Poisonous Feats
For a little while now, I’ve taken the opportunity now and again to devote Extraordinary Feats articles to a particular weapon or style of fighting, in an attempt to create a body of feats that allow fighting with one sort of weapon to feel different from fighting with another, and give you a reason to choose a certain type of weapon over another other than its critical threat range, damage dice, and damage type. I’m pretty happy with the results, and have decided to branch out slightly into a “weapon” that isn’t really a weapon at all—at least as far as the rules are concerned. Today’s feats (with one exception) can be used in conjunction with just about any weapon, but still tie into a very specific flavor of fighting style: the poison specialist. That’s right. If you like to poison your weapons, this is the article for you. Be careful when handling these feats, though: you wouldn’t want to accidentally nick yourself.
Conserve Poison
You can deliver careful blows with a poisoned weapon in order to keep the poison potent enough for multiple uses.
Prerequisites: Poisoner or poison use class feature.
Benefit: Whenever you apply poison to a weapon, you can spread it thinly, in order to get more use out of it. If you do, then the saving throw DC of the affected poison is decreased by -2, but after the first time you successfully hit a creature with it, the weapon is still treated as being poisoned, allowing you to use it to deliver a second dose of the poison. Both doses suffer the -2 penalty to their saving throw DCs.
Critical Delivery (Combat)
When you hit a vital spot with a poisoned weapon, the poison is more effective.
Prerequisites: Critical Focus or Improved Critical (any), Poisoner or poison use class feature.
Benefit: Whenever you successfully confirm a critical hit with a poisoned weapon, the saving throw DC of that dose of poison is increased by +5.
Daggerpoint Delivery (Combat)
You know exactly where to strike with a poisoned dagger in order to ensure the greatest efficacy.
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus (dagger), base attack bonus +7 or sneak attack +2d6.
Benefit: Whenever you successfully hit a creature with a poisoned dagger, if that dagger has an injury or contact poison applied to it, the saving throw DC for that dose of poison is increased by +2.
Deadly Nick (Combat)
You know how to take advantage of the fact that poison can make even a simple scratch deadly.
Prerequisites: Poisoner or poison use class feature, Weapon Finesse.
Benefit: As a standard action, you can make a single attack with a poisoned melee weapon that deals slashing or piercing damage and can be used in conjunction with the Weapon Finesse feat. For the purposes of this attack, the target does not add his natural armor bonus (if any) to his AC, and adds only half his armor and shield bonuses. All other bonuses to AC apply normally. If the attack hits, it does not deal any damage, as it only delivers a light scratch, but it does deliver any poison that may be on the weapon.
Poisoner
You are skilled in using and applying poisons.
Benefit: You can apply poison to a weapon or a single piece of ammunition as a move action, instead of a standard action. Alternatively, you can apply poison to up to four weapons and/or pieces of ammunition as a full-round action. Finally, you never have any chance of accidentally poisoning yourself when you apply or ready a poison for use, nor do you risk poisoning yourself when you make an attack roll with a poisoned weapon that results in a natural 1.