Vile Venom
(Conjuration/Summoning, Elemental Water, Alchemy)
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Range: 30 yards |
Components: V, S, M |
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Duration: 1 hr./level |
Casting Time: 5 |
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Area of Effect: Special |
Saving Throw: Special |
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Subtlety: +4 |
Knockdown: None |
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Sensory: Small visual |
Critical: None |
By casting this inherently evil spell, the wizard conjures a small amount of deadly poison directly onto any weapon blades or other surface within the area of effect. The spell creates one dose per caster level; a single dose is sufficient to coat one size S weapon such as a dagger or an arrowhead, three doses can coat a size M weapon, and five doses can coat a size L weapon. The venom remains potent for up to one hour per caster level, although an envenomed blade remains so for only 1d3 successful attacks before the poison has been worn off. The potency of the venom varies by the caster level, as shown below.
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Level |
Onset Time |
Strength |
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9th |
2–12 rounds |
20/1d3 |
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12th |
2–5 rounds |
25/2d4 |
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15th |
1–2 rounds |
30/2d6 |
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18th+ |
Immediate |
death/20 |
If a weapon coated with Vandarien’s vile venom successfully hits a creature, the victim must make a saving throw vs. poison or suffer the first damage figure—if the caster was a 12th-level wizard, this would be 25 points. (Naturally, this is damage above and beyond any caused by the weapon that injects the poison.) Even if he succeeds in the save, the victim still sustains a lesser amount of damage, as shown in the second figure.
Instead of creating an insinuative poison (one that is introduced to the body through a cut), the wizard can instead conjure the venom as a contact poison. A surface of about one-half square foot per caster level can be affected. One square foot is enough to coat a doorknob, a sword-hilt, the handle or clasp of a chest, or an object of similar size. The contact poison has the same effects as the insinuative venom, but the victim gains a +2 bonus on his saving throws. The contact poison’s toxicity fades at the end of the spell’s duration.
The material component is a small vial of venom from a giant snake.