Fantasy setting bath facilities

[ffone]

How do you do bath facilities in a typical DnD fantasy setting (this is Forgotten Realms in a mid-size town if it makes a difference)? Is there running water? How to people take a bath? (Assuming they don't have a Decanter of Endless Water.)

[Marnath]

Do some research on Roman bath houses, I think that's how it would work. Aqueducts and some system of heating the water. I think it involves giant holding tanks somehow, with one that has a fire going under it to heat water and another that's cold, with rudimentary pipes leading straight to it from uphill. But I could be confusing something else with the way the roman ones worked.

If magic is involved, it gets a lot easier. Bound water elemental cycling through the plumbing system and a fire elemental bound to the outside of a boiler somewhere along the lines.

[Tvtyrant]

Well, the most common one in medieval times was to boil pots of water and then pour them in a tub with cold water to get the right temperature. Time consuming so it was only for nobles. Otherwise they bathed in a stream/ocean when they bathed at all. Ireland had an interesting tradition of bathing streams, which were particualrly clean streams and lakes (and the ocean) where no one was allowed to water cattle or use the restroom by it so it would remain clean.

A town might buy a Decanter of Endless Water as a joint effort, place it at the top of a tower and make pipes that use gravity to fill the towns running water.

[Chilingsworth]

I often have characters with the Prestdigitation spell. One of the things this spell allows you to do is clean things, including yourself. This tends to work for me.

[Safety Sword]

I often have characters with the Prestdigitation spell. One of the things this spell allows you to do is clean things, including yourself. This tends to work for me.

Nice one. Too short? TAKE MY WHITE TEXT!

[Gamer Girl]

To put it simply, most people don't take baths. The idea of washing yourself everyday is a very modern invention.

Up until the mid 20th century the average person only took a bath about once a mouth, and were just fine with that.

Nobles and rich folk might bathe every couple of days...maybe even daily, but then they could afford servants to do all the hard work for them.

I live right by Amish country, and I can tell you that in 2010, they only bathe once a week(at least the community in my area, I don't speak for all of them everywhere). Early Sunday, before church, morning the 'Dad and older sons' draw and take a hot bath, followed by the other males, followed by the children, and then finally followed by the women...all in the same wooden tub and water(reheated a bit by occasional buckets of hot water).

(The Amish workers at the sawmill bathe everyday, at work, before they go home is a small modern shower room built for that reason.)



But a fantasy setting should easily have magic to fill the gap, even just cantrips. A low powered 'cup of endless water' would be easy to make, as would a 'hot bucket'. They could be common enough. A simple 'clean cloth' that can cast Prestdigitation 3/day would be easy to make also.

I can see all sorts of 0 level 'clean and washing' spells too.

[Tiki Snakes]

All of the above are quite interesting responses.

However, I find myself wondering more specifically, yes the above are good possibilities, but what is, for example, the canon* answer for Faerun? What about Greyhawk, and Eberron?

*or as close to canon as can be inferred.

[Zaq]

As an anecdotal data point, my current character is a refluffed Fireblood Dwarf (salient feature: racial fire resistance), and his people just douse themselves in alcohol and light themselves on fire to clean themselves. Yes, this came up in the game.

But I would imagine that that's not typical.

[Ravens_cry]

If there is lightning trains and airships, there is probably fire elemental powered Hypocausts somewhere in Eberron.

[Kiero]

To put it simply, most people don't take baths. The idea of washing yourself everyday is a very modern invention.

In both ancient Greece and Rome, bathing daily was a common occurence. The bath-house and gymnasium were daily events for free males.

[TalonDemonKing]

Hot springs maybe?

[Psyx]

Nice one.

Any wizard I play with any class immediately uses one of these spells each morning to clean up and shave, and one after any particularly messy fights, too.

Up until the mid 20th century the average person only took a bath about once a mouth, and were just fine with that.

This is actually a total myth.
I knew that course on the history of medicine would be useful at some point...

Roman bath-houses were elaborate and an essential part of the society's lifestyle. Even the poor would bathe, and fees were nominal or sometimes carried by a noble, wishing to curry favour with the proles. However, the Romans weren't the only ones who liked to be clean.

Levels of European hygiene took a real nose-dive in the late middle ages. Prior to that, people put more effort into cleanliness. Wealthy people bathed at home, townsfolk used public bath houses where available, and country-folk used streams and brooks. There was a belief that a clean body lead to a clean soul, which also influenced matters.

The Viking cultures in particular were famed for their standards of hygiene and grooming. And of course Islamic nations historically have a culture of cleanliness that put Europe to shame.

The down-turn in hygiene came partly because the Church started frowning on public bath houses as being sinful, and partly because medical 'wisdom' decided that washing was bad for you.

In the 19th and early 20th century, weekly baths were the norm. Most certainly not monthly ones.

[Psyx]

As an anecdotal data point, my current character is a refluffed Fireblood Dwarf (salient feature: racial fire resistance), and his people just douse themselves in alcohol and light themselves on fire to clean themselves.

Erm... that's not going to get you clean!

[Eldan]

Why not? Alcohol is a pretty good solvent, it will sterilize any small wounds you may have and it will certainly kill all skin parasites.

[Cespenar]

Hiring apprentice mages as housekeepers? Also, a "public bath", in which a bored looking mage stands with an Infinite Wand of Prestidigitation and casts them on a line of peasants for a copper each? Sounds fine by me.

[The Rose Dragon]

Erm... that's not going to get you clean!

It certainly will save you from most microorganisms that can infect you. In a microbiology lab, since you work close to an open flame to avoid releasing the microorganisms, you cannot wear gloves (most of which have terrible heat resistance). Therefore, you have to soak your hands in ethanol to avoid infection.

[Eldan]

Yeah, that too. Actually, when I was in the lab, we were also told to regularly light our tools on fire with the alcohol, just to make sure.

[Emmerask]

How do you do bath facilities in a typical DnD fantasy setting (this is Forgotten Realms in a mid-size town if it makes a difference)? Is there running water? How to people take a bath? (Assuming they don't have a Decanter of Endless Water.)

It really depends:

Small towns won´t have any dedicated bath houses, they have either a lake or river or use a bucket of water ;)
Desert folks use sweat tents most of the time.
In cities the richer people will have access to bath houses and the richest will have running water in their mansions.

In a magic academy they might have water-elementals or something like that ^^

All the novels suggest that Faerun is much closer to medieval times then to the tippyverse

[Psyx]

Why not? Alcohol is a pretty good solvent, it will sterilize any small wounds you may have and it will certainly kill all skin parasites.

It might de-louse and disinfect you, but it's not going to get you clean.

Dirt doesn't burn...


Edit: Not that fantasy characters know about micro-organisms. So as far as they're concerned it wouldn't be doing anything at all, as it doesn't remove dirt.

[Eldan]

If you dry it out with fire, the dirt might get brittle and fall off. It might also dissolve excess skin fat.

[Psyx]

I'm going to have to experiment with fire (again), aren't I?

[Eldan]

You aren't a fire dwarf, though. Be careful.

[Shademan]

M: What about the privies?
E: Well, what we're talking about in, erm, privy terms is the very latest in front-wall, fresh-air orifices, combined with a wide-capacity gutter installation below.
M: You mean you crap out of the window.
E: Yes!


bath, privies, it all boils down to hygene

[Psyren]

I often have characters with the Prestdigitation spell. One of the things this spell allows you to do is clean things, including yourself. This tends to work for me.

Psionicists get it too - Secrets of Sarlona pg. 133

Hot springs maybe?

Yay Japan

[bokodasu]

Heck, an item of at-will prestidigitation isn't outrageous; a village could buy one and mount it next to their Decanter of Endless Water that functions as the communal fountain, across from the deep well with a black pudding (or ooze of your favorite flavor) at the bottom that serves as the community garbage dump.

When I design dungeons with any sort of caster in them, they generally have an elemental-powered system of hot and cold running water, plus a steam room. (Watch out for those nozzles!) People generally like to be clean, although what their definition of "clean" is can vary. But there's a reason combs are some of the first human-made tools.

It's one of those "how would magic interact with common life?" questions that make you go "wait, why are these people still living in a medieval-style world?" (Like, why are houses so expensive when casting Wall of Stone is so cheap?)

[Emmerask]

It's one of those "how would magic interact with common life?" questions that make you go "wait, why are these people still living in a medieval-style world?" (Like, why are houses so expensive when casting Wall of Stone is so cheap?)

It really depends on the number of spellcasters available, which then depends on setting specific stuff like how someone can become a wizard (is it enough to be intelligent and study or is some random magic spark necessary etc). It is never really dealt with in the handbooks because being a pc the players are already considered special and different from npcs and can become anything they like.

If you only have 1 wizard for 10.000 people then that wizard has so many other things to do that he can´t cast wall of stone for everyone.

And even if he could he would also have to consider his actions impacts on the economy of the kingdom nearly free houses mean countless jobless carpenters, lumberjacks etc and with that a pretty high dependency on the wizard which he might not like.
Free iron means no miners etc

Yes if in the setting everyone and their mother is a caster then no one has to do such jobs and it becomes a federation-like society,
but faerun is certainly not such a place, and there might be some other mechanics in place (for that particular setting) for npcs the pcs never know about

[Eldan]

Actually, the DMG gives numbers for the composition of communities. And any reasonably sized city has hundreds of casters, and among them even quite a few high level ones.

[Cicciograna]

Some time ago, I made up this magic object:

Tub of Relax
Three times per day, on command word this wooden tub fills with cold, warm or hot water (activator's choice).
The water is inextricabily linked to the Tub: if any quantity is removed in any way it will simply vanish (therefore the Tub never slops - and therefore the water doesn't quench thirst or fires).

[Marnath]

All of the above are quite interesting responses.

However, I find myself wondering more specifically, yes the above are good possibilities, but what is, for example, the canon* answer for Faerun? What about Greyhawk, and Eberron?

*or as close to canon as can be inferred.

The one instance I remember is a bath house with many rows of tubs constantly refreshed by attendants with hot water from a spring or something that came up right in the building, and I seem to remember someone getting paid a handful of silver coins and intending to stay at the bathhouse for several days(the attendants were all topless women who may or may not have offered other..services on the side, I don't remember) so that leads me to believe it's something most middle class people could afford. Don't talk to me about medieval stasis either, Faerun has a thriving middle class.

[Pseudolich]

The only example I've found thus far of an actual bath facility in the rulebooks was from the example fortress Citadel of the Planes from the Stronghold builders guide. It was a circular wall of force with a small opening at the bottom on the plane of water. It probably doesn't fit in the "mid-size town", as the fortress costs somewhere around 2.6 million gold pieces to build. It might be used as an example for how to make a very luxurious bathhouse, however.