Talk:Poison (concept)

Recommendation and conjecture

I recommend that whoever wants to flesh out this article describe the different behaviours of poison in different games. I'm not even absolutely sure that poison is sometimes not fatal w/out cure. I seem to remember that in UU it would take a chunk out of your health, but wouldn't have to kill you.

Also, since I'm new to categories, I also considered that instead of making this article, I could have made a category "Poison", which would have a write-up similar to this one, and, naturally, links to everything to do w/poison. On the other hand, I'm not sure why we shouldn't have both. The Ultra-Mind (talk) 17:50, 24 July 2020 (UTC)

Inns cure poison?

According to TV Tropes resting at an inn cures poison (look for "trauma inn"). If that's true (though rather a lot on that site isn't) then that's pretty interesting.--The Ultra-Mind (talk) 15:44, 20 June 2023 (MDT)

It does, actually (in Ultima IV, anyway). When resting at an Inn you are in the "Slept" condition, which returns you to normal afterward, non-poisoned. --polygoncount (Polygon Dragon -==(UDIC)==-) (talk) 22:34, 20 June 2023 (MDT)

Good chance it's a bug. If so, it doesn't affect sleeping elsewhere, like the wilderness or in combat. I don't suppose anyone can account for this in other platforms. Until we know, I guess for now, inns cure poison.--The Ultra-Mind (talk) 10:48, 21 June 2023 (MDT)

I'm pretty sure this is the case no matter the source of sleep or where (sleep energy field, Balrons, etc.); sleep just cures poison in Ultima IV. I just tested it by getting poisoned and then walking thru the sleep fields in front of Hawkwind's in Castle Britannia. --polygoncount (Polygon Dragon -==(UDIC)==-) (talk) 13:23, 21 June 2023 (MDT)

Could sleeping indoors make the difference? Since you're there, could you take a poisonous trip outside then hole up there? And what platform are you using?--The Ultra-Mind (talk) 14:57, 21 June 2023 (MDT)

This is the PC version of U4 on DosBox. Curiously, while you Hole up and Camp, your characters do NOT gain the 'S'lept status UNLESS they fail to wake up during an ambush! However, it seems that characters with 'P'oisoned status never fail to wake up during an ambush, so that seems to be how they got around this strangeness while holing up outside. Will test more situations! --polygoncount (Polygon Dragon -==(UDIC)==-) (talk) 11:16, 22 June 2023 (MDT)

I just took a nap in Hawkwind's sleep fields and woke up cured on the Apple version. I set camp once and when set upon, my poisoned guy stayed awake.

I kinda think this is a bug, maybe even a known issue, where status is only determined by a single event and not any previous statuses. I.e. when you die, your status is "D", when you are poisoned your status is "P" and when you wake up your status is "G".

It puts me between a rock and a hard place. I don't like judging behaviour as buggy when I can't be sure, but I also don't like calling a bug a game mechanic, so we have to decide on something. I feel like erring on the side of: are we ready to believe that falling asleep is going to be a cure for poison?

So the conclusion I draw from that is that there should be a trivia section which acknowledges the phenomenon but identifies it as a bug.--The Ultra-Mind (talk) 09:48, 23 June 2023 (MDT)