This oily, crimson liquid is rare to find even in the more complete apothecary's collections. It can be easily applied to any blade or arrowhead as it was designed to do so, however if consumed it will have no ill effects on the drinker.
Full Item Description
The Tracer poison does not work to kill it's victim, many poisons can already accomplish that goal with less effort. The tracer poison, however, mixes vital pheromones into the victims blood that instantly make it the target of a large angry monster. It was originally designed to attract Howler-Demons, but when it completed its job so well it was adapted for many different beasts.
History
The poison was first designed under a government contract with the intent to poison a member of a band of thieves without their knowing, and have the monster kill the entire gang. After that it was found that if the victim discovered their ailment they would be so afraid of the impending doom that they would pay any price they could afford for the antidote. Even still after that it was found to have military merit in instigating war by sending an 'ambassador' into enemy territory to be killed by a monster seemingly sent by the enemy.
Magic/Cursed Properties
This potion works on the principle of pheromones and hunting, it is difficult to detect unless they victim knows the scent that they are generating, it would by similar to musk in that sense. Easy to time because the potion reproduces inside the victims system, the weaker the dose they receive at first the more time until they become hunted. However it does have its drawbacks, the first and foremost being that once the poison has succeeded in attracting the monster it leaves the monster free to do it's own havoc. In addition the difficulty in acquiring the needed ingredients. After that though it could make a good story engine.
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Continue the path
Three more steps through the hall.
- A Poisoner's Almanac by Jarons20 Bound
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A good solid idea but it needs a better backstory.
I agree with Cheka on this, and there is room for improvement on some of the sentence structures. I'd suggest you read the sub out loud back to yourself.
All in all, this is a good first sub and the toxin quite useful. Arrow delivery of poison is not the best unless you are assuming people normally survive being hit by arrows. I'd see it more useful as a contact or ingested poison myself. Much more subtle.
An intriguing little toxin, Teller!
It reproduces itself within the victim's system, becoming stronger with time? I could see an adventure where one of the Player Characters (...or the whole party: Why stint?) is dosed with Tracer Poison and must get the antidote before the steadily-mounting toxicity is too strong for the antidote to effect.
An innocent could be poisoned, forcing the heroes to guard them, or a 'Most Dangerous Game' scenario could be played out, where inhuman hunters dose their prospective victims with the toxin to facilitate the hunt.
I, too, would rather see it as an ingested toxin, rather than a blood-borne toxin. A cruel GM might dose the Player Character's horse, rather than the character himself: While the heroes often take elaborate precautions to protect their persons, how many remember to similarly protect their mounts?
I think you guys are being a bit unfair. I'm sure this would have a 4.25 rating if one of the older hands had put it forth.
As for myself, I think that it still needs some work in terms of additional plot hooks. We could all probably come up with a few good uses for this toxin (Wulfhere's already started!), so why not put a few forth. Flesh it out a bit. What exactly is a Howler Demon? Why should we be afraid of it? Do Demons reproduce sexually, and even have pheremones?
Not bad for a first submission.
Well, it's not to my taste, but it's an alright idea. I am curious to know what a Howler Demon is, and the backstory leaves some thing to be desired.
I also would like to see a more fleshed out backstory, and it does seem more productive to have it be an ingested or contact poison instead of injected.