"I Had to Take a Bath After Just Talking to Him"

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Inspiration comes from the simple things...

I was in the shower when a thought struck me. It would be really fun to create a character that is so creepy, slimy, or otherwise unsavory that a PC's primary reaction would be, "Ugh! He's so slimy I have to bathe just after talking to him!"

So I got wondering how all you guys out there in the playground would play such a character. What kind of NPC would provoke such a reaction from you? As a DM, have any of you used a PC that has provoked this or a similar reaction? What techniques do you think would work?

And though it's primarily a fluff thing, feel free to mention any feats, classes, spells, abilities, etc. that would seem appropriate for such a character. Role-playing and Mechanics do reflect each other, after all.

So give me the real slime.

[Truwar]

There is a fairly simple formula for this.

Opposite Sex (Same Sex works too, but skirts negative stereotypes) + Grotesque + Aggresively Flirty = Yech!

[Assassinfox]

Ooze Genasi.

[crazedloon]

Hmm I can't really describe it but my friend chuck is a nasty freak. He baths once a month if we are lucky and he draws on himself all the time. If I was to play such a character I would probably emulate him. He is cool and all but the slimy feeling comes from his actual being not his actions i.e. he is nasty cus he doesn’t shower but he is cool because he isn’t creepy in action.

Anyway If was to make this as a character I would make it a wu jen from complete arcane with bathing and other such "niceties" as taboos

[axraelshelm]

there was a npc that my dm made up called Hovis which is a obese hairy vampire that never washed his flat was covered in rubbish and he wore a female bathing suit that was about 5 sizes too small for him. that made me want to bath.

[marjan]

There are feats in The Lords of Madness that give you some features of aberations. They give you disguisting apearance so attach them to half-orc or something like that and you are good to go. Consider also Alienist form Complete Arcane. For the playing such a character you may want him to spit when talking. That will probably make PCs want to bath after conversation with him.
If outsiders comes to play Hezrou might work like that.

[HomerHT]

It's all in the description. Off the top of my head...
"You approach a man who looks as if he either never bathes or bathes in oil. His hair is so greasy it gleans in the sun. He glares at (female party member with the
highest charisma) with a sly, almost toothless grin."

[ZekeArgo]

Inspiration comes from the simple things...

I was in the shower when a thought struck me. It would be really fun to create a character that is so creepy, slimy, or otherwise unsavory that a PC's primary reaction would be, "Ugh! He's so slimy I have to bathe just after talking to him!"

So I got wondering how all you guys out there in the playground would play such a character. What kind of NPC would provoke such a reaction from you? As a DM, have any of you used a PC that has provoked this or a similar reaction? What techniques do you think would work?

And though it's primarily a fluff thing, feel free to mention any feats, classes, spells, abilities, etc. that would seem appropriate for such a character. Role-playing and Mechanics do reflect each other, after all.

So give me the real slime.

As I recall there was a PrC along the lines of "Master of Ooze" or some such in the old Song and Silence book (or as I've come to call it Loots and Lutes)

Don't have it on hand at the moment, but might be what your looking for.

[silentknight]

I had a rogue named Smee the Flea who lived in gutters fighting rats for food. He never bathed (didn't like water all that much) and just standing next to him made you think, "Did I just step in dog poo?"

[draca]

There are a few prestige classes in the Book of Vile Darkness, a D&D supplement not for the feint of heart, or stomach, that fit that bill all over the place. For example the Vermin Lord, or la crème de la murk, the Cancer Mage. I felt like I needed a bath after just reading that one, much less meeting one in the alley behind a seedy tavern in a game.

Just giving an NPC one of those prestige classes, or even taking one or a few the derangements, (self inflicted deformities or the like) and adding other such descriptive details that are peppered throughout the book would be a fine starting point. I've found it a good supplement to help me craft villains weather I want smooth, sophisticated and dark, or just plain vile or anywhere in the spectrum that goes beyond "brutal and savage" and well into "That's just not right!"

Sans that supplement, a plain old fashioned dark imagination will get you far. I'm thinking I'd go with the festering sores in visible areas angle; plus a personality that displays extreme vanity, like they are truly convinced that they are the most attractive person in the room. At some point an insect could land on one of the open wounds and seem to start feeding there, while s/he does nothing to dislodge it or even seem to notice it at all.

To me that would have more effect if the base creature type were something once pretty.

[Assassinfox]

I take back what I said previously. An Ooze Genasi with levels in Cancer Mage, Vermin Lord, Flayerspawn Psychic, and Thrall of Juiblex would be the most disgusting.

[Foxer]

Le Styrge (sp?) from Michael Scott Rohan's Chase the Morning. Thoroughly unpleasant (and powerful) sorcerer who lives on a garbage tip. It is later revealed that he's had to spend a period of time wallowing in filth and debasement as part of a complex magic ritual. He really revels in his ability to gross people out.

[goat]

As I recall there was a PrC along the lines of "Master of Ooze" or some such in the old Song and Silence book (or as I've come to call it Loots and Lutes)

Don't have it on hand at the moment, but might be what your looking for.

Oozemaster, don't think it's been updated to 3.5 though.

But there are homebrews

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=372873

[crazedloon]

I take back what I said previously. An Ooze Genasi with levels in Cancer Mage, Vermin Lord, Flayerspawn Psychic, and Thrall of Juiblex would be the most disgusting.

oh but those are prc you need a base class so I would suggest a wu jen with a taboo against bathing until you get the required feats

I wouldnt touch that with a 10 foot pole

[Krellen]

The Worm That Walks template from the 3.0 Epic Level Handbook is the ultimate in ick, I think.

[Nahal]

that or epic pseudonatural

[NecroPaladin]

Lecherous Kobold who doesn't bathe and makes way too much use of his prehensile tongue in everyday life.

[LotharBot]

Also, make him have a really vile personality. Think Grima Wormtongue. Somebody who you know is devious, cunning, and who probably contaminates your brain just by speaking.

[elliott20]

Richard "Parson" Gere, Lord Hamster

I'd go on, but I think that should say enough as is.

[EvilElitest]

If you want to go for the player feeling mentally unclean, make a Drizzt clone who never baths.
from,
EE

[Death_Knight]

Parson didn't seem that bad to me. I mean, obviously he's a loser, and you just know he smells like freaking cheese, but not really someone that makes me go 'ew I have to shower now'. More like someone I'd feel bad for.

I'd go with the 'doesn't bathe' angle, with EXTREMELY greasy skin and/or hair, hair is all matted and tangled. Plus a disgusting voice, that either sounds like it's coated in oil, or like the guy's just a hair's breadth from vomiting on himself. Walks in a sensual, somewhat snake-like manner.. and, of course, appears to be completely oblivious to his hygiene problems. Loves to make physical contact with the PCs, putting hands on their shoulders, wrapping an arm around their sides.. and grins CONSTANTLY..
... have I hit disgusting yet? It's so hard to tell.

Really, if you do it right, you won't even have to add deformities. Human beings can become pretty impressively disgusting all on their own. And, in fact, that might make them all the more disgusting because of it. A person who could have been quite nice looking, but chose to let themselves degenerate into filth.. that's gross in a way an ooze genesai can't match.

[elliott20]

evidently you're focusing on a the wrong part of the post.

trust me, it's far worse than that.

[Sardia]

Corrupt nobleman who liked to have halfling servants. Dressed as human children. Technically avoided breaking the law, but everyone was more than glad to see him go.

[elliott20]

said nobleman used to be a dark elf, but then somehow turned himself into a Lich. Has a thing for wearing only one gauntlet as opposed to the full set.

[Rabiesbunny]

OTYUGH! YAAAAAY!

When I saw this header, I thought it was about 'Gamer Funk'. ^^;

[Demented]

Spot on, Death Knight. It's not enough for the character to be greasy as a static, visual trait... that grease has to interact with the players in some way, as well as their things (especially personal effects).

A single boil on someone's knuckle can be more disgusting than the tentacles of a pseudonatural horror, because the nature of the latter is so bizarre as to be unfathomable in all but a mechanical sense, while the former can easily be related to and loathed on a very personal level.

[Brauron]

Make him an elf that's let himself go -- grotesquely obese, oily skin, oily hair, crusted gunk around his lips, a boil or two.

[Diggorian]

So I got wondering how all you guys out there in the playground would play such a character. What kind of NPC would provoke such a reaction from you? As a DM, have any of you used a PC that has provoked this or a similar reaction? What techniques do you think would work?

In front of a mirror practice making the ugliest face you can. Speak in a high nasally voice with a sloppy lisp, make sure to lick your lips often to make them slick or chapped. Lean in close to the players whose PC he's talking to with mutiple ticks like snorting mucas, picking your nose/ear.

As PC's speak to him, he surveys them with a perverse savor, male or female. Any flesh is welcome to the touch of his gnarled fingers.

Then work the adjectives:
"His words occasionally pelt you with damp pork bits, especially when he's excited."

"An onion-laced vinegary musk hangs around him, so pungeant you can taste his sweat. The oily fishyness of unwashed nethers waft up from ... below."

*ends post to go vomit*

[Wehrkind]

Loves to make physical contact with the PCs, putting hands on their shoulders, wrapping an arm around their sides.. and grins CONSTANTLY..
... have I hit disgusting yet?

Exactly. Gross is gross and all, but it is not extremely uncomfortable until the player has to imagine themselves as part of it. That fat greasy guy might be unpleasant to stand next to, but he doesn't fill you with revulsion for yourself. It is only after he starts rubbing your shoulders and you feel his hot fetid breath on your ear that you want to scream/stab/shower/suicide all at once.

[Zeta Kai]

I actually made a feat for just such an occasion. It was originally designed for an odious race of slovenly people, but it could be applied to anyone, really. Behold:

Offensive Odor [General]
You stink. A lot. Oh my god, you reek. Eww.
• Prerequisite: Charisma 6 or less
• Benefit: Any humanoid, monstrous humanoid, or animal who approaches you become nauseated for 1d6 rounds.
• Special: This feat is temporarily negated for 1d4+1 hours if you become immersed in water. This becomes 1d8+2 hours if you intentionally cleanse yourself, or 1d10+3 hours if you use soap.

I think that this could easily be added to any particularly grody character. What do you think?