Poison

Poisons come in a variety of forms, levels of toxicity and speeds of effect. The more poisons injected or ingested, the higher the toxicity level involved. In actual medical science there are hundreds of poisons, with numberous complex side effects, symptoms, antidote systems and treatments that fill entire books.

Since Zamani is a semi-abstract stystem we need a simple way to deal with poisons, their effects and their treatment in game terms.

Each poison encountered will have a rating of Speed, Fatality and Symptoms. Speed is A (Actions), M (Minutes), H (Hours), or D (Days). A 2d10 roll is made by the GM and that is how many of the rating until symptoms and comparisons are made. So we have speed ratings that make things: 2d10 Actions, 2d10 minutes, 2d10 hours, etc.

When injected, ingested or delivered by a bite or other means then the mechanics begin. A d100 roll is made to determine the potency and is used on the action table as the 'success' result (it is assumed that the poison was successfully delivered at a skill of 101%, subtract the roll from 101 to get the Potency). This is compared to the victim's Fitness on the table, modified by any special traits they may have vs poison.

Damage by poison is just the same as per the table, using the Fatality value of the poison as the base for damage.

A Physician skill use can diagnose a poison before or during the damage effect, but cannot apply first aid to give healing. The exception is in regards to ingested poisons only - they can attempt to induce vomiting before the damage occurs, doing so will reduce the Fatality of the poison to a value of 1.

Medicine skill and the appropriate supplies can reduce the effects of the poison if applied before the damage effectiveness kicks in, by applying anti-toxins or poison specific antidotes. Basically medicine will reduce the Fatality by 1 for each level of success of their skill use (an L reduces it by 1, an M by 2 etc.)

Symptoms generally start rather rapidly and before the actual damage results.

Example Poisons:

• Arsenic (Speed H Fatality 7 ; Searing pain, vomiting, violent diarrhea)
• Bee Swarm Stings (Speed A Fatality 1 ; Swelling, headache)
• Belladonna (Speed H Fatality 7 ; Rapid Heart Beat, impaired vision, hallucinations)
• Black Adder Venom (Speed A Fatality 5 ; Swelling, Sweating, Muscle Spasms)
• Black Widdow Spider (Speed M Fatality 2 ; Swelling, nausea, headache)
• Corpse Viper (Speed A Fatality 6 ; Rapid Heart beat, hallucinations, weakness)
• Cyanide (Speed M Fatality 9 ; Dizziness, Convulsions, fainting, Smell of Almonds)
• Scorpion Sting (Speed D Fatality 4 ; Intense pain; weakness, random hemorrhaging)
• Strychnine (Speed M Fatality 9 ; Violent muscle contractions, asphyxiation)