Source: Dungeon Master's Guide
Given their insidious and deadly nature, poisons are illegal in most societies but are a favorite tool among assassins, drow, and other evil creatures.
Poisons come in the following four types:
Contact poison can be smeared on an object and remains potent until it is touched or washed off. A creature that touches contact poison with exposed skin suffers its effects.
A creature must swallow an entire dose of ingested poison to suffer its effects. You might decide that a partial dose has a reduced effect, such as allowing advantage on the saving throw or dealing only half damage on a failed save. The dose can be delivered in food or a liquid.
These poisons are powders or gases that take effect when inhaled. Blowing the powder or releasing the gas subjects creatures in a 5-foot cube to its effect. The resulting cloud dissipates immediately afterward. Holding one's breath is ineffective against inhaled poisons, as they affect nasal membranes, tear ducts, and other parts of the body.
Injury poison can be applied to weapons, ammunition, trap components, and other objects that deal piercing or slashing damage and remains potent until delivered through a wound or washed off. A creature that takes piercing or slashing damage from an object coated with the poison is exposed to its effects.
| Poisons | Type | Price per Dose |
|---|---|---|
| Assassin's blood | Ingested | 150 gp |
| Burnt Othur Fumes | Inhaled | 500 gp |
| Carrion Crawler Mucus | Contact | 200 gp |
| Drow Poison | Injury | 200 gp |
| Essence of Ether | Inhaled | 300 gp |
| Malice | Inhaled | 250 gp |
| Midnight Tears | Ingested | 1,500 gp |
| Oil of Taggit | Contact | 400 gp |
| Pale Tincture | Ingested | 250 gp |
| Purple Worm Poison | Injury | 2,000 gp |
| Serpent Venom | Injury | 200 gp |
| Torpor | Ingested | 600 gp |
| Truth Serum | Ingested | 150 gp |
| Wyvern Poison | Injury | 1,200 gp |
In some settings, strict laws prohibit the possession and use of poison, but a black-market dealer or unscrupulous apothecary might keep a hidden stash. Characters with criminal contacts might be able to acquire poison relatively easily. Other characters might have to make extensive inquiries and pay bribes before they track down the poison they seek.
The Poisons table gives suggested prices for single doses of various poisons.
During downtime between adventures, a character can use the crafting rules in the Player's Handbook to create basic poison if the character has proficiency with a poisoner's kit. At your discretion, the character can craft other kinds of poison. Not all poison ingredients are available for purchase, and tracking down certain ingredients might form the basis of an entire adventure.
A character can instead attempt to harvest poison from a poisonous creature, such as a snake, wyvern, or carrion crawler. The creature must be incapacitated or dead, and the harvesting requires 1d6 minutes followed by a DC 20 Intelligence (Nature) check. (Proficiency with the poisoner's kit applies to this check if the character doesn't have proficiency in Nature.) On a successful check, the character harvests enough poison for a single dose. On a failed check, the character is unable to extract any poison. If the character fails the check by 5 or more, the character is subjected to the creature's poison.