Poison and Sickness

Sickness is a status effect that can be caused by the attacks of venomous creatures or by eating food that is unsafe. Unsafe food may be caused by age (food degrades over time) or by the inherent properties due to the toxicity of specific foods, such as poisonous meat or poisonous mushrooms. The message that precedes sickness gives a general indication of the severity of sickness that will follow.

Sickness causes some damage to the player at irregular intervals. The damage varies, as is the duration. Sickness will eventually wear off, but will continue to bring the risk of HP loss as long as it remains in play.

Inflicted By

• Chance of infliction by eating rotten food;
• Chance of infliction by eating a bit of kobold innards or pie;
• Chance of infliction by eating a bit of kobold lord innards or pie;
• Chance of infliction by eating a bit of kobold shaman innards or pie;
• Chance of infliction by eating a bit of large kobold innards or pie;
• Chance of infliction by eating a blob of killer bee goo or pie;
• Chance of infliction by eating a blob of queen bee goo or pie;
• Chance of infliction by eating a blob of soldier ant goo or pie;
• Chance of infliction by eating a piece of vampire bat meat or pie;
• Chance of infliction via bite from a cobra;
• Chance of infliction via bite from a cobra hatchling;
• Chance of infliction via bite from a giant redback;
• Chance of infliction via bite from a rabid rat;
• Chance of infliction via bite from a redback hatchling;
• Chance of infliction via stung by killer bee;
• Quaffing or struck by a potion of sickness;
• Struck by an exploding gas spore (poison damage, does not cause sickness);
• Struck by a poisoned weapon (inflicted by player only);
• Triggering a gas stone (poison damage, does not cause sickness).

Prevention

• Wearing an amulet of versus poison grants immunity to sickness;
• Wearing Gleipnir;
• Wearing a suit of Green Dragon-Scale Mail;
• Continuously eating poisonous food, will eventually grant poison resistance;
• Note: Poison resistance (not immunity) does not protect against spoiled and rotten food.

Remedy

Sickness may be cured by:

• Eating an apple;
• Casting cure sickness;
• Quaffing a potion of healing;
• Quaffing potion of extra healing;
• Quaffing a potion of full healing.

Instant Kill

There is only one creature that can instantly be killed by poison, specifically due to their weakness to poison:

• Wasps.

Creature Resistance

The following are creatures are naturally resistant to poison:

• Battle Lich;
• Cobra;
• Cobra Hatchling;
• Dragon, Green;
• Dragon, Green Hatchling;
• Dragon, Huge Green;
• Dragon, Huge Silver;
• Dragon, Silver;
• Dragon, Silver Hatchling;
• Dragon, Huge Skeleton;
• Elemental, Water;
• Gas Spore;
• Gnomish Digger;
• Gnomish Walker;
• Gnomish Woodcutter;
• Golem, Bread;
• Golem, Gold;
• Golem, Iron;
• Golem, Leather;
• Golem, Stone;
• Golem, Wood;
• Mummy;
• Rat, Huge;
• Rat, Rabid;
• Rat, Sewer;
• Skeleton;
• Skeleton, Giant;
• Vortex, Dust;
• Vortex, Energy;
• Web;
• Wicker Man;
• Wraith;
• Zombie;
• Zombie, Kobold.

Trivia

• The game does not differentiate between poisonous and venomous. Poisonous refers to toxins released from a creature as part of a self-defense mechanism of being threatened or eaten. Venomous is a toxin released through active injection by a creature, e.g. a cobra is venomous, but not poisonous (its meat safe to eat). A kobold is poisonous, but not venomous (its attack does not cause sickness). A rabid rat is both venomous and poisonous. Because education.