gp
Purple Worm Poison
Injury
19
42 (12d6) poison, half on save
2,000 gp
Serpent Venom
Injury
11
10 (3d6) poison, half on save
200 gp
Torpor
Ingested
15
Poisoned 4d6h, Incapacitated while poisoned
600 gp
Truth Serum
Ingested
11
Poisoned 1h; cannot knowingly speak a lie
150 gp
Wyvern Poison
Injury
15
24 (7d6) poison, half on save
1,200 gp

Defenses, Resistances & Cures

  • Antitoxin (50 gp)
    Action to drink. Advantage on saves vs poison for 1 hour.
  • Protection from Poison (2nd-lvl)
    Neutralize one Poisoned condition; advantage on saves vs poison and resistance to poison damage for 1 hour.
  • Lesser Restoration (2nd-lvl)
    End the Poisoned condition on a creature.
  • Greater Restoration (5th-lvl)
    Cures more entrenched poisons and curses.
  • Heroes' Feast (6th-lvl)
    Immunity to poison and the Frightened condition for 24 hours.
  • Periapt of Proof against Poison
    Uncommon magic item. Immune to poison while worn.

Built-in Defenses by Species & Class

  • Dwarven Resilience (Dwarf, 2024 PHB)
    Advantage on saves to avoid or end the Poisoned condition; resistance to poison damage.
  • Paladin · Divine Health (lvl 3)
    Immune to disease — often confused with poison. It is not poison immunity.
  • Monk · Empty Body (lvl 18)
    Resistance to all damage except force while astrally projecting.
  • Druid · Circle of Spores
    Symbiotic Entity and Halo of Spores deal poison damage; the druid is not granted poison immunity.
  • Assassin Rogue
    Proficient with the Poisoner's Kit; canonically the class most likely to keep injury poisons on hand.

Tools, Harvesting & Legality

Poisoner's Kit. Tool proficiency required to craft, harvest, and identify poisons. Some poisons require a kit and several days of downtime to produce.

Harvesting. A successful Nature or Medicine check (DC varies; commonly DC 20) on a slain venomous creature yields one dose of an injury poison. Failure ruins the dose; a roll of 1 may expose the harvester.

Legality. In most settled realms, the manufacture, sale, or possession of poison is criminal. The listed prices are black-market prices.