I don't think this or some of the weirder personality related Out stuff is going to happen unless someone here wants to shovel a ludicrous pile of cash at the QMs to essentially buy out their opinions on this matter (and I would not count on that being possible or probable even if someone was theoretically capable of doing so).
I for one am shocked, SHOCKED I say, that you would suggest I cannot be bought. :>
...
Hey, so,
@Velorien,
@eaglejarl,
@Paperclipped, what's your price? EJ knows I'm good for the money.
What exactly are you looking for? Being honest, the price is likely out of the market but I'm at least curious to know what I'm being maybe bribed to do.
This makes little sense in ninja wars. If a decently competent chūnin manages to scratch a jōnin before dying, then said jōnin being out of commission for several weeks might win your Village the war. Poisoning your weapons is a preparation action that in no way makes you less effective than if you didn't (except for friendly fire situations).
Consider that no real life culture has made a habit of poisoning its military equipment. It's been used as a targeted assassination tool but not a standard component of doctrine.
Poison has multiple downsides that we've addressed. Among other things:
- Most or all ninja are immune to most poisons
- Some of the poisons that still work are hard to source
- Poison does not remain fresh indefinitely. You need to keep applying and removing and reapplying it
- There is a risk of friendly fire. It's far more likely that a poison user will accidentally kill themself or a teammate than an enemy ninja
- Etc
The QMs find these arguments persuasive and have decided that poison isn't a common thing in the setting. If you do not find these things persuasive...well, I know how frustrating that can be and I'm sorry you're having to live with it, but I'm afraid you'll have to live with it. Poison is not a common thing in the setting. We have no interest in making it a common thing.
The above is QM consensus. The following are my personal thoughts and haven't been discussed/decided upon by the QMs in general.
There's a few places you, Rafin, can go from here; here's a partial list of options and what I suspect the results would be if you managed to convince the hivemind to go that route:
Option #1: Have Hazō start a major campaign to change Leaf's tactical doctrine so that the Academy starts teaching everyone to use poison and all active-duty ninja start poisoning their weapons.
Almost certainly, Hazō will be laughed out of the room.
Option #2: Have Hazō require that all Gōketsu ninja start poisoning their weapons.
Poison use is not practical for most Gōketsu ninja. Noburi fights with a Water Whip that can't practically be poisoned for hopefully obvious reasons. Mari fights with taijutsu or ninjutsu. Kagome fights with explosives. Etc The few Gōketsu ninja who do actually use weapons that could potentially be poisoned will push back if you suggest this. If you order it then they will be resentful that you are forcing them to stop training useful skills and instead waste time studying impractical poisons and the relevant skills. They can be made to do it if you ride herd on them tightly enough but they'll resent you for it and will "forget" to apply it much of the time, or will "accidentally" confuse the poisons with other compounds that look similar but didn't risk killing you if you accidentally nick yourself.
Option #3: You can have Hazō start using poison.
We will grumpily construct a Poison Use skill and related stunts that you're welcome to sink XP into. We'll also ask you how you intend to deliver it:
Option #3a: Hazō starts poisoning his pangolin gauntlets.
We've been assuming that Hazō carries the gauntlets loose on his belt, hence why they can be equipped as a Supplemental action. (Which is actually much faster than should be possible, but we were trying to be generous.) You'll need to start carrying the gauntlets in a case so that the poison doesn't rub off, dry out, or nick you in the normal course of things. This will make them unusable in combat unless you have prep time.
Option #3b: Hazō stops fighting with taijutsu and respecs into Melee Weapons or Thrown Weapons.
Feel free, although it's a lot of XP on top of the Poison Use skills and stunts. Not that it matters since Hazō never fights anyway.
I hope this has helped address your concerns.
(EDIT: Formatting)
