The Importance of Baths
Baths are important and I don't mean just because it's convention season. Adventuring is hard work and baths make it more bearable, both for the adventurer and the people he meets. But it's more than that, baths present excellent opportunities for role playing and immersion into the game world.
Without baths, the adventurers' smell would soon make it impossible to sneak around, particularly in a home or town. Not that sneaking would be all that easy to do with a cold. Without baths, the scrapes and cuts that result from the numerous fights would fester and become infected. A nice hot bath also helps relax the muscles and work out the knots that come with so much physical assertion. There is a reason why many towns became famous for their baths and, even in ancient times, communities built bath houses.
Beyond physical comfort, baths provide a number of great opportunities for social interaction. Without running hot water, drawing a bath requires the assistance of others. Water needs to be heated and poured into the tub. Since everyone likes a good bath, the people who do these tasks can be excellent sources of the information. They may have chatted with everyone from the stable hand to the visiting dignitary.
In addition to information gathering, baths provide an opportunity to let down one's guard. While it could become a distraction at some tables, the act of removing the clothes and gear that call attention to our status as adventurers might help us think of them as people too. If the table isn't into that sort of role playing, don't spend too much time on it, but the relaxed atmosphere might help bring out the shy members of the group.
These are some of the reasons I think baths are important. What sorts of everyday experiences do you find important in your games?
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Ah, but wouldn't a pretty-smelling party stand out more than a smelly one? Dirt, grime, and sweat cover up other scents that might give the group away.
Being clear is not the same as 'smelling pretty' (though both would be a good idea when dealing with the local aristocracy). Public baths as a social space for the exchange of gossip and news were central to several cultures.
My sorceress performs the level 1 Ritual "Fastidiousness" every day if able.
"No matter what the target does, touches, walks through, or experiences, the target’s person, clothes, and carried possessions are not soiled. If the target is in any way soiled when the ritual is completed, that filth is immediately shed."
Cleanliness is godliness.
What an interesting idea for a post! I love bathhouses. They're great for showcasing D&D "technology" at work, such as gnomish water-pumps, or using a Decanter of Endless Water for huge profits - in fact, one NPC in my campaign based his bathhouse after finding a Decanter during his adventuring days. :)
Bathhouse encounters are also interesting and different locations for a fight, with unarmored foes, obscuring steam blocking vision, and slippery floor hazards! Their design and layout also makes for unusual "blocky" layouts which wouldn't normally be found in caves or buildings. They are also great gateways to sewer systems or underground caverns/rivers.
My party has also used their close friendship to the bathhouse owner to tidy up before meeting important city officials, disguise a homeless vagrant as a decent member of society by cleaning him up and bathing him in fragrances, and as an unofficial "neutral" meeting spot between opposing factions, since everyone is naked in the bathhouse (no concealed weapons).
Baths are also yet another element of character development. If your ranger has only ever bathed in mountain streams, or if your gnome bard demands only the finest perfumes and bath salts, well, that's just an interesting fact to know.
My half-orc paladin must seem to be obsessed with bathing to his fellow party members. In truth, every morning at dawn, he stands vigil, mortifies his flesh, uses some minor healing to close and welts he causes, and then bathes ritually to purify body and spirit. They've noticed the scars on his back, but no one has ever asked... :)
I totally agree. I quite often have my character get out of armor where and when it is appropriate and a bath is one of the first things he considers when getting back to civilization.
I also RP washing as well as he can when in the field, using a lake, stream, water from his water skin, or whatever cleaning source is available.
When in the desert, he would use sand to help remove grime.
As far as other daily routines is concerned, the PC's in groups will often take meals and talk around the table about various things, not necessarily related to the adventure they are on.
My character makes a big deal about sleeping in a bed rather than in a bedroll on some lumpy piece of ground.
Bathroom functions are -not- something we play out. There is just no need for that level of versimlitude.
If the characters get involved in a romantic situation, we "draw the curtain" and let them have their privacy. This is not something that comes up very often though.
So, bathing, eating, sleeping, and wearing normal clothes would seem to be the extent of it for me and my groups.
I love the Idea, and I can tell I'd like being a player in one of your games. All that you talk about in this article promotes roleplaying, and I dig that. Sure, it's not for everyone, but I think even just a little bit can go a long way. I love the idea of using bath tenders as modes of information or gossip, and while reading this article, I immediately remembered a certain fight with Schwarzenegger in a bath house, getting into a fight that ended up in the snow. I'm totally gonna steal that for my session tomorrow. So thanks.
-Tourq
I think this is an excellent way to remind your players that they should bathe before coming to game night! :)
Just an update: I introduced a bath house as a place where the PCs got a little information, and the PCs ended up going there for different reasons three times in 24 hours. That idea rocked.
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