Question

[m149307]

OK, so I'm trying to be kinda the scout of the party, and was wondering which ability would help me more: a permanent touchsight power (basically I cast it once in the morning), or the Scent ability (given by a warblade stance).

[Trasilor]

OK, so I'm trying to be kinda the scout of the party, and was wondering which ability would help me more: a permanent touchsight power (basically I cast it once in the morning), or the Scent ability (given by a warblade stance).

It really depends.

Touchsight is much better in combat against invisible foes - as it negates invisibility. Effectively giving you blindsight 60'. Also, depending on how the DM treats the Psionics/Magic transparency - you could be subject to any sort of dispelling / anti-magic effects. Note, you must have line of effect - a simple door prevents you from knowing whats on the other side.

Scent, on the other hand has other advantages. While it does help with invisible things, it is better at actually tracking.

So do you want a combat advantage or survival advantage?

[Troacctid]

Nah it doesn't really depend. Tracking sucks and touchsight is amazing. Go with touchsight.

[atemu1234]

I don't know much about touchsight, but scent sucks the big one in D&D. How it became one of the traits that's usually +1 LA is beyond me.

[Troacctid]

Scent doesn't suck. It's just much, much worse than touchsight.

[Trasilor]

I've had lots of fun with scent in games where I used it...

Touchsight would have been almost useless for me as most of my DMs never put us up against invisible enemies.

[Nibbens]

I've had lots of fun with scent in games where I used it....

I believe the problem here is that many DMs rely on the big 2 for the description of your environment: Sight and Sound. And they don't think too much further about how powerful the other senses are.

Touch, taste and smell when used in a description can provide much more detail than anything we can see or hear.

"A grey stone wall." - meh

"A salty stone wall" - huh? What the heck? okay.

You get more ideas about that stone wall with that second description than the first.

Scent can be extremely powerful if your DM allows it to be incorporated into his games, but it might take him reworking how he feels about describing environments, objects and creatures. And that's where the problem comes in - I think.

As for the OP's question - if you want "scouting" powers - go with scent. If you want combat prowess - well, go for the other.

[frogglesmash]

Scent can be extremely useful for scouting because when combined with track it allows you to search very larch areas very efficiently and thoroughly without having to traverse as much of said area. The main issue is that as was was said above, the DM probably won't think to include smells in their descriptions, though if you constantly ask "what do I smell?" the DM will probably start preemptively describing scents to you.

[Troacctid]

I've had lots of fun with scent in games where I used it...

Touchsight would have been almost useless for me as most of my DMs never put us up against invisible enemies.

Scent automatically detects enemies within 30 feet (possibly halved or doubled depending on the wind), but doesn't pinpoint their location (although you can spend an action to pinpoint their direction), and can be disrupted by strong smells. Touchsight automatically detects enemies within 60 feet, pinpoints their location, negates any and all forms of concealment they might have, and is only blocked by total cover. It's basically strictly better, unless you have a really specific reason why you need to be really good at smelling things.

[ShurikVch]

How it became one of the traits that's usually +1 LA is beyond me.Bestial domain (BoVD) grants it as constant domain power

[AmberVael]

Unless you have the Track feat this basically isn't a question at all, because Touchsight is one of the most powerful detection abilities in D&D, while Scent is merely mediocre. If you do have the Track feat then I weep for you, and Touchsight is still a choice that is substantially better than Scent.

[Psyren]

You'd be surprised by what you get out of a DM by asking "do I smell anything?" on a character with Scent.

Having said that, don't get me wrong - touchsight is almost always better. Not finding the next plot hook is much less likely to kill you than not noticing a rogue.

[Trasilor]

Scent automatically detects enemies within 30 feet (possibly halved or doubled depending on the wind), but doesn't pinpoint their location (although you can spend an action to pinpoint their direction), and can be disrupted by strong smells. Touchsight automatically detects enemies within 60 feet, pinpoints their location, negates any and all forms of concealment they might have, and is only blocked by total cover. It's basically strictly better, unless you have a really specific reason why you need to be really good at smelling things.

Like I said, in the last game I played in, the DM rarely (if at all) used concealed or invisible enemies. Touchsight would have been a useless ability. Scent always seemed useful in messing up the DM's plan (it's like he constantly forgot his simple ability :smallamused:)

[Curmudgeon]

Touchsight (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/touchsight.htm) is normally only 1 minute/level. You're comparing a greatly enhanced power to an unenhanced ability. If you had Scent enhanced to work at 120' with automatic pinpointing it would be a fairer comparison.

[marphod]

If you had Scent enhanced to work at 120' with automatic pinpointing it would be a fairer comparison.

Given how frequent Scent is in the game, I'm really surprised by the lack of Scent boosting abilities. As far as I know, I can't barely any spells, feats, class abilities, or magic items from 3.5 or Pathfinder.

2 feats from, Savage Species - Improved Scent increases Scents range to 60', and Uncanny Scent which extends the ability to pinpoint to 20' (from 5'; requires improved Scent) . Other than that, I can't find a damned thing.

Darkvision and low-light have the obvious improvements (range, magical darkness, etc.), Blindsense improves to Blindsight, etc.

(Presumably Improved Shifter Trait also does something for Wildhunter Shifters, but i don't recall what)

[Unbodied]

Given how frequent Scent is in the game, I'm really surprised by the lack of Scent boosting abilities. As far as I know, I can't barely any spells, feats, class abilities, or magic items from 3.5 or Pathfinder.

2 feats from, Savage Species - Improved Scent increases Scents range to 60', and Uncanny Scent which extends the ability to pinpoint to 20' (from 5'; requires improved Scent) . Other than that, I can't find a damned thing.

Darkvision and low-light have the obvious improvements (range, magical darkness, etc.), Blindsense improves to Blindsight, etc.

(Presumably Improved Shifter Trait also does something for Wildhunter Shifters, but i don't recall what)In Pathfinder Dromite's can take a trait called Sensitive Nose that gives +1 on scent based Perception and Survival checks and a -1 against stench. I don't care if its sub-optimal I'm taking it for the hilarious rp flavor. :D