What abilities, spells, or items can inflict the Drained condition?

Question

I’m looking for ways to debuff enemies Fortitude saves, to improve the effectiveness of my Monk’s Whirling Throw. The drained condition does this, but I can’t figure out how to search on AoN for abilities that inflict this. Stuff that my Monk could do is best, but I’m open to options that a party member could be convinced to take to support me.

Answer 1

The Best Options for your Monk

For decreasing Fortitude saves, not only do you want to look for the Drained condition, but Frightened and Sickened. I've listed some options that I'd most recommend for each, and put queries I used to find these at the end.

Best Option: Frightened

Frightened is by far easiest to come by. Here are some good options for your Monk specifically:

• Demoralize; anyone can do this. All you need to do is invest a bit into Intimidate.
• Dragon Roar or Gorilla Pound - if you can take either of these, do it. It requires you investing in Intimidate just like Demoralize, though.
• The Fearsome rune would works without other investment, but it's less reliable.

And for your party members, spells/items/feats of note:

• Fear is a phenomenal spell and an excellent use of a 1st level spell at any level. You could even grab this through a dedication!
• Dread Ampoules if you have any sort of alchemy in the party work very well here. You could also buy them and throw them yourself.
• Intimidating Strike is good for any fighter friends of yours, or if anyone gets their hands on a Fear Gem. It'll be tough on your action economy as a Monk, unfortunately, so it's probably not worth trying to grab through an archetype.
• Shatter Defenses won't inflict Frightened, but will help a lot in solving the biggest problem: Frightened wearing off. This plus Intimidating Strike is a massively powerful combo that my group's Fighter uses to devasting effect.

Options for Sickened

Sickened is rarer to find, given it's relative power compared to Frightened. I didn't find any items to reliably inflict Sickened, but spells? Heck yes, there are some good spells for your friends!

• Goblin Pox is phenomenal - it's level 1, and inflicts Sickened even on a success. If they fail, it can get even worse over time! It's only downside is the touch range.
• Phantom Pain is good, but it scales a bit worse. However, it's ranged.
• Stinking Cloud is higher leveled, but AoE Sickened even on a success is nice!

I surprisingly didn't find any feats that were particularly helpful, but if you happen to be an Undine or Fleshwarp, you have Brinesoul or Gaping Flesh respectively will be great.

Your best bet for Sickened items are a handful of alchemical bombs, although two are from adventure paths (Quests from the Frozen Flame bomb, Abomination Vaults bomb), and the third is uncommon Sulfur Bomb that creatures become immune to for a minute once they're hit with it.

Options for Drained

Drained is difficult for a monk, but for your spellcaster friends, I recommend Enervation. It's the earliest level spell that inflicts Drained that I found. Chroma Leach is better if you have a melee caster friend, but that's a risk for a lot of casters. Even items are hard to find - your best bet is probably the Zerk injury poison, but it requires them getting to Stage 2 before applying Drained.

Best option for you, though... how do you feel about Vampirism? This is heavily campaign dependent (Undead and Sunlight Vulnerability), but the Vampire Dedication's drain attack would synergize very well with your monk.

Summary:

Drained is tough, and you'll need the help of a spellcaster friend, but there are some good spells. It's much easier to go for Frightened, which stills reduces the Fortitude saves, and there are a ton of options - even ones that you can do as your Monk! Sickened exists too, but you'll also want spellcaster help.

Queries

The queries are generally something like "<search term>" type:[item|spell|feat]". So like "drained" type:item for items that mention drained.

Drained

Spells that mention the Drained condition: https://2e.aonprd.com/Search.aspx?q=%22drained%22%20type%3Aspell&type=eqs&traditions-operator=or&display=list (this gives you some false positives, like Restoration, but is a good launching point).

Feats that mention Drained: https://2e.aonprd.com/Search.aspx?q=%22drained%22%20type%3Afeat&type=eqs&sort=level-asc&display=list

Items that mention Drained: https://2e.aonprd.com/Search.aspx?q=%22drained%22%20type%3Aitem&type=eqs&display=list

Frightened

Items that mention Frightened: https://2e.aonprd.com/Search.aspx?q=%22frightened%22%20type%3Aitem&type=eqs&display=list

Feats that mention Frightened: https://2e.aonprd.com/Search.aspx?q=%22frightened%22%20type%3Afeat&type=eqs&sort=level-asc&display=list

Spells that mention Frightened: https://2e.aonprd.com/Search.aspx?q=%22frightened%22%20type%3Aspell&type=eqs&traditions-operator=or&display=list

Sickened

Spells that mention Sickened: https://2e.aonprd.com/Search.aspx?q=%22sickened%22&type=eqs&include-traditions=arcane%3Bdivine%3Belemental%3Boccult%3Bprimal&traditions-operator=or&display=list

Items that mention Sickened: https://2e.aonprd.com/Search.aspx?q=%22sickened%22%20type%3Aitem&type=eqs&display=list

Feats that mention Sickened: https://2e.aonprd.com/Search.aspx?q=%22sickened%22%20type%3Afeat&type=eqs&sort=level-asc&display=list