The Steampunk Archaeology game is nearing its end - closer to schedule than I expected.
And I have no idea what I am running next.
I may run Fallout for the grownups, and hope that the kids haven't spilled too many beans, or I can run the much delayed Gargoyles game.
Either way, Fantasy Craft is going to continue sitting on the shelf. At this stage it is still easier to add magic to Spycraft than to use Fantasy Craft for the Industrial Age. (Plus other annoyances, there are ways that Spycraft, at this point in time, is more robust than Fantasy Craft.) This may be subject to eventual change, of course. I seem to recall rumblings of an Industrial Age book sitting on a burner, somewhere on the gigantic stove that Crafty keeps in their collective kitchen.
As a point of amusement, I sat down with Fantasy Craft, and figured out how many of the poisons on the list I could brew without leaving my stomping grounds. Required kit - two saucepans, a spirit lamp, some rubber gloves, a knife, a nutcracker or pliers. Booze and water. All are plant based. (Herbal poisons are much easier and safer to acquire. Mwuah ha ha!)
Paralytic - A walk in the park. Literally, the plant is common as dirt, and easy to recognize. At least three local parks are wooded enough to harvest what I would need. Does not last for minutes, lasts for days.
Debilitating - I would not need to leave the produce section of the local supermarket to have my choice of three sources.
Ones that would have to wait until after a rainstorm (like tonight), and a trip to an island I know on the Royal River:
Sickening - The only source that I have seen every trip to the island. And, as I can say from personal experience, delicious.
The sneakiest poison that I know, and the only two parter. The other part is alcohol, you don't drink the booze, you don't get sick. Used to be used for aversion therapy for alcoholics.
Maddening/Debilitating/Lethal - only seen it on the island twice, but there is no mistaking the red cap with yellow warts.
Evil, evil, bad news.
Debilitating/Lethal - Again, only seen it twice, once in company with the above. You get really, really sick. You get better. You die.
Those last three are all mushrooms, of course.
One thing about poisons in Fantasy Craft - most poisons can be either injected or ingested, very few can be both.
Considering that I would not consider myself to have even a single rank in the required skills, this might be one of the rare occasions that I could agree with the 'reality is broken' line. The proper DC for the paralytic would be pathetically low, and the mushrooms would be as easy as making a salad.
I live in southern Maine, points to those who can name the poisons.
For that matter, if someone wants to join in the plant poison guessing game, and add their choices, feel free.
And, for the record, I have never poisoned anybody, nor do I have any desire to. Most of the information is from Boy Scouts when I was a lad.
The Auld Grump, as a GM I have other reasons to know about toxins.
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