Poison Guidelines

[Poison Guide]

Acquisition

Aside from purchasing it from a character who already possesses it, poison is able to be acquired by individuals who possess Poison Arts. Be it of the physical nature or a nasty concoction produced from oneself, they all use this same perk as a cornerstone for their abilities in this field.

Efficacy

The efficacy of a character's poisons is denoted by their Poison Tier. This affects what type of afflictions they can apply to someone affected by their poison, as well as what kinds of poisons they can create, and how many different bonuses they can allot.

Tier 1:

• Able to create only liquid-based poisons.
  
• Poisons serve as mild irritants to bodily systems. Can induce symptoms along the lines of swelling, fever, rashes, diarrhea and other minor inconveniences that have trouble having in-combat effect.
  
• Can minorly affect another character's statistics. Usually a poison of this level can debuff a stat by no more than -3, over the course of its duration.
  
• Able to minorly reduce stamina, Awareness, deal Pain Damage or lower breath-holding ability.
  
• Tends to require at least 2 rounds before activation. Typically can last up to three rounds of combat.
  

Tier 2:

• Able to create only liquid-based poisons.
  
• Can create more potent poisons, that tamper with the body more directly. Able to inflict direct reduction of one of the five senses, high fever, flu-like symptoms, intense rashes, debilitating swelling, minor internal bleeding, vomiting, shortness of breath and other more taxing afflictions that wear down an individual's combat efficacy.
  
• Able to interact minutely with the respiratory system, and blood flow.
  
• Stat debuffs are more prevalent at this stage, though tend to be relative to someone's sense of balance, agility or dexterity. Able to debuff stat(s) by no more than -10.
  
• Easily capable of reducing stamina, Awareness, dealing Pain Damage or lowering breath-holding ability actively. Reflex Range & Offensive Pressure are able to be interacted with minutely too.
  
• Tends to require at least 2-3 rounds before activation. Typically can last up to six rounds of combat.
  

Tier 3:

• Able to create liquid-based poisons, and solid poisons now. The latter are treated as a Tier higher.
  
• More grievous, even deadly poisons. They can actively induce major internal bleeding, paralysis in a limb, mild organ damage, heavy deterioration or disruption of a sense, hemorrhages, vertigo, intense stamina deprivation and other more serious illnesses.
  
• Can actively tamper with contents in the blood, raising or lowering the amount of iron & other molecules within. The respiratory system is able to be fully mingled with by poisons of this tier.
  
• Can actively deteriorate HP of a character remaining in or entering combat / rigorous activity.
  
• Stat debuffs are pretty much guaranteed. Can readily impair the musculature output of targets, or even disrupt their spiritual ability. Able to debuff stat(s) by no more than -10.
  
• Can cause lasting stamina debuffs, Awareness, intense Pain Damage, limit use of breathing, afflict Intimidate, penalize Reflex Range and so on.
  
• Tends to require at least 3-4 rounds before activation. Typically can last up to nine rounds of combat.
  

Tier 4:

• Can create any poison form, as well as acids. Solids are treated as a Tier higher.
  
• The highest grade of lethality. There is no shortage of means for a poison of this caliber to kill. Capable of causing organ failure, muscle degradation, heart palpitations, strokes, heart attacks, shutdown of portions of the brain, and many other deadly afflictions.
  
• Able to readily mingle with a variety of chemicals or bodily contents. With enough knowledge they can even implement these into a target's body, destabilizing them and causing unsavory reactions.
  
• Can drastically deteriorate HP of a character, regardless of whether they're in rigorous activity.
  
• Stat debuffs are heavy, and can go as far as to be percentage-based toward physical or spiritual stats. Tend to disrupt or even destroy musculature or reishi, be it through targeting meridians or otherwise. Able to debuff stat(s) by no more than -15.
  
• Can cause permanent harm be it physical, spiritual, to stamina, breathing and so forth. One of the few ways to absolutely shut down a target's Awareness with a given sense.
  
• Tends to require at least 4-5 rounds before activation. Typically can last up to twelve rounds of combat.
  

Example (T4s)

(Takes three rounds to activate.)
(Afflicted character's Physical Stats are reduced by -10 Points while under the effects of this poison.)
(This individual must respond to their own actions using raw Reflex instead of Reflex Range, suffering Tunnel Vision otherwise.)
(At 80 or less HP, character's Awareness is lowered by -15.)
(At 40 or less HP, converts the Physical Stat reduction to a (%) reduction.)
(Lasts five rounds.)

(Takes three rounds to activate.)
(Afflicted character begins to suffer 5 True Damage to their heart every round. Pain Damage to their chest region is amplified by 2X.)
(At 80 or less HP, lower Reflex & Attack Speed by -15 Points.)
(At 60 or less HP, afflicted character suffers a heart attack, taking 15 True Damage to their heart, [Disable] to Stances & two, exclusively-stacking instances of [Stun] every round. They are incapacitated if their Heart Damage has exceeded 30+.)
(Lasts seven rounds.)

Detection

Spiritual-adepts are capable of detecting whether or not something they're interacting with has been tainted by poison. Their eligibility for this is determined by their Detection Rating. Some poisons are even able to be made odorless, thereby reducing the odds of their noticeability via. an effect/clause.

For every Tier of Sight, Battle Instinct, Poison Arts, or Smell a character possesses, their Detection Rating is treated as +1 higher. The chart below breaks down how long it takes to become cognizant that something is awry:
12+ Detection Rating: Able to immediately pick up on something, without pinpointing. If they have Poison Arts equal to or above the Tier of the Poison's, they will know what.
8+ Detection Rating: The character takes a round to notice.
6+ Detection Rating: The character takes two rounds to notice.
4+ Detection Rating: The character takes three rounds to notice.
0 Detection Rating: The target never notices.

Activating & Resisting

Upon successfully getting a poison in a character, the poison will begin to tick down before it 'activates'. Upon activation, poisons degrade at a target's HP per round, dealing [Poison Tier] Damage to HP per round. T2 poisons are able to affect HP as well, but can only do so through effects. This HP degradation lasts the next three rounds.

Characters can generally cancel out poison through means such as fire or the outright ejection of a poison from oneself (if fast enough) can be done as well, both of which tend to require a technique (and the latter of which requires Physician).

Every poison's effects in terms of how it debuffs or penalizes a character act in accordance to their current HP, with most grievous harm lying in ticking a character's HP low enough.

Carry-Over

Characters that exit combat while still poisoned will continue to suffer the effects of poison, albeit at a slowed pace. Out of combat, any poison or its effects will proc once per day on the afflicted individual, imposed on a character as a Perk/Injury. Any HP Loss or the Poison's Duration will be marked as well.

In that same vein, a poison's Remaining Duration in Rounds equates to the OOC Days it lasts, unless removed. In the event a character enters a combat situation, the effects will linger/continue as normal, and their lost HP will be deducted from them.