Poison as an element

D&D has a weird relationship with real science. The D&D world is based on the premise that it works like modern science describes the real world to work, and then tacks on magic to explain any deviations from real physics. The problem with this is that the rules get real physics wrong: for example, D&D portrays poison in a way contradictory to reality. More information below the break.

In reality, everything is toxic in the right dose. For example, a piece of chocolate is a deadly poison to most animals, but the human liver is able to easily process it. On the other hand, some poisons are only toxic if ingested but not injected or vice versa. For example, snake venom is easily digested but toxic in the blood whereas isopropyl alcohol is safe to apply on wounds but deadly to drink.

In D&D, at least as of 5e, poison is portrayed as a type of damage like fire and electricity and slashing. It appears to be a universal concept more akin to a classical element than a real poison. This is a trope called "universal poison."

Therefore, I would interpret toxins in the fantasy world as literally being an element like earth or fire rather than anything remotely like toxins in reality. This makes it easier to understand their unrealistic behavior in the abstraction of the game rules.

Research links

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_dose_makes_the_poison
• https://www.britannica.com/science/poison-biochemistry
• http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UniversalPoison
• http://mentalfloss.com/article/67171/what-difference-between-venom-and-poison