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[Mephansteras]

It seems to me, with all the new poison stuff going in, that it makes sense to think about different races in the game being resistant to certain types of poisons. Dwarves, for example, should probably be resistant to heavy metals, coal dust, and the like. They're designed to tunnel under the earth, after all, and shouldn't have the same negative effects of it that humans do.

Kobolds should be resistant to insect poisons. Perhaps elves should be resistant to most plant based poisons?

Not knowing how the new poison code is shaping up, though, I'm not sure how this would be represented in the raws.

[Neonivek]

Depends on how realistic your willing to make it.

I say no to your examples though... It doesn't make sense to me biologically.

[Mephansteras]

Why not? Care to elaborate?

I picked those because they made sense to me. A race of underground creatures having resistances to mining hazards makes sense to me. Kobolds in Toady's lore like to use insects as weapons, so them having some resistance to insect bites makes sense. And elves have a heightened connection with plants, so I could see them being somewhat resistant to many plant toxins.

This kind of thing shows up all over in nature. Nothing inherently unrealistic about it that I know of.

[Granite26]

'Plant based toxins' means, biologically, nothing.

An organic toxin is an organic toxin.

Dwarves being largely immune to heavy metal poisoning, and other forms of breathing and exposure to toxic inorganics makes sense though, and helps to settle the 'why doesn't cinnabar kill dwarves' question at the same time it settles 'why are dwarves the only ones living underground'

[Neonivek]

I don't know... How could a Dwarves lungs somehow produce a substance that causes the coal in the air not to coat their lungs? It definately isn't a mucus and would probably have to be specific.

How could a dwarf process metals out of the cells of their body?

Immunity I think not.

Resistance makes more sense, for example Dwarves could have enlarged organs as well as having seperate organs for processing specific metals (Such as a Mercury Kidney) though really there isn't too much you can do as metal inside the body has a great bonding experience. (The human kidney tends to have a layer of mercury)

Of course it all depends how realistic you want it.

[Mephansteras]

Well, like I said, these things aren't exactly unknown in nature. Take this article for instance. And then you have things like Clownfish which are immune to specific toxins.

For plants, I know Goats are resistant to the toxins in many plants that other animals can't eat. I don't know that goats are any more resistant to snake bites or the like, though, which is why I specified plant toxins for elves. They may still be organic toxins, but I assume that plants and animals tend to use different types of toxins.

Also, animals and plants can have symbiotic relationships with bacteria which can process toxins for them.

The basic idea of the suggestion is to find a way to give different creatures resistances to certain things beyond the current [PARALYSIS_IMMUNE] tags. Since poison and creature raws are being reworked, it seems to make sense to think about this sort of thing now.

[Neonivek]

Yes but it needs to be specific and not general.

For example poisons that induce vomiting won't work on Rats or Horses (as they cannot vomit)

However poisons that cause vomiting tend to be much more dangerous on horses and rats (as they cannot vomit)

The Horse Shoe Crab's blood suicides against bacteria!

Must sleep!

[Granite26]

They may still be organic toxins, but I assume that plants and animals tend to use different types of toxins.

Yes but it needs to be specific and not general.

This...

Groups of plants may use/contain similar toxins, but that doesn't mean that all plant toxins are more alike than all animal toxins.

I don't know... How could a Dwarves lungs somehow produce a substance that causes the coal in the air not to coat their lungs? It definately isn't a mucus and would probably have to be specific.

How could a dwarf process metals out of the cells of their body?

Nothing saying that the dwarven lung couldn't contain an acid that disolves most(enough to say all) rocks to be absorbed, and a kidney/liver potent enough to filter it all out.  This is fantasy, not sci fi

Would explain both why there's no dwarf poop and where all the extra rocks are coming from

[Mephansteras]

Well, yes, we could do something like have lists of toxins and give plants specific toxins and creatures specific resistances. Same thing for animals. Not sure if Toady wants to go to that much effort, but it's certainly a thought.

[Capntastic]

I think that racial tendencies to be 'tougher' or 'frailer' would cover this in a general way.

[Mephansteras]

Yeah, but Elves are 'frail', and I like the idea of them being able to eat random plants that would make other people sick. Fits with their 'low impact on nature' life style. After all, the broader a range of things you can eat the smaller your impact on any one area is.

[BurnedToast]

Yeah, but Elves are 'frail', and I like the idea of them being able to eat random plants that would make other people sick. Fits with their 'low impact on nature' life style. After all, the broader a range of things you can eat the smaller your impact on any one area is.

I like the idea of elves eating random plants that make other people sick... and then falling over dead.

Seriously though, I agree I think making different races immune or at least resistant to different types of toxins is a good idea. As for realism, meh who cares? there are dragons and kobolds and legendary dwarves capable of single-handedly leveling a whole mountain with nothing but a copper pick in less then 6 months so I think we don't have to worry about it too much.

[Pilsu]

Resistance to toxins a race is routinely exposed to isn't that unrealistic

[Footkerchief]

I think that racial tendencies to be 'tougher' or 'frailer' would cover this in a general way.

The poison/disease resistance attribute will provide that "general way," but I think more specific resistances are a must.

Toady mentioned a possible system for resistance which sounds like it would allow for either a very simple approach (elves are immune to toxins from the "plant" class), or a very specific approach that would allow you to give kobolds an apitoxin immunity:

The effects will be in the material raws, and I'm not sure, but the effects might be given something like poison class strings that could then occur in creatures to make them susceptible, or it might be better to give creatures groupings and then have the poison classes linked to the grouping (ie mammal, ape, canine, etc.).

[Heron TSG]

How could a dwarf process metals out of the cells of their body?

Just think of a Bezoar. Only when the chunk of metal is large enough, the dwarf reverses it's digestive tract rapidly, and shoots forth a waterfall of vomit, launching the rock out of it's newly broken jaws. At the cost of a dwarven face and a destroyed hallway, you get a 'Dwarven Bezoar,' which is valued HIGHLY among other races as a 'health and good luck charm'. (although a dwarf would rather take a shower in his own body fluids) These could be RARELY used in artifacts, they could be encrusted or set into furniture, etc.