Padded Armor [Archive] - Wizards Community

Padded Armor [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
ValiantCavalier
09-09-03, 08:00 PM I was looking at the WOTC Characer Generator Demo and it had a type of armor called "padded armor" an the description for it was something like:

this thick armor is unpopular because it can become foul with sweat, lice, etc.*

I was just wondering, is there some way to keep this from happening?

I also found another item (soap, 1lb.) and I was wondering about this too, do you get a negative CHA modifier if you go without bathing for long periods of time?

*please don't quote me on this one
Kerrexl
09-10-03, 09:54 AM 1st, Padded Armor...
Padded armor, is basically a quilted/padded Jacket with pants... or to describe it... it is a set of cloth, stuffed with cotton, wool, or similar material. So naturally you will have a sauna in there.. so unless you know a way to stop sweating - the smell won't stop comming... (ofcourse prestigitation (clean) could prevent it temporarely...)

2nd, soap
Soap is like Whetstone, one of the items from the lost era's of 1st edition, where any adventurer would carry around alot of stuff ment to justify good roleplaying and not only stuff that gives a modifier to something. But it is an item I usually equip all my characters with, ussually in the way that a Cha 4 barbarian dwarf, with a rep of smelling like last weeks battle wouldn't have it, but otherwise...
Helmo
09-10-03, 10:24 AM Originally posted by Kerrexl

2nd, soap
Soap is like Whetstone, one of the items from the lost era's of 1st edition, where any adventurer would carry around alot of stuff ment to justify good roleplaying and not only stuff that gives a modifier to something. But it is an item I usually equip all my characters with, ussually in the way that a Cha 4 barbarian dwarf, with a rep of smelling like last weeks battle wouldn't have it, but otherwise... [/B]

Three things about soap:

First, when people go adventuring they don“t carry a extra stuff, they just carry useful things (that boost skills) and not things that can burden them, even if it“s some soap.

Second, and most important, if you are playing in Forgotten Realms, the different human countries and cultures match more or less those of what is called in Europe the Low Middle Ages (around 1100 to 1500). In that times, ordinary people washed theirselves three or four times A YEAR. You can say FR is not our World during the MA, but there“s no doubt about its paralelism. Moreover, in FR, like in our world MA, people have no water in their houses, so bathing means going to the river or filling a wood bath with water bowels, and having also into account that during winter rivers can be frozen or very cold.

Third, soap was an expensive item, and ordinary people, like many adventurers, could not afford buying it or did not want, after all, when everybody smells the same (of course for present day people the smell would be horrible) and everybody think it is right, there is no point in smelling well. Nobles were different, but noble people are rare, even in FR.

So I think taking soap into a Dungeon is a stupid thing, it has nothing to do with roleplaying.
Kerrexl
09-10-03, 11:28 AM Originally posted by Helmo
Three things about soap:

First, when people go adventuring they don“t carry a extra stuff, they just carry useful things (that boost skills) and not things that can burden them, even if it“s some soap.

Second, and most important, if you are playing in Forgotten Realms, the different human countries and cultures match more or less those of what is called in Europe the Low Middle Ages (around 1100 to 1500). In that times, ordinary people washed theirselves three or four times A YEAR. You can say FR is not our World during the MA, but there“s no doubt about its paralelism. Moreover, in FR, like in our world MA, people have no water in their houses, so bathing means going to the river or filling a wood bath with water bowels, and having also into account that during winter rivers can be frozen or very cold.

Third, soap was an expensive item, and ordinary people, like many adventurers, could not afford buying it or did not want, after all, when everybody smells the same (of course for present day people the smell would be horrible) and everybody think it is right, there is no point in smelling well. Nobles were different, but noble people are rare, even in FR.

So I think taking soap into a Dungeon is a stupid thing, it has nothing to do with roleplaying. Yes... But even though people didn't nessesaraly wash their body every week, they did wash their clothing, to prevent it from stiffening with mud, blood, dirt, etc. so you will need a piece of Soap... and Dungeon crawling is far from the main part of D&D, at least in my experience... I believe the last time I was in a party on a dungeon crawl, was 2 months ago - and I play 2-3 times a week; the sessions is 4 hr (1-2 a week) and 10-12 hr (1 a week).. for a total of 14-20 hr a week...
ElGrecoETAC
09-10-03, 11:49 AM And that's why the Ring of Comfort should have been retained in 3E, as every adventurer's sidekick. It specifically addressed temperature in 2E, right? Which means no sweating, no stench. ;)
Faraer
09-10-03, 12:13 PM The Realms has a smell-and-dirt sensibility somewhere between the medieval one and ours. People notice bad smells; they get uncomfortably dirty on long journeys and enjoy hot baths to get clean -- see Crown of Fire for instance. Inns provide baths. Carrying soap with you on travels would be normal (though not universal).
Cunning Linguist
09-10-03, 01:17 PM In that times, ordinary people washed theirselves three or four times A YEAR.

Washing of the body yes. Washing of face and hands where quite common, done sometimes several times a day.
ValiantCavalier
09-10-03, 05:03 PM Originally posted by Helmo

Second, and most important, if you are playing in Forgotten Realms, the different human countries and cultures match more or less those of what is called in Europe the Low Middle Ages (around 1100 to 1500). In that times, ordinary people washed theirselves three or four times A YEAR.

So I think taking soap into a Dungeon is a stupid thing, it has nothing to do with roleplaying.

FR is too vast to stick into one time era that is similar to one IRL. One town could consist of knee-deep mud and a population of 34. Another could be a economic powerhouse that is between two trading nations (Like the turkish possesed. Allowing "first dibbs" on all the commodities; not to mention the ability to tax the caravans as they passed through). And another could be one of the towns producing the commodities (meaning probably most of the peasants would be somewhat rich. And by rich, I mean have enough money to buy soap).

And thats just coveing humans. I haven't even covered dwarves, elves and gnomes*.

*I do not count halflings and other races because they are either at the same point as humans, or have inferior technologies/economies
The 'Liss
09-10-03, 05:12 PM Originally posted by Helmo
Three things about soap:

First, when people go adventuring they don“t carry a extra stuff, they just carry useful things (that boost skills) and not things that can burden them, even if it“s some soap.

A pound of soap is hardly burdensome

Second, and most important, if you are playing in Forgotten Realms, the different human countries and cultures match more or less those of what is called in Europe the Low Middle Ages (around 1100 to 1500). In that times, ordinary people washed theirselves three or four times A YEAR. You can say FR is not our World during the MA, but there“s no doubt about its paralelism. Moreover, in FR, like in our world MA, people have no water in their houses, so bathing means going to the river or filling a wood bath with water bowels, and having also into account that during winter rivers can be frozen or very cold.

That's why a lot of homes have rain barrels beside them, going to a rain barrel isn't exactly hard to do, and melting snow in the winter over a fire is rather easily done. How do you think one would have washed their clothes? Food? etc.

Third, soap was an expensive item, and ordinary people, like many adventurers, could not afford buying it or did not want, after all, when everybody smells the same (of course for present day people the smell would be horrible) and everybody think it is right, there is no point in smelling well. Nobles were different, but noble people are rare, even in FR.

So..you're saying that to buy a pound of soap, one silver piece is ...a lavish thing? Um...soap isn't that expensive, when you realize most common people made it in their homes to wash their clothes. Not just nobles bathed, or washed their clothes..

So I think taking soap into a Dungeon is a stupid thing, it has nothing to do with roleplaying.

If you only Dungeon crawl in your campaigns, and do not put any realism into your games and you think personal hygene has nothing to do with how a character would think, act, or interact, then I feel very sorry for you.
ValiantCavalier
09-10-03, 05:48 PM 1. This is the Forgotten Realms

Magic and elves and dwarves exsist. I think it would be fair to say other things don't work like they did/do IRL.

2. A POUND of soap is 1sp/Elaboration on a point made by The 'Liss (ties into point 1)

If you think about just how much soap is in a pound, you realize that even the poorest families can afford soap. Not just to wash clothes, but to probably bathe. And a pound of soap would last an adventuring party of up to six members about 2 weeks (possibly more than that, since i have never personally had to adventure with 5 other people and had to split a pound of soap between the six of us).

So, things in the Realms are [apparently] different
ValiantCavalier
09-10-03, 07:43 PM But we digress....

The point was, do you get a negative CHA modifier if you don't bathe regularly?
Karm
09-10-03, 09:52 PM There are no rules for a cha. penalty but if one of your party says, "I never take a bath, ever" maybe you should give him a penalty. I think people would notice the stench after a bit. "Uhh! All right who brought the corpse in here!" :eek:
Kerrexl
09-11-03, 02:27 PM Well, when the Zombies start to detect you party by the foul stench of the characters, you know you need to take a bath... :)

And take a look at Races of Faerūn, Battlerager PrC... this is a PrC of rude, unwashed, and violent dwarves.. and they gain an EX-ability "Gruff" because of it, and that gives them a -4 penalty on all charisma ability checks and charisma based skill checks, - with the exception of intimidate, eher they gain a +2 bonus...

So perhaps a -1 or -2 modifier would be fair for not washing and taking care of personal hygene...

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
ValiantCavalier 09-09-03, 08:00 PM	I was looking at the WOTC Characer Generator Demo and it had a type of armor called "padded armor" an the description for it was something like: this thick armor is unpopular because it can become foul with sweat, lice, etc.* I was just wondering, is there some way to keep this from happening? I also found another item (soap, 1lb.) and I was wondering about this too, do you get a negative CHA modifier if you go without bathing for long periods of time? *please don't quote me on this one
Kerrexl 09-10-03, 09:54 AM	1st, Padded Armor... Padded armor, is basically a quilted/padded Jacket with pants... or to describe it... it is a set of cloth, stuffed with cotton, wool, or similar material. So naturally you will have a sauna in there.. so unless you know a way to stop sweating - the smell won't stop comming... (ofcourse prestigitation (clean) could prevent it temporarely...) 2nd, soap Soap is like Whetstone, one of the items from the lost era's of 1st edition, where any adventurer would carry around alot of stuff ment to justify good roleplaying and not only stuff that gives a modifier to something. But it is an item I usually equip all my characters with, ussually in the way that a Cha 4 barbarian dwarf, with a rep of smelling like last weeks battle wouldn't have it, but otherwise...
Helmo 09-10-03, 10:24 AM	Originally posted by Kerrexl 2nd, soap Soap is like Whetstone, one of the items from the lost era's of 1st edition, where any adventurer would carry around alot of stuff ment to justify good roleplaying and not only stuff that gives a modifier to something. But it is an item I usually equip all my characters with, ussually in the way that a Cha 4 barbarian dwarf, with a rep of smelling like last weeks battle wouldn't have it, but otherwise... [/B] Three things about soap: First, when people go adventuring they don“t carry a extra stuff, they just carry useful things (that boost skills) and not things that can burden them, even if it“s some soap. Second, and most important, if you are playing in Forgotten Realms, the different human countries and cultures match more or less those of what is called in Europe the Low Middle Ages (around 1100 to 1500). In that times, ordinary people washed theirselves three or four times A YEAR. You can say FR is not our World during the MA, but there“s no doubt about its paralelism. Moreover, in FR, like in our world MA, people have no water in their houses, so bathing means going to the river or filling a wood bath with water bowels, and having also into account that during winter rivers can be frozen or very cold. Third, soap was an expensive item, and ordinary people, like many adventurers, could not afford buying it or did not want, after all, when everybody smells the same (of course for present day people the smell would be horrible) and everybody think it is right, there is no point in smelling well. Nobles were different, but noble people are rare, even in FR. So I think taking soap into a Dungeon is a stupid thing, it has nothing to do with roleplaying.
Kerrexl 09-10-03, 11:28 AM	Originally posted by Helmo Three things about soap: First, when people go adventuring they don“t carry a extra stuff, they just carry useful things (that boost skills) and not things that can burden them, even if it“s some soap. Second, and most important, if you are playing in Forgotten Realms, the different human countries and cultures match more or less those of what is called in Europe the Low Middle Ages (around 1100 to 1500). In that times, ordinary people washed theirselves three or four times A YEAR. You can say FR is not our World during the MA, but there“s no doubt about its paralelism. Moreover, in FR, like in our world MA, people have no water in their houses, so bathing means going to the river or filling a wood bath with water bowels, and having also into account that during winter rivers can be frozen or very cold. Third, soap was an expensive item, and ordinary people, like many adventurers, could not afford buying it or did not want, after all, when everybody smells the same (of course for present day people the smell would be horrible) and everybody think it is right, there is no point in smelling well. Nobles were different, but noble people are rare, even in FR. So I think taking soap into a Dungeon is a stupid thing, it has nothing to do with roleplaying. Yes... But even though people didn't nessesaraly wash their body every week, they did wash their clothing, to prevent it from stiffening with mud, blood, dirt, etc. so you will need a piece of Soap... and Dungeon crawling is far from the main part of D&D, at least in my experience... I believe the last time I was in a party on a dungeon crawl, was 2 months ago - and I play 2-3 times a week; the sessions is 4 hr (1-2 a week) and 10-12 hr (1 a week).. for a total of 14-20 hr a week...
ElGrecoETAC 09-10-03, 11:49 AM	And that's why the Ring of Comfort should have been retained in 3E, as every adventurer's sidekick. It specifically addressed temperature in 2E, right? Which means no sweating, no stench. ;)
Faraer 09-10-03, 12:13 PM	The Realms has a smell-and-dirt sensibility somewhere between the medieval one and ours. People notice bad smells; they get uncomfortably dirty on long journeys and enjoy hot baths to get clean -- see Crown of Fire for instance. Inns provide baths. Carrying soap with you on travels would be normal (though not universal).
Cunning Linguist 09-10-03, 01:17 PM	In that times, ordinary people washed theirselves three or four times A YEAR. Washing of the body yes. Washing of face and hands where quite common, done sometimes several times a day.
ValiantCavalier 09-10-03, 05:03 PM	Originally posted by Helmo Second, and most important, if you are playing in Forgotten Realms, the different human countries and cultures match more or less those of what is called in Europe the Low Middle Ages (around 1100 to 1500). In that times, ordinary people washed theirselves three or four times A YEAR. So I think taking soap into a Dungeon is a stupid thing, it has nothing to do with roleplaying. FR is too vast to stick into one time era that is similar to one IRL. One town could consist of knee-deep mud and a population of 34. Another could be a economic powerhouse that is between two trading nations (Like the turkish possesed. Allowing "first dibbs" on all the commodities; not to mention the ability to tax the caravans as they passed through). And another could be one of the towns producing the commodities (meaning probably most of the peasants would be somewhat rich. And by rich, I mean have enough money to buy soap). And thats just coveing humans. I haven't even covered dwarves, elves and gnomes. I do not count halflings and other races because they are either at the same point as humans, or have inferior technologies/economies
The 'Liss 09-10-03, 05:12 PM	Originally posted by Helmo Three things about soap: First, when people go adventuring they don“t carry a extra stuff, they just carry useful things (that boost skills) and not things that can burden them, even if it“s some soap. A pound of soap is hardly burdensome Second, and most important, if you are playing in Forgotten Realms, the different human countries and cultures match more or less those of what is called in Europe the Low Middle Ages (around 1100 to 1500). In that times, ordinary people washed theirselves three or four times A YEAR. You can say FR is not our World during the MA, but there“s no doubt about its paralelism. Moreover, in FR, like in our world MA, people have no water in their houses, so bathing means going to the river or filling a wood bath with water bowels, and having also into account that during winter rivers can be frozen or very cold. That's why a lot of homes have rain barrels beside them, going to a rain barrel isn't exactly hard to do, and melting snow in the winter over a fire is rather easily done. How do you think one would have washed their clothes? Food? etc. Third, soap was an expensive item, and ordinary people, like many adventurers, could not afford buying it or did not want, after all, when everybody smells the same (of course for present day people the smell would be horrible) and everybody think it is right, there is no point in smelling well. Nobles were different, but noble people are rare, even in FR. So..you're saying that to buy a pound of soap, one silver piece is ...a lavish thing? Um...soap isn't that expensive, when you realize most common people made it in their homes to wash their clothes. Not just nobles bathed, or washed their clothes.. So I think taking soap into a Dungeon is a stupid thing, it has nothing to do with roleplaying. If you only Dungeon crawl in your campaigns, and do not put any realism into your games and you think personal hygene has nothing to do with how a character would think, act, or interact, then I feel very sorry for you.
ValiantCavalier 09-10-03, 05:48 PM	1. This is the Forgotten Realms Magic and elves and dwarves exsist. I think it would be fair to say other things don't work like they did/do IRL. 2. A POUND of soap is 1sp/Elaboration on a point made by The 'Liss (ties into point 1) If you think about just how much soap is in a pound, you realize that even the poorest families can afford soap. Not just to wash clothes, but to probably bathe. And a pound of soap would last an adventuring party of up to six members about 2 weeks (possibly more than that, since i have never personally had to adventure with 5 other people and had to split a pound of soap between the six of us). So, things in the Realms are [apparently] different
ValiantCavalier 09-10-03, 07:43 PM	But we digress.... The point was, do you get a negative CHA modifier if you don't bathe regularly?
Karm 09-10-03, 09:52 PM	There are no rules for a cha. penalty but if one of your party says, "I never take a bath, ever" maybe you should give him a penalty. I think people would notice the stench after a bit. "Uhh! All right who brought the corpse in here!" :eek:
Kerrexl 09-11-03, 02:27 PM	Well, when the Zombies start to detect you party by the foul stench of the characters, you know you need to take a bath... :) And take a look at Races of Faerūn, Battlerager PrC... this is a PrC of rude, unwashed, and violent dwarves.. and they gain an EX-ability "Gruff" because of it, and that gives them a -4 penalty on all charisma ability checks and charisma based skill checks, - with the exception of intimidate, eher they gain a +2 bonus... So perhaps a -1 or -2 modifier would be fair for not washing and taking care of personal hygene...