Poisoner's Paradise

[Alceister]

So what I've been working on these past few weeks is a mod that would sort of overhaul how poisons work in New Vegas. It also combines aspects of the Poisoner Perk and Poisoned Darts mod, albeit with some additional functionality. So far, I've got the dart system sorted out, as well as most of the "Poison Injection" perk... sorta. I also need to finalize creation of form lists, etc... Aside from the usual NVSE requirement, it also needs the Gun Runner's Arsenal DLC to operate, primarily because it uses some resources from that mod. However, I'm willing to release a version that does not use those resources, if necessary.

 

To give you an idea of what the mod would be like:

 

Basically, the poison system would be broken down into three forms of delivery:

 

• The dip-your-melee-weapon-and-slash-'em variety
• The shoot-them-with-special-ammunition variety
• The sneak-up-and-stick-it-in-their-neck variety

 

Each form of delivery would have its pros and cons. The first is easy and has a fairly long duration, but lacks any of the special stealth effects associated with the other methods. The second is easy, safe and is more effective when done as a sneak attack, but has much shorter duration compared to other methods. The third is the most effective of all and has the longest duration, but can only be performed steathily (sneak up to target and press the activate key, must have an empty syringe in inventory) and requires a perk to do so.

 

The poisons themselves have also been changed to further usefulness, or to fit a certain niche:

 

• Silver Sting works pretty much the same as before, except that the damage is now drawn out over a longer period. It cannot be put into a syringe or a dart.

 

• Bleak Venom has the damage drawn out over a longer period as well. However, direct injection through either syringes or darts will have a high chance of inflicting cardiac arrest, causing severe damage to the chest and possibly even paralyzing the target.

 

• Tremble works more or less the same as before, except that direct injection through either syringes or darts can cripple a target's arms.

 

• Mother Darkness works very much differently than before. It has a greater and more intense damage effect than before, in addition to a movement-slowing effect. Direct injection through either syringes or darts can cause devastating damage to a target's limbs, as well as their ability to perceive.

 

New poison that I have added:

 

• Sleeper is basically a sedative. It makes targets drowsy and given enough time or a high enough dosage, will put them to sleep. Direct injection makes it more likely that only one syringe or dart will be needed.

 

Now at this point in time, I'm just about done with the first phase of the mod, and will release it in maybe a week. Second phase would involve creating some gas weapons, which may probably require Dead Money DLC to some degree. If I ever get that far, the third phase would add on a few more poisons, some ingredients like nightstalker poison glands, and maybe other delivery methods.

 

However, I have a few concerns I want to get sorted out before I put up the first iteration of the mod. For starters, I need some way of making it so that getting hit with poison from either method will cause a character to become hostile to you, except in the case where they get brought down instantly (whether by Sleeper or death). I feel as if my numbers are a little excessive or that my scripts are a bit leaky, although I guess I can't know for sure until I get some playtesting done by others. I'm also wondering whether or not I should have some sort of poison sorting/classification system so as to better organize different poison effects; just a sort of aesthetic thing, really. It'd also be nice if I can get some ideas for some poisons and ingredients to include, and what kind of effect that it'll have; I'm already planning to make a gas weapon based on Cloud residue, a knife with a radioactive blade, and Nightstalker poison glands.

 

There might be more that I need help with, but I'll leave it at that for now.