venomous goes through armour, does it not? I mean, it doesn't specifically say it does, but if you're poisoned, mundane armour isn't going to do much. An argument could be made for Toughness.
Since applying Venemous is a maneuver, not an attack, it bypasses armo. Since the "tag for effect" it provides each turn is damage to the stress track, I'd say it wouldn't bypass toughness unless it was Catch-covering.
Thinking about it more now...
The high weapon value would probably represent petrification the best. If it hits with the gaze, it kills you.
I actually like representing consequences from the gaze being stuff like:
"skinned knee"
"dislocated shoulder"
Basically, any type of injury you'd get from dodging out of the way. So, the gaze isn't causing you damage, but you're getting injured trying to get away from the medusa.
It hurts to jump over a desk and through a window and land on broken glass. but at least you didn't get turned to stone!
Doing it this way let's you apply your toughness and armour too.
[/quote]
I fully agree with this. It's all in the narrative, and the defender controls the narration of his defense.
My take is to snag Natural Weaponry with Potent, Ranged, and Venemous upgrades. Simple, clean, easy to work with.