Simple RAW for Pathfinder Thread V: Golarion Strikes Back

[ezekielraiden]

Q493: Just making sure I understand Poison correctly. Let's say I get bitten by an Asp.



If I make my first save, am I unaffected and that's it? Or do I still have to save next round so that I made 2 consecutive saves?

A493
A save made at the moment of application determines whether you did or did not get poisoned. If you pass the save, you were not poisoned, and so you do not need to make further saves and you take no poison damage. If you fail the save at the moment of application, you are poisoned, and need to meet the "cure condition" in order to stop the poison early (you can always just wait it out or use magic).

Failing the save at the moment of application does not mean you take damage, it just means you really were afflicted; you must then make a new save (at the original DC, or higher if you have stacks of that poison) each time the poison's frequency comes up (after the onset time, if applicable). Most creatures have injury poisons, which generally have no onset time and a 1/round frequency, so if you did get poisoned, you would make another save at the end of your turn to determine whether you take that poison's damage.

So, for your question: no, you do not need to make 2 saves to avoid being poisoned in the first place. Succeeding on the first save means the poison had no effect on you from *that* application. If you were fighting 3 asps and made 2 of 3 saves, you would only get one "stack" of poison, not three. You would then roll a new Fort save at the original DC (because you only have 1 stack) at the end of your turn to see if you take the Str samage. Passing *this* save twice would cure all stacks of asp poison you have, no matter when they were applied.

There is a very good example given for all this in the D20PFSRD.