Detect Poison

Effect

The term ‘poisonous’ is really so open to interpretation in many lands… unfortunately…

— Stefanos Vel-Barboza, Seskyalii skald alchemist

No matter if it’s in a tavern, a ruin, or at a fine dinner held by the local nobility, it never hurts to know in advance if something may be lethal. Especially if it comes to the air or what’s for dinner.

Therefore many spellcasters from clerics or wizards to sorcerers and skalds try to have some skill in the detect poison spell. This spell allows a caster to know if something is poisoned. That doesn’t always have to be food, it could be the air in a room, a handle, or even a person.

In some places, it’s almost a hobby to see how many unusual places you can put a poison. I don’t visit those places too often…

— Stefanos Vel-Barboza, Seskyalii skald alchemist

In its typical use, this spell only determines if something is poisoned but not what type of poison is there. However, depending on who is doing the casting, that information may not be out of reach.

Asking ‘what kind’ can really depend on who you’re asking. Once I asked a Samakarii elf if a drink was poisoned… the only reason she said ‘yes’ was because it was Copan Shire whiskey…

— Stefanos Vel-Barboza, Seskyalii skald alchemist

Arcane practitioners such as Waterborn or Stormborn sorcerers or skalds can try to identify the poison. For a sorcerer this is through the use of their arcane bloodline to “ask” the poison what type it is. With skalds, they rely on the wide assortment of knowledge they have learned, examining the alchemical aspects of the poison.

Then there is my sister who hands me a mysterious cup of… something oozing a green fog… and says ‘try this’…

— Stefanos Vel-Barboza, Seskyalii skald alchemist

Game Mechanics

This allows a character to identify if a person, object, or area has been poisoned or is poisonous in some way to the caster.

For the sake of game mechanics, “poison” is defined as a poisonous substance such as a venom, plant toxin, alchemical poison, arcane poison, poisonous curse from a ritual, suspicious cooking, or ... as Stefanos mentioned above ... drinks of questionable origin.

Casters may make a DC 20 Wisdom check to identify the poison with modifiers for a given poison if applicable. If that fails, and the character has Craft (alchemy), they may attempt to use that skill check against the same DC to identify the poison.

The magic of the spell has a close range but can penetrate most barriers. However, 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of metal, or 3 feet of dirt or wood can muddle the results, leading to the spell giving a misleading answer to the caster.

However, the above only identifies if an area, person, or object is poisonous. It does not identify what type. Certain spellcasters are able to determine the type of poison either while casting this spell or through other means after casting this spell. There are also certain spells that can identify the type as well.

Waterborn or Stormborn sorcerer casters may add their Charisma bonus to the check to identify the type of poison.

Skalds may add their Charisma modifier to their Craft (alchemy) check to recognize the type of poison.

If the poison is a venom ( which means its from something that could have bitten the caster ), then the best anyone can tell will be "It's a venom!" To get more detail, a character will have to roll a Heal, Survival, or Knowledge (Nature) skill check vs the same DC as above.

Manifestation

A pale greenish mist condenses in the air, surrounding the area or the target before returning to the caster's hand.

Gestures & Ritual

Gestures and phrases vary wildly between professions but the only requirements are an arcane phrase and drawing a rune in the air. Incants in Kayam, such as with Druids, are possibly the most common which would be a short command. Which is ...

Venpelio Netherun

Related Discipline

There are varieties of this spell across the professions of Cleric, Wizard, Druid, Paladin, Sorcerer, Skald, Bard, and Ranger.

Related School

Divination

Related Element

water

Effect Duration

instantaneous

Effect Casting Time

1 standard action

Range

25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels

Level

0th level for Cleric, Wizard, Druid, Paladin, Sorcerer, Skald, Bard, and Ranger.

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A Matter of Poisons

There is a debate between druids, clerics, and the more wizardly types over just what is a poison?

It's a good question.

Which means those three professions are likely to keep debating. However, for the sake of this enchantment, history suggests an answer.

Artifacts recovered from such places as the Agmir Torash ruins near Copin Shire, or the necropolis of Kur Oggad in the Empire of Jade talk of a dwarven druid who had a habit of meddling in wizardry and alchemy. It's from that studious man that the current spell arose.

He felt it was not very efficient to keep three spells about when trying to find out if your apprentice accidentally may have poisoned you. Therefore, this one, Detect Poison, covers poisons, toxins and venoms. In this way, the spell warns the caster against what may be poisonous to them, be it a toxin, venom, or created poison.

Or with that long ago dwarven researcher... had been poisonous because of a cooking accident by an apprentice.

Author's Note: This is a homebrew Detect Poison spell that is heavily inspired by Pathfinder 1e spell of the same name. It was altered to provide a 'thematic' version that would fit the story of the Elohey world.