Is this fair or am I evil DM?

[Bagpuss]

Is Stone to Flesh the only way to recover from the Gaze attack? Just the party doesn't have access to that spell.

 

[hong]

Do you think its fair that a medusa, could run her arrows through her hair before she fires them to coat them in venom?

Would you also allow the party to do the same with their arrows after they kill her? How about milking poison sacs from monstrous vermin (gotta love that DC 30 poison)? If so, go for it.

 

[shilsen]

Is Stone to Flesh the only way to recover from the Gaze attack? Just the party doesn't have access to that spell.

Break Enchantment may work too.

 

[Bagpuss]

Re: Re: Is this fair or am I evil DM?

Would you also allow the party to do the same with their arrows after they kill her? How about milking poison sacs from monstrous vermin (gotta love that DC 30 poison)? If so, go for it.

Nope, not exactly the same as the snakes would be dead and therefore uncooperative, but I already allow my players to use poison, with the standard risk of poisoning themselves.

They already have Shadow Essence and Deathblade (I think) from an earlier encounter with an assassin.

 

[incognito]

Bugpuss: I agree with the other posters that coating ehr arrows with the snakes venom should cost her extra actions - dependng on how harsh you want to be, it could either be a ME to coat , or a full-round action to caot and shoot a single arrow = it's all just semantics at that point.

For easy bookeeping, keep the Effect and the Dc the same.

If your players have Know (Nature), Handle Animal, or maybe Alchemy? you should at least give them a shot at harvesting some poison. But don't forget about the 5% chance of poisoning yourself when handling poison!

 

[Arnwyn]

I'm a rat-bastard DM, and actually I wouldn't consider that fair. Maybe if she at the very least had a specific unique feat, then I'd consider it. My opinions are that it would definitely take a full-round action, and that the poison would be very much reduced in potency (bonus to save, much lower damage). No CR increase if a feat is used and the potency is reduced.

I have a hard time believing that going from snake to arrow is an appropriate delivery system, and thus the poison would likely be far too diluted to use. IMO.

 

[Murrdox]

Is Stone to Flesh the only way to recover from the Gaze attack? Just the party doesn't have access to that spell.

There are also "Stone Salve" potions.

I can agree with not having a quiver of poisoned arrows prepared. Raw snake venom probably wouldn't work well... as you said, it'd spoil fast.

As for making the venom less potent... I dunno... it's still the same poison, maybe just not as much a dose. Would that affect the saving throw vs the poison, of the effect? I'm thinking it wouldn't change the effect of the poison at all... it'd just be a little easier to save against because you didn't get as strong a dose is you would if the snake had bitten you.

I still vote rull round action to coat an arrow. I'd say she could do more than one at a time though.

 

[Rel]

Re: Re: Is this fair or am I evil DM?

Would you also allow the party to do the same with their arrows after they kill her? How about milking poison sacs from monstrous vermin (gotta love that DC 30 poison)? If so, go for it.

Actually, the really comparable situation would be: Would you let the Elven Wizard with the viper familiar coat his longbow arrows like that as a MEA?

 

[incognito]

Actually, the really comparable situation would be: Would you let the Elven Wizard with the viper familiar coat his longbow arrows like that as a MEA?

I belive HELL NO is my response as a DM.

Medusae have more than one snake though. In any event, a full round action sounds about right.

To those who think an arrow is so different than a snake bite - just how much poison do you think gets delivered by a snake bite? Not all snake fangs are hollow. Seems like it's "close enough" depending on how long it takes.

How long it should last is a seperate issue.

 

[Silver Griffon]

MEA to coat a single arrow.
Poison remains potent for 1d4 rounds.
Same DC and primary damage.
NO secondary damage. (Slightly different delivery system and not as much poison introduced into the wound as some would be lost in flight, dripping off, etc. A snakebite is a direct injection.)
No change to CR.
I don't think you can milk a dead snake. I think you would have to remove the poison sacs which would be even more dangerous than just "handling poison", maybe 1 minute with 10 checks (one per round) to avoid poisoning yourself. It would also require special training (probably alchemy) to preserve the poison adding another few minutes to the harvesting time, special equipment, and even then it would only last a few days at most.

Great idea, though! I'll definitely use it as soon as I get a chance.