How often should PCs bathe?

[Dr.Epic]

Not in RL, but how often should their fictional, playable character bathe? I'm just wondering because I'm working on a homebrew system and you have to bathe every so often or you take penalties to ability scores. My reasoning behind this is...

-you become so dirty the germs make you sick and physically ill
-you become sick and can't think straight
-you become so repulsive, people will be uncomfortable socially interacting with you

It's just an idea I had. Something different and new I'm trying out. So, how often should they bathe before these effects start to show up. At first I was going with a week, then I thought, nah, that's too soon. Then I thought a fortnight, but that seemed too soon as well. I'd like a month to be the maximum amount of time before these effects start to show up, but again, is that too soon?

[Frathe]

I don't think they should take any penalties for not bathing. For centuries in Europe (Medieval times and after), people bathed only once a year. This kind of thing is really culture- and region-specific and you'd be surprised how much of a smell people can get used to.

Poor sanitation may make people in a culture more likely to become ill (as in medieval Europe), but that should be at the level of society, not the individual. A lot of the danger of illness is from your neighbors not bathing, after all, not just yourself.

Edit: Besides, people can always buy perfume and scents. :smallbiggrin: (This was actually a thing in Europe.)

[Kane0]

Whenever they have a prestidigitation and/or create water handy. In most D&D settings a PC should be able to get something to that effect, and an NPC should be able to cobble together enough for special occasions every few months or so.

A homebrew potion or wand of cleaning would do the trick for very little cost.

[Turalisj]

Never. The musk of an adventurer is a known repellent of low CR monsters.

[inuyasha]

I dont think they would mind the smell...have ye ever sniffed an otyugh?

[Eldan]

What if they play Troglodytes?

[Ashtagon]

Once a year, whether they need to or not.

[Eldan]

Also, how much basis is there for this "once a year" thing? Because I know that a lot of traditional societies (e.g. the celts, who invented soap) were quite clean.

[W3bDragon]

Not in RL, but how often should their fictional, playable character bathe? I'm just wondering because I'm working on a homebrew system and you have to bathe every so often or you take penalties to ability scores. My reasoning behind this is...

-you become so dirty the germs make you sick and physically ill
-you become sick and can't think straight
-you become so repulsive, people will be uncomfortable socially interacting with you

It's just an idea I had. Something different and new I'm trying out. So, how often should they bathe before these effects start to show up. At first I was going with a week, then I thought, nah, that's too soon. Then I thought a fortnight, but that seemed too soon as well. I'd like a month to be the maximum amount of time before these effects start to show up, but again, is that too soon?

You could turn that around. Instead of giving them penalties for not bathing, you could give them bonuses when they bathe.

[inuyasha]

What if they play Troglodytes?

well if they PLAY troglodytes it states in their musk ability that troglodytes are immune to it, so they would find it quite pleasent actually

[hamishspence]

Maybe it was

"full immersion bath once a year, wipe over with wet cloths every few days".

[Frathe]

Relevant link. (http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2575/is-good-personal-hygiene-a-recent-invention) Modern times smell lovely compared to most of the past.

People would wash every week, but only for appearance--so only their hands, face and clothes.

I may have been wrong earlier--it wasn't once a year that they bathed properly. For some people, it was never.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Every time they visit a town, pretty much. Clerics and others who represent something larger than themselves (paladins, liveried bards, wizards members of an order) should probably also make an effort to clean their clothes after fights, while mercenaries can get away with stinking of high heaven and low hell unless they are planning to meet with anyone important.

Pre-renaissance people were fairly clean (within the limitations of "putting enough water together to have a full bath", that is: but a rag and some clean water was usually used to give yourself a full-body clean, one body part at a time), which is were most fantasy is set. I should think you need not penalise them in combat, but definitely in social situations if they have not met the local standards (which would include "not looking like you bathed in the blood of your enemies", a common state after a few battles).

Grey Wolf

[Frathe]

Just to be clear, during the Renaissance (after the Plague), Europeans decided that baths were dangerous and unhealthy because hot water cleaned out the pores and "let disease in". A lot of Europeans would refuse to take full-immersion baths except on doctors' orders.

[Astral Avenger]

Having gone well over a month without bathing (it was on a canoe trip, stop judging me), I see no reason that not bathing would affect physical or mental ability scores other than charisma.

However, I would be happy if not bathing imposed a penalty on healing from open wounds.

[Grod_The_Giant]

I can see it giving a social penalty in societies where bathing was common-- most likely as some sort of larger "inappropriate appearance/mannerisms/age/gender/race" penalty. And needing to keep wounds clean for natural healing... is realistic, if probably over-nitpicky for most games. But disease? No.