Antitoxin (Vial)

Alchemical Equipment · Poison Protection

Antitoxin helps a traveller survive poisoned food, a venomous bite, or another dangerous exposure. Drink it before trouble—or while dealing with a continuing poison—and use the rule for your edition. It improves your chances; it does not instantly cure poison.

At a Glance

ItemAntitoxin (vial); single use
Price50 gp in all four editions
Duration1 hour
2024 / 2014Advantage on appropriate poison-related saving throws; 2024 specifically protects against the Poisoned condition
Pathfinder / 3.5e+5 alchemical bonus on Fortitude saves against poison

Antitoxin Rules by Edition

D&D 5.5e / 2024 — Antitoxin

Price / weight50 gp / weight not specified
ActivationBonus Action to drink
EffectAdvantage on saving throws to avoid or end the Poisoned condition
Duration1 hour
Crafting toolsBrewer’s Supplies or Herbalism Kit (per 2024 tool Craft lists)

When it helps: A creature expecting venom or already subject to an effect with further saves to end the Poisoned condition gains Advantage on those saves. Drinking antitoxin does not remove an existing condition by itself. The item does not say it grants Advantage on every saving throw involving poison damage; check whether the save is actually to avoid or end Poisoned.

Rules: 2024 Basic Rules — Adventuring Gear and Tools.

D&D 5e / 2014 — Antitoxin

Price / weight50 gp / weight not specified
UseDrink one vial
EffectAdvantage on saving throws against poison
Duration1 hour
RestrictionNo benefit to Undead or Constructs

When it helps: Drink it before approaching poisonous creatures, or while facing continuing poison saves. Its 2014 wording is broader than the 2024 version: it applies to saving throws against poison, not only saves against the Poisoned condition. It does not restore lost Hit Points or cure an effect without a new saving throw.

Rules: 2014 Basic Rules — Adventuring Gear.

Pathfinder 1e — Antitoxin (Vial)

Price / weight50 gp / weight not specified
Effect+5 alchemical bonus on Fortitude saves against poison
Duration1 hour after drinking
TypeAlchemical consumable, nonmagical
CraftCraft (alchemy) DC 25

The bonus helps with Fortitude saves made while the antitoxin is active, including further saving throws required by a poison. It does not instantly end a poison effect already in progress. Different alchemical bonuses to the same roll do not stack.

Alchemical Power Component: Neutralize Poison

In Adventurer’s Armory, one vial may be consumed as a material component (M) for Neutralize Poison. The caster gains +2 on caster-level checks to neutralize poison affecting a creature. The benefit does not apply when the spell targets an object. The vial is consumed as a component and does not also grant its normal drinking effect.

Rules: Pathfinder Core Rulebook — Special Substances; component option from Adventurer’s Armory.

D&D 3.5e — Antitoxin (Vial)

Cost / weight50 gp / negligible (—)
Effect+5 alchemical bonus on Fortitude saving throws against poison
Duration1 hour
CreationCraft (alchemy) DC 25; must be a spellcaster

This is the D&D 3.5e nonmagical alchemical item. The +5 bonus applies to qualifying Fortitude saves for one hour after drinking; it is not a spell and does not automatically remove a poison already affecting a character. Pathfinder’s Adventurer’s Armory power-component option is not part of the 3.5e SRD.

Rules: D&D 3.5e SRD — Special Substances and Craft (Alchemy).

What Changes Between Editions?

The biggest difference is what the protection applies to. The 2024 vial grants Advantage specifically on saves against the Poisoned condition and can be drunk as a Bonus Action. The 2014 vial grants Advantage on saving throws against poison more broadly, but does not help Undead or Constructs. Pathfinder and 3.5e use a numerical +5 Fortitude bonus instead of Advantage. Every edition’s version lasts one hour.

When to Use Antitoxin

Before entering a spider’s nest: Taking antitoxin before the first bite helps when the creature’s venom calls for a saving throw covered by your edition’s rules. After being poisoned: Antitoxin improves later qualifying saves if the effect allows them; it never cancels an existing poison automatically. For disease, rather than poison, see Antiplague.

Illustration

Small stoppered glass bottle with leaves, used as a general illustration of a herbal preparation
Illustrative glass bottle and herbal preparation, not an edition-specific depiction of the game item.

Rules Sources

D&D 2024 Basic Rules; D&D 2014 Basic Rules; Pathfinder 1e Core Rulebook and Adventurer’s Armory; D&D 3.5e SRD. Pathfinder’s extra Neutralize Poison component belongs only to the Pathfinder tab.

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