Virulent afflictions and odd Tears of Death interaction

[hyphz]

The CRB states that to improve the stage of a virulent affliction requires two successful saves in a row. It seems to be commonly assumed that if you fail the second save having previously made one, then you fail to make the two consecutive saves but the affliction doesn't get worse as it normally would when you fail a save. But I could not find an actual reference for this. Is that correct?

If so there seems to be a very strange interaction with Tears of Death. Tears of Death has stage 1, 18d6 poison and paralyzed, 1 round. Stage 2, 25d6 poison and paralyzed, 1 minute.

Since the maximum duration is 10 minutes, this has the weird effect that if someone fails all their saves then they take 283d6 in total before the poison wears off, from remaining at stage 3 for 8 minutes (and the poison wears off 6 seconds before the 9th stage 3 check).

On the other hand, if they make every other save, and the rule about not getting worse is applied, then they take 1800d6 in the 10 minutes it takes the poison to wear off (10 minutes * 10 6-second rounds per minute * 18)!

Obviously either of these amounts of damage will kill a PC without help but with magical healing or regeneration available the first one might just about be possible. It seems bizarre then that the PC is potentially penalized for trying to recover from the poison. Is that the correct reading of this?

[Jared Walter 356]

No. This is not a correct reading.

CRB458
When you reach a given stage of an affliction, you are subjected to the effects listed for that stage.
You only suffer stage 1 the first time you enter stage 1.

Since you need two saves for virulent if either of them fail, you have failed and move to stage 2.

[breithauptclan]

Well, you would suffer the effects of stage 1 every time you enter stage 1 - whether because you are first exposed to the poison or because you are recovering from a later stage.

But you do only suffer the effects of the stage that you are on, and only once for the stage's duration.

[hyphz]

"Only once for the stage's duration"?

My assumption was that if you are on Stage 1, you suffer the stage 1 damage, then after the stage's duration (1 round), you have to roll a save. If you make the save, then because the affliction is virulent you do not decrease it by a level yet, so you are still on stage 1 and take the damage again. This is still "only once for the stage's duration" because the stage's duration was 1 round and you are now on the 2nd round.

Is it instead correct that making the first successful virulent save causes you to stay on the current stage without taking its effects again? Essentially extending its duration?