Post/Author/DateTime	Post
TwiddleStootch 02-26-07, 11:32 PM	Is it possible for a character to be under the effect of multiple doses of a single kind of poison? For example, if a character is bitten twice by a spider, does he have to make saving throws twice? Also, how does the same kind of case work for disease? If a character contracts it from a dire rat twice in a single fight, do they effectively have it twice? thanks in advance for nay help :D
Lord Nedd 02-26-07, 11:45 PM	For Poison, yes it is. For example you could be stung 3 times by the same giant spider and take the ability damage 6 times assuming you fail all of the saves. For Disease, no you can't. Once you have the disease, you have it. However, you can get another disease (say you have mummy rot now, you can contract filth fever...).
TwiddleStootch 02-26-07, 11:48 PM	So I assume that if you were to make the first save against a disease, you could then contract it again immediately, say from another dire rat, in the same round. right?
Lord Nedd 02-26-07, 11:50 PM	So I assume that if you were to make the first save against a disease, you could then contract it again immediately, say from another dire rat, in the same round. right? You have that right.
orionm42 02-27-07, 09:43 AM	I agree with Nedd on both counts. Here are quotes from the FAQ which support his answers... Re poison... How does poisoning (or any other ability draining effect) work, exactly? Can a character get ability damage through poison several times from one monster in the same encounter? Can there be more than one secondary saving throw for poison? First, poison causes ability damage, not ability drain. You can heal ability damage on your own (unless you lose the fight and become a monster snack), but you need magical intervention to recover ability score points lost to ability drain. In either case, there’s no limit to the number of times a monster can beat down your ability scores with successful ability damage or ability drain attacks. Resolve each attack and apply their consequences separately. A monster could have an ability drain or ability damage attack that could not affect the same foe multiple times, but that would be a special case noted in the monster’s description. None of the creatures in the Monster Manual have such a limitation. In the case of poisons that deal ability damage, you must make a saving throw against the poison’s initial and secondary effects each time a poisonous attack hits you. For example, if a Huge monstrous scorpion stings you five times, you’ll have to make five initial saves and five more secondary saves, each one minute after the initial save for that attack. A character could survive a long fight with a poisonous creature only to succumb to its venom later. Smart players break out the neutralize poison spells, healer’s kits, antitoxin, or all three after encountering venomous foes. In the case of poisons that have nondamaging effects, such as paralysis or unconsciousness, the effects don’t stack, but each one runs for its full duration. And regarding disease... What happens when a monster that carries a disease attacks another monster of the same kind (or somehow bites or scratches itself)? What happens if the monster attacks a monster of a different kind that carries the same disease? For example dire rats and wererats both carry filth fever. What happens when one dire rat bites another or bites a wererat? Although the rules don’t specifically say so, creatures that carry a disease are generally immune to that particular disease. Thus, a dire rat cannot infect itself, another dire rat, a wererat, an otyugh, or any other creature that causes filth fever (or vise versa), since they are both already carriers. Although less definitive, the FAQ quote for diseases clearly suggests you become immune to a disease once you contract it.
TwiddleStootch 02-27-07, 01:54 PM	Thanks for the FAQ quotes. I didn't think there was anything like that in there, meh :rolleyes: