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[Sus]

A potential improvement for the syndrome mechanics occurred to me while discussing modding in a "radiation poisoning" syndrome:

There should be a mechanism for a venom or creature effect to cause varying degrees of effects depending on dosage, possibly also tracking a cumulative dosage over time.
AFAIK, currently one rattlesnake bite to a body part produces exactly the same effects as a hundred bites to the same body part1), am I correct?
1) Except of course if prob < 100, subsequent bites increase the chance of the effect to become active.

For some toxins this may be realistic (a single black mamba bite, for example, is highly likely to be lethal IRL due to its incredibly potent venom), but most snake venoms require multiple bites for a human-sized creature to suffer the worst effects. Likewise, a single bee sting is likely to be little more than an annoyance, while getting swarmed by an entire hive may be life-threatening.

Now, IIRC, there's already a mechanic in place to determine the amount of venom deposited by a single bite/sting attack. Would it be worth the trouble to add a  dose limit at which certain effects become active? Of course, there's already the SIZE_DILUTES tag, but that only affects the severity of the effect, not the type of effect(s) a certain dose of venom can cause. (E.g. radiation poisoning would cause dizziness and nausea at a small dose, fever and blisters at medium, sterility at heavy and immediate nervous system failure at extreme doses.)

Also, if the poison is, for example, an environmental effect, there might be a use for a cumulative dosage mechanic. IRL, heavy metals, for example, slowly build up in the body with prolonged exposure until they start causing symptoms. This would also make for extremely insidious forgotten beast syndromes; at first, it seems the "deadly" dust has little effect on your dwarves. Then, as workers path through dust-infested areas for a prolonged period of time, symptoms start to build up...

[Auning]

I agree with this 100%. It is hopefully already slated for implementation since it has the mechanic that determines venom quantity.

[Itsdavyjones]

I also agree with this, but if you got stung by a bee then you should build up some resistance, but if your allergic to bee stings, then it has a higher chance to kill with one sting.