I’m pretty sure this is a dumb question, but I just want to make sure I’ve understood the rule.
When you fail your save vs poison and “die”, am I correct in understanding that you are not just unconscious and subject to a Mortality roll when someone heals you, but rather, you are beyond that, completely DEAD, and the only thing that will have you back on your feet now is a Restore Life and Limb (or other similar) spell?
I am not an Autarch but this is my understanding of the rule. (The character “must immediately succeed in a saving throw vs Poison or be killed”.)
Note that a Neutralize Poison cast within 1 turn of the poison killing someone will revive them. (ACKS page 151 - as a side note I find that page entirely appropriate for a poison reference). I do not know for sure what condition they will be in when revived; the text just says it will “restore the stricken character”.
I figure if itty bitty tree frogs and snails and stonefish and such are venomous to kill a man, makes sense that getting wet-bitten by a spider the size of a horse ought to be a pretty lethal.
I figure how it works is that it takes a few minutes for you to finish dying, so as long as you receive treatment quickly the effects of the poison can be reversed.
You have 10 minutes (1 turn) to be saved with Neutralize Poison (either the spell or via Healing proficiency). After 1 turn elapses, you are dead and have to be raised with Restore Life and Limb.
There are some OSR modules that explicitly list d4+1 turns for weak poisons, which saved a character - the victim rolled well, and although the Witch in the party failed her Healing roll, they were only 2 turns away from the village herbalist, who happened to be in his shop. I’m likely to stick with that as a house-rule for some creatures.