Got odor?

[Sejs]

Spot skill.

 

[Oryan77]

Smelling is overrated ...I don't have a sense of smell and I have never really wished I could make a smell check for anything other than wondering if I stink and people will notice. The trade off for no sense of smell is that my sense of touch is heightened. If something is burning in my oven, my eyes burn. I can feel the slightest bit of texture in my mouth while eating food also. If we have a skill check for smelling, I demand a skill check for touching!

Really, I think smelling would come in play so rarely that it doesn't warrent a slot on the skill list. If a monster stunk enough that you'd smell him before hearing or seeing him, he'd have to really stink...PC's should smell bad enough and no one complains about the Dwarf being around.

 

[Oryan77]

So when you're tasting something, it is in fact its scent that gives it its flavor. Taste is simply a way of passing information to the brain to tell it which of the five variants the body is about to consume.

I have never had a sense of smell. Not sure if I was born that way, but I didn't realize it until I was about 12 y/o. The first question everyone asks me is, "If I farted in your face, you couldn't smell it?", the second question everyone asks me is, "So you can't taste anything either right?"

I always thought I could taste just fine. But I eventually realized it has to do more with touch than whether I'm tasting anything. I don't agree that if you can't smell you can't taste. But I can say that I might not be able to taste as well as those who can smell. I can taste the difference between dark and light chocolate, I know the flavor of apples, I can taste salt & pepper, I know everything tastes like chicken (but not everything that tastes like chicken feels like chicken in my mouth), & so on. I think I could taste the difference between coffee and tea, but it's hard to tell. I may just think I can taste the difference because I can feel the difference between the two when they're in my mouth. Tea is thinner more watery and coffee is thicker with a bite to it. But I'm sure I can taste them both. I definately can't smell them though. Heightened senses also keep me from liking really hot & spicey things. I can enjoy it to a degree, but I can't eat things that are scorching my mouth.

 

[babomb]

So when you're tasting something, it is in fact its scent that gives it its flavor. Taste is simply a way of passing information to the brain to tell it which of the five variants the body is about to consume.

Close. Flavor is a combination of taste, smell, and texture. This is why some old people complain of food being bland: they are losing some of their sense of smell. However, if scent were the only component to flavor, I could drink coffee. I love the smell of coffee, but it's one of the most disgusting things I've ever tasted.

 

[The Shaman]

I wrote Scent skill rules for Denizens of Avadnu. Fairly basic, works very similarly to Spot and Listen. I'd recommend making it a ranger class skill and either giving it as a class skill to all half-orcs or giving half-orcs a +2 bonus to checks. The scent special quality grants a +10 bonus and the ability to track via scent without the Track feat.

If anyone's interested, I can try to post the skill entry later. (I'd encourage you to buy the book, or one of the Digital Denizens PDFs, but it's barely 1/4 of a page....)

If you don't mind, I'd like to see it.

You could also handle it like Mutants & Masterminds or True20: wrap Spot and Listen up into a single skill, Notice, that can also cover smell & taste.

Lone Wolf by Mongoose does this as well, but calls it Perception. I plan on using it in every game from now on.

I think this is such a good topic that it deserves its own thread: Perception skill.

d20 Dragonlords of Melnibone had a skill smell I believe, but I stick with the binary system of the core and ad hoc it based on wether the creature has scent or if they don't and whether I think an odor should be apparent. (I would also consider wether the character is a gnome with their big gnoses. )

Scent is simply part of a scene description, not a challenge check for mechanics.

If I think they'd smell it, they smell it. If not, then not.

If in a form, or using a character with scent - then it is more likely. ..

There is this approach as well, but I prefer outcomes that are less certain, more subject to chance.

 

[Eternalknight]

I think this is such a good topic that it deserves its own thread: Perception skill.

Already done

 

[Dragonhelm]

I once played a Kagonesti (Dragonlance wild elf) beastmaster (2e kit) who had a strong sense of smell. In a way, it was like Wolverine's. He could use it to help track, or to recognize a person who may be in disguise. He could smell the scent of death from far away.

While I don't think this would get much use, at least not compared to Spot or Listen, it could come into play.


On a side note, I just heard on Animal Planet that a polar bear can smell a human from 20 miles away.

 

[NCSUCodeMonkey]

General - Got Odor?

Hodor?

NCSUCodeMonkey

 

[Umbran]

For the record - anyone who tries to suggest a "scratch'n'sniff" game supplement is looking to spend a few hours with their head in a laundry bag of sweaty gym socks

I take it that humanoids are generally not good enough with scents for it to be an issue. Until someone takes the Scent feat, I've got no reason to change that. So - if it's bleeding obvious, you'll smell it. Otherwise, I say the subtle stuff is just covered up by the odor or spell components and swaty armor padding...