Poisoner

The Poisoner is something of an alchemist, a doctor, a creature of healing and its opposite, a pharmacist. Of all the things they could be, the answer in the end is murderer. Cold-blooded murderer. 

The master poisoner has a whole natural world full of tools of the trade at their disposal: deadly nightshade, belladonna, arsenic, henbane, cyanide. All from plants. Without even getting to animal venoms! Nature is so incredibly deadly! So throw in a dose of herbalist while we're at it and perhaps some animal Handling.

You're a fledgling poisoner but already have a head full of stories of patricide and regicide. All that killing. The creation of these toxins is what captivates you. How to turn a beautiful flower into certain, painful death. A gland from this animal or that one. It's an intimate way to kill. As close as a knife to the throat. But you're killing from the inside out, not the other way round. There's nothing more invasive.

But that's the old you, the kid with your face stuck in books retelling histories of corruption and murder among the nobles. Now, you think of gold and adventure. You've learned a great deal about how to kill. Who's to say it couldn't just as easily be goblins, giants, or other hideous creatures guarding treasure that you kill with your toxic spice cabinet concoctions.

With all that treasure, you could live a life of ease, cultivating your own lethal garden at your seaside villa. You know you're good. There are no vermin in your neighborhood at all. But rats aren't ogres. It's time to see what you can do in that great big world out there.

Bonus Proficiencies

When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with the herbalism kit, alchemist's supplies, and the poisoner’s kit. You gain twice proficiency with your Intelligence (Nature) skill and basic proficiency with Wisdom (Animal Handling).

Apprentice Poison Distiller

On any attack you make with which you have advantage, your opponent's saving throws against the effects of your poison are made with a -2 penalty.

You learn the Poison Spray cantrip and get the Poisoner feat.

You create your first poison to try on an enemy, Crawler Mucus. Each pot you make holds 10 doses which can be applied to a weapon as a bonus action. On a successful strike, your opponent takes only weapon damage but must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for one minute.

Chultan Pit Viper Poison

At 9th level, you've learned the secrets to distilling a fine concentrated poison from the venom glands of a pit viper found only in remote regions of the Jungles of Chult. It is a slow acting poison that you can produce at the rate of one 10 application jar every 3 days. It may be sold for 1,000 gp for the jar or 150 gp for individual applications.

On initial contact, the creature struck by a weapon coated with Chultan Pit Viper Poison takes 4d6 poison damage + weapon damage with no saving throw possible. After the initial wound is made, 4d6 are rolled again. The result of this roll is the number of hours the affected creature will be under the effects of the poisoned condition and will suffer 1d6 poison damage for each hour the poison lasts. 

The condition can be cured by Greater Restoration, Heal, or Mass Heal spells. A Wish spell will also stop the poison's effects.

Chultan Pit Viper Poison is an injury poison and should be delivered by a slashing or piercing weapon.

Journeyman Poison Distiller

At 9th level, you've learned to distill a number of very effective poisons and they're beginning to be in demand among the local assassins and disgruntled spouses. As a general rule, it costs one quarter the sale price of a pot or jar of poison to manufacture it. That price must be paid up front.

Ghoul Tissue Extract: You can make 1 pot of 10 doses of this poison every three days. You may only have one pot on you at a time. You can sell a pot for 1,000 gp. Ghoul Tissue Extract is an injury poison, and this type of poison should be delivered by a slashing or piercing weapon. The creature subjected to this poison must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw, or be paralyzed for one full minute or until a successful saving throw is rolled. 

Snow Toad Venom: You can make 1 pot of 10 doses of this poison once per week. You may only have one pot on you at a time. You can sell a pot for 2,000 gp.  Snow Toad Venom is an injury poison, and this type of poison should be delivered by a slashing or piercing weapon. The creature subjected to this poison must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw, taking 1d6 initial poison damage, and then a subsequent 1d6 per round, and is knocked unconscious on a failure, or suffers no effect other than weapon damage on a successful save. Saving throws can be attempted at the beginning of each of the creature's subsequent turns until successful or continue to take 1d6 poison damage each round. 

Ice Spider Ichor: You can make 1 jar of 5 doses of this poison once per week. You may only have one jar on you at a time. You can sell a jar for 3,500 gp. When struck with this poison, a creature must make a DC 19 Constitution saving throw or be stunned for 3 rounds. The creature takes 2d6 poison damage per round for 3 rounds in addition to being stunned. Ice Spider Ichor is an injury poison, and this type of poison should be delivered by a slashing or piercing weapon.

Giant Barrow Moth Extract: You can make 1 pot of 2 doses of this poison once per month. You may only have one pot on you at a time. You can sell a pot for 5,000 gp. This extract is a powerful hallucinogen, and a creature must make a DC 21 Constitution saving throw or be frightened until a successful saving throw is rolled. The creature takes 4d6 poison damage on initial contact with no saving throw. This poison has no effect on creatures with INT scores below 3, but, as a hallucinogen, bypasses poison immunity. Giant Barrow Moth Extract is an injury poison, and this type of poison should be delivered by a slashing or piercing weapon.

Beholder Petuitary Gland Essence: You can make 1 jar of 1 dose of this poison once every three months. You may only have one jar on you at a time. You can sell a jar for 20,000 gp. When struck with this poison, a creature takes 8d6 poison damage and must make a DC 23 Constitution saving throw or be incapacitated for the duration .The creature takes 2d6 poison damage per round if the save isn't made and must keep rolling saving throws or continue to suffer the damage in unimaginable pain. If a saving throw can't be made in time, a Greater Restoration spell will reduce the damage by half. A second casting of the spell will render the poison inert. A Heal spell will cure the creature immediately. Beholder Petuitary Gland Essence is an injury poison, and this type of poison should be delivered by a slashing or piercing weapon. The petuitary gland of a Beholder is such a rare commodity that there is a 50% chance one won't be available when you want to make this essence. If unavailable, you must wait another month to try again. 

Tincture of Green Dragon Spete

At 13th level, you learn to distill aTincture of Green Dragon Spete that is much more powerful than a simple Green Dragon breath weapon toxin. The poison is powerful enough, inflicting 9d6 poison damage on the initial wound, but the affected creature is rendered incapacitated for 6 rounds, during which they suffer a hellish 3d6 poison damage per round. 

The incapacitated condition can be ended if the creature successfully makes a DC 21 Constitution saving throw at the beginning of subsequent turns, but the continued pain can only be stopped by a Greater Restoration, Heal, or Mass Heal spell. A Wish spell will also do the trick. 

Tincture of Green Dragon Spete is an injury poison and should be delivered by a slashing or piercing weapon. 

Ease of Access

At 13th level, you've learned a trick or two when it comes to gaining access to a potential target. While you're far from being a master assassin, you're better than other rogues at getting close to your victims. 

You gain expertise with the Dexterity (Stealth) skill, expertise with the poisoner's kit, +2 to hit on weapon attacks where stealth is used, and you learn the Disguise Self, Invisibility, and Misty Step spells to be used once per day each. 

Atter of Purple Worm Bile

At 17th level, you've learned the secrets of the distillation of Atter of Purple Worm Bile, the strongest poison currently known. As an injury poison, it should be delivered by a slashing or piercing weapon. 

The poison is fast acting and immediately puts its victim in unimaginable pain and torment. The affected takes an initial 14d6 poison damage and is paralyzed for 10 rounds taking an additional 4d6 poison damage per round and suffering 1d6 psychic damage as well unless a DC 23 Constitution saving throw is made. If the saving throw is successful, only half the initial 14d6 damage is taken and there is no paralysis.

Atter of Purple Worm Bile can be produced at the rate of 1 jar of 2 applications per month. A jar can be sold for 20,000 gp or 12,500 gp for an individual dose.

The bile used in the making of this poison is so rare that there is a 40% chance that it won't be available when you want to make it, and you must wait another month to try again. 

Master Poison Distiller

At 17th level, you've distilled the culmination of your life's work - a poison so deadly that it will be posthumously named after you and spoken of with trembling lips and wide eyes long after you're gone. 

Distillate of Arcanaloth Venom took months of rigorous study and highly paid teams of adventurers sent out to collect specimens. The lore pored over, the spell books, the grimoires, all the arcana, the hundreds of fangs, claws, horns, dried saliva, poison glands, and mucus samples. The end result is beyond your wildest dreams. 

The poison produced by an Arcanaloth is relatively mild naturally. Through a painstaking method of adding extracts from other poisons in an expansion process - wyvern, Yuan-ti, and carrion crawler venoms and poisons combined with botanical oils from nightshade, hemlock, and castor bean - distilled to a substance of such purity and toxicity that you feared being in the same room with it. 

Distillate of Arcanaloth Venom takes one month to manufacture and can be made in a pot of 5 applications. The pot can sell for as much as 50,000 gp and the individual applications for 12,500 gp. You may only have one pot on you at any given time. 

The distillate is an injury poison that should be delivered by a slashing or piercing weapon.

On a successful strike with a weapon coated in Distillate of Arcanaloth Venom, the creature attacked is blinded and deafened, suffering 14d6 poison damage and 6d6 psychic damage from the immeasurable agony inflicted. There is no initial saving throw. On subsequent turns, the affected takes 4d6 poison damage and 2d6 psychic damage and remains blinded and deafened. These effects can go on for one minute unless the victim makes a DC 23 Constitution saving throw, dies, or is aided with either two Greater Restoration spells, two Heal spells, one Mass Heal spell, or one Wish spell. 

If the affected creature survives, they suffer two levels of exhaustion.