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Old 11-18-2017, 08:20 PM   #11
sir_pudding
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the week: Bad Smell and No Sense of Taste/Smell

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Originally Posted by whswhs View Post
Bad Smell is -2, which is really, really stinky. And it seems to be an inherent trait; the rules say it can't be removed. Her OPH is that she doesn't have the habit of bathing and her clothes get saturated with her odors; but it's only at -1, so not as extreme a reaction, and it could, in principle, be removed by the other PCs forcibly scrubbing her.
Upthread you said she had Bad Smell, I think that the OPH would be redundant in that case.
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Old 11-18-2017, 08:21 PM   #12
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the week: Bad Smell and No Sense of Taste/Smell

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Originally Posted by sir_pudding View Post
Upthread you said she had Bad Smell, I think that the OPH would be redundant in that case.
Upthread I had not actually checked her character sheet, and was misremembering the OPH as Bad Smell.
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Old 11-19-2017, 05:59 AM   #13
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the week: Bad Smell and No Sense of Taste/Smell

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What's the difference between Odious Personal Habit and Bad Smell in this case? She has both?
Mrugnak has both. Mrugnak has some pretty bad barnyard smell going on even when scrubbed down and has permanent dog-breath due to being a D&D-style minotaur (a carnivore), but he's also gross to look at, and leaves stains on furniture and people.

With Hamfisted, even when you clean him, he can get dirt re-established very quickly. It also interferes with trying to get him to learn how to clean himself as he finds it fiddly and gets frustrated with the soap squirting out of his hands all the time.
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Old 11-19-2017, 08:02 AM   #14
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the week: Bad Smell and No Sense of Taste/Smell

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Mrugnak has both. Mrugnak has some pretty bad barnyard smell going on even when scrubbed down and has permanent dog-breath due to being a D&D-style minotaur (a carnivore), but he's also gross to look at, and leaves stains on furniture and people.

With Hamfisted, even when you clean him, he can get dirt re-established very quickly. It also interferes with trying to get him to learn how to clean himself as he finds it fiddly and gets frustrated with the soap squirting out of his hands all the time.
I wish I'd thought of that for Jednesa. She mostly just has "Sartorial Destruction" (Shirtless Savage), Hideous Appearance, and Social Stigma Monster as her "why don't people like her" disads.
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Old 11-19-2017, 10:42 AM   #15
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the week: Bad Smell and No Sense of Taste/Smell

I kind of feel like Bad Smell is something that goes along with everything said in the Appearance thread, usually taken by the same kind of monster-figures who also have Appearance or Social Stigma, almost part of the “disgusting” package for a creature never intended to socialise. No Sense of Smell/Taste often goes with those packages, maybe so the character doesn’t disgust themselves...

Though one major difference is Stealth. A monstrous-looking monster can still creep up on someone in the dark, but a stinky monster presents one more way for people to notice it approach. So I’d apply the -2 penalty to many Stealth rolls as well, usually any involving getting close, unless the background stench is sufficient enough for the monster’s scent to not be suspicious.

Or the target has No Sense of Smell/Taste...

Personally I’ve never been eager to play an unhygienic character. Usually with necromancers I’ve had them favour preserved or skeletal undead just because they’re cleaner. Demons who stink of sulphur seem like a reasonable candidate, and pact-given magic might even start to slowly generate the scent, although I’ve not figured out a way to make that variable enough.
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Old 11-19-2017, 10:57 AM   #16
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the week: Bad Smell and No Sense of Taste/Smell

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... pact-given magic might even start to slowly generate the scent, although I’ve not figured out a way to make that variable enough.
Not too hard. If you're using the Black Magic rules (Magic, p154-55), anyone with any Black Penalty has the physical quirk of "smells sulphurous." At, say 3 levels, it's strong enough to give -2 to reactions, even for people who don't know what it means, and at 6 or 7 levels, you have full Bad Smell.

If you're using the Corruption rules (Horror, p146-48), you just require that some fraction of the negative character points thus acquired go into smells.

Incidentally, "Distinctive scent" seems like a valid physical quirk. My sense of smell is very ordinary, and I've known perfectly hygienic people who had natural and individual scents.
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