| From: | Paul Gettle <RunnerPaul@*****.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Scent of a Woman [Long] [was: Taking Women Seriously] |
| Date: | Wed, 29 Jul 1998 16:00:04 -0400 |
At 10:52 PM 7/28/98 -0400, Nexx wrote:
>> > PhysAd tracked one woman amidst a throng because she was the
only one
>> > menstruating, which made her scent much more distinctive, and
easier to
>> > follow...
>>
>> Kind of hard to believe... Wouldn't somewhere between 20% and 25%
of the
>> women in the "throng" also have been menstruating?
>
>Well, for one thing, the throng wasn't all women, so there would be
less
>confusion... besides, the menstruation (we decided) would make her
scent more
>distinctive, stronger than those around her... even if other women
were
>menstruating, their scents would have been much more "them" as well.
You know, this is a topic I've wanted to get some feedback from the
list on for a while, because I've actually been speculating on it
since Shadowtech came out. No, not that 'not so fresh feeling'.
Enhanced senses of smell, and minute airborne odors and vapors.
There are several ways to boost the sense of smell in Shadowrun.
Olfactory Booster and Gas Spectrometer implants. Physad powers.
Shapeshifting. Hypersenses spells. Live simsense feed broadcast from a
cybered bloodhound implanted with a Sense Link or other ASIST sampling
rig. (Alright, perhaps the last one is a mite suspect, especially
since there's never been anything established about cross species
simsense in either the rules or the background material, but you get
the general idea.)
However, unlike some of the other enhanced senses depicted in
Shadowrun, like thermographic vision, hardly any of us have a frame of
reference to base a character with an enhanced sense of smell on, from
either the role-playing standpoint, or from a purely tactical
standpoint. I would like to have a brainstorming session with the list
about enhanced smell, to get a consensus of what sort of things seem
reasonable.
First of all, how much better of a sense of smell could one get from
the Olfactory Booster? To be honest, I suspect that even with 60 years
of advancement in 'scent sensors', that the olfactory booster, even at
it's highest level, would just barely be a match for a dog with heavy
sinus congestion. To be able to match the canine nose, would require
magic IMO, either physad or detection spell.
The reason I say this, is that dogs (and many other predators too)
have a significantly larger percentage of their cranial cavity
dedicated to sinuses and scent membranes, with enough space for air to
freely circulate through the nasal system. I suppose it's possible to
increase the surface area of metahuman sinuses through bioware, but I
don't think there would be many ways to increase the volume, which is
important for the air circulation. Magic however, would allow
convenient sidestepping of these purely physical limitations.
However, I'd like to focus on the things that any character or even
critter with a superhuman sense of smell would be able to sense. After
all, I imagine that the new world of scent opened up by even the
relatively low powered Olfactory Booster would be quite vast.
Tracking. We all know that personal scents linger in the air and cling
to surfaces long after one passes through an area. Often, the
strongest scent trail is that left by the perspiration off of the
soles of ones feet. Wearing shoes does not help, as through time, the
moisture (with the individual's specific scent) will ooze through the
sole of the shoe, leaving a scent trail stamped into the ground or
floor.
Even in a heavy traffic environment, such as a sidewalk, building
lobby, or transportation depot, if the tracker were familiar with the
individual being tracked, it should be easy enough to pick up an
individual scent. Not only does each individual put out a slightly
different scent to begin with, other factors, such as a favored
perfume, the type of shampoos and soaps an individual washes
themselves and their clothes in, and even a preference for lunching on
a particular menu item from a certain fast food chain, all add up to a
highly specific scent signature.
Studies have shown that scent memory is the strongest of all sensory
memories. A tracker who has experience with the proper use of an
enhanced sense of smell should be able to make note of a stranger's
scent signature upon first encounter, should the tracker want to be
able to track the stranger later. Perhaps this could be handled with
some form of perception test? Allowing of course for the fact that
this is a one time 'snapshot' of a scent signature, and while the
underlying body scent will not change too much over time, the other
scents overlayed on top might vary, if the tracker were to attempt a
tracking at a much later time.
Detecting the unseen. Scent can be a big betrayer of the hidden, as
the existing rules for weapons chem-sniffers have already shown.
Perhaps the chemsniffer rules could be adapted for those with enhanced
senses of smell. It might even be possible to smell the SWAT team
waiting for our runners just on the other side of the door, just from
the smell of their guns.
When enhanced smell comes into play, it's a lot harder to hide. Sure,
you can duck under the desk when the security guard is coming, flip on
your Ruthenium suit, and lay a low radius Darkness manipulation to
enhance the shadows under the desk, but you're still going to be
giving off a scent. It's not really likely that the guard would have
an enhanced sense of smell, but what if he has a security dog with him
on his patrol?
Secrets would also be harder to keep around an enhanced sense of
smell. The polymer used in cyberlimb synthskin probably gives off a
faint but unique odor. Other cyber and bio, at least those that cause
systemic changes to the body (wires, suprathyroids, and the like)
probably alter body chemistry enough to cause a change in scent.
Active magic use, IMO, also affects the body on a systemic level, so
if a mystic is sustaining or just about to cast a spell, there might
be a faint scent change. Fetishes, especially if enchanted from herbal
materials would also have recognizable scents.
If the GM still uses paper money, and the runners find themselves in a
situation where they're making an exchange of some merchandise for a
briefcase full of bills, an enhanced sense of smell could tell the
difference between the crisp scent of Mint (i.e. the UCAS Mint) and
the smell of cheap pulp-grade paper, without even opening the
briefcase. Or say the team has been hired by a Johnson who says he's
from MCT, and wants them to pull a run against Renraku. The team's
Sniffer could tip them off to the fact that the Johnson reeks of the
scent of processed arcology air, and the run might be some kind of
setup.
The smell of fear. I hinted at this above; changes in bodily state
will change the scent one gives off. Emotional swings, illness, recent
exertion, and countless other factors should all tweak a personal
scent slightly differently. With experience, a trained Sniffer might
be able to pick up on the subtle stresses that the body goes through
when lying, and become a walking lie detector.
The problem with integrating these ideas into game play is in keeping
play balance. If a GM is too liberal in letting players take advantage
of enhanced sense of smell, then the players can get an unfair
advantage in the sheer quantity of information that can be gained.
However, this is a problem merely because there is so much info to be
learned just beyond the threshold of the metahuman sense of smell;
Attempts to limit the usefulness of an olfactory booster can also keep
it from accurately portraying the wealth of tricks possible for that
humble piece of ware. Then of course, are the GMs who allow PC
shapeshifters; Shapeshifters would literally live in a world awash
with scents, since smell would be at least as important to them as
sight, and their primary sense while in animal form.
There are always the curbing effects of roleplaying and social
interaction. Someone with enhanced sense of smell could be very
unnerving, especially if he went around asking strangers "How long
have you been pregnant anyway? 2 months?" or telling his friends
"Don't tell me you had a little vodka in your coffee this morning,
because I know you didn't have coffee this morning" (5 bonus points to
whoever can tell me the source of that second quote.) A GM should feel
free to add modifiers to either the social backlash vs. cyberware (or
bestial nature in the case of shapeshifters) if a PC is constantly
pulling stunts with his nose.
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--
-- Paul Gettle (RunnerPaul@*****.com)
PGP Fingerprint, Key ID:0x48F3AACD (RSA 1024, created 98/06/26)
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You dare defy my whims?!?
I am the game master; you are my pawns!
I created the world you see before you!
I control your fate!"
-- Dexter, Dexter's Laboratory.
