Methods of Poison Delivery

[Niamh]

Hey guys! We were chatting today about poisons and how they can be kind of under-used, and we thought it might be good to get an ideas discussion going.

Can you think of something awesome that might work as a way to administer poison from player to player?

[Taunya]

Boil 'em, mash'em, stick 'em in a stew.

I think the main thing is there's no easy way to spike something in a way that isn't stupid-obvious. The lace command is visible to the entire room, so you can't have fun pouring Sweet Night into the wine decanter at the orphans' charity auction. You have to spike something in private ahead of time, and somehow convince someone to accept it. There's no way to sneak something into a drink someone's carrying, either- with steal you could take their drink, but there's no reverse of pickpocket to slip it back to them without them noticing.

So, suggestions:

Make lace take a custom emote, same as apply. Lace should also work on food/drink in the room and not just in inventory (I haven't tested recently whether it does or not, but I don't think it does currently).

Revisit the steal command (which is rather poorly implemented as-is), and implement a reverse pick-pocket to slip things back on people.

[Kuzco]

Lace with a custom emote has a potential for a lot of abuse. How about instead lace requiring a WIS roll to be noticed?
And, on methods of delivery: coating blades.

[Dreams]

That seems like it's a lose for the person applying the poison if there's only a method of discovery, but not a method of getting out of being discovered. If a method of discovery is going to be put in, then a method of getting out of discovery should also be included. Either a roll against sneak/hide (so generally ability to be skulky), or dexterity. Someone only gets discovered if both the dex fails and the wis passes, or some such.

[Taunya]

What's needed is plausible deniability if there's going to be any poisonings done this way. Having a roll like that wouldn't be any better than the current state of steal- in a crowded room there's close close to a 100% chance someone there would notice an attempt, so it won't be done.
It's not hard to slip something in discreetly in real life, a custom emote should be fine, and lace will need to be done at close distance to the food/drink to be done, same as picking up food/drink. That'll narrow down the suspects to anyone who approached the food/drink in the event of a poisoning.

Remember, there's still the sniff command to detect if something has been laced, without immediately pointing a finger at who did it.

Relatedly, sniff should have the option of taking a custom emote as well. I've often gotten snarky OOC comments when I've used it, even when I've emoted appreciating the scent of something. I don't like that OOC pressure discouraging its use.

[Kuzco]

Unrelated but true; sniff has been assumed to equal distrust. All distrust employs sniff; but not all sniff implies distrust.

[galaxgal]

A way to sneakily spike stuff sounds like an absolutely wonderful way to deliver some mayhem. As has been mentioned, though, I definitely agree that this would require a rethinking of how stealthy actions in big crowds are handled in general.

Speaking of smells, tangentially, what about a way to deliver certain poisons or drugs gaseously? You know, like incense and stuff. Obviously, it'd have to be pretty limited, since you don't have to voluntarily inhale the same way you voluntarily eat or drink.

[Taunya]

There is the dust command for that sort of thing, of which 'area' is a target, and will affect everyone in the room (including the perpetrator) who's not wearing a mask and fails a saving throw. It counts as a combat action, so it will initiate combat with anyone it hits.

Or are you thinking of making it more like a trap? Incense that fills the room with a poisonous smoke that lasts for a while, possibly affecting those who enter? Seems doable, there's similar magic effects in game.

[Kuzco]

In the historical fiction series The Accursed Kings, the french Keeper of the Seal, Guillaume de Nogaret, dies by inhaling mercury concealed within a candle. As his evening advanced the candle burned, releasing the toxic fume in his office.
Chandlers beware.

[Taunya]

Was going to post this on Monday, but this is what came to mind on the topic of delivering poisons.