Potion Toxicity
Potion Toxicity
Potions are powerful, but too much of a good thing can be deadly!
Every character has a limit to how much raw magical energy they can safely imbibe before it begins to negatively affect their health. This limit is represented by the Potion Toxicity Pool, which is equal to the character's Hit Dice (HD) + Constitution modifier.
Each time a character drinks a potion, the Caster Level (CL) of that potion consumes an equivalent number of points from their Potion Toxicity Pool. For example, drinking a potion with a CL of 1 consumes 1 point from the pool, while a potion with a CL of 3 consumes 3 points.
When a character’s Potion Toxicity Pool reaches zero or negative points, they become Sickened until they take a long rest. If they continue to consume potions and their Potion Toxicity Pool drops further, the negative effects worsen.
Oils applied directly to the character’s body count toward this toxicity level, but potions applied to items do not.
Taking a long rest (at least 8 hours) restores the Potion Toxicity Pool by an amount equal to the character's Constitution modifier (minimum of 1).
The following negative conditions apply when a character’s Potion Toxicity Pool reaches certain thresholds:
0 or fewer points: Sickened
No save required.
-3 or fewer points: Fatigued
Save (Fortitude DC 15) to avoid being Fatigued.
If the save fails, the character becomes Fatigued for 1d4 hours. If the save succeeds, the character remains Sickened.
-6 or fewer points: Unconscious for 1d4 hours
Save (Fortitude DC 20) to avoid becoming Unconscious.
On failure, the character falls unconscious for 1d4 hours. On success, the character remains Fatigued.
-10 or fewer points: Death
The character is killed outright.
A level 1 character with a Constitution modifier of +0 has a Potion Toxicity Pool of 1.
A level 6 character with a Constitution modifier of +2 has a Potion Toxicity Pool of 8.
Drinking a Potion of Cure Light Wounds (CL 1): Consumes 1 point from the Potion Toxicity Pool.
Drinking a Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds (CL 3): Consumes 3 points from the Potion Toxicity Pool.