Scent
Foul scents are produced whenever a criminal action occurs and can be used to try to track down the perpetrator when online, the perpetrator's hearth fire when offline, and to track stolen property.
Each time a scent is left, it does 1 SHP damage to the perpetrator.
Scents last a certain amount of game days before disappearing and their discoverability is determined by the perpetrators Intelligence and Stealth. Whenever a hearthling has a potential to see a scent, the server performs a dice roll using the observer's Perception and Exploration vs the perpetrator's Intelligence and Stealth. Failing this roll, the character will not see the scent. If successful, the degree of success of the roll will determine how many times the scent can be used to track the perpetrator.
A scent can be picked up an unlimited number of times before it expires. However, a container (including your inventory) can only hold 1 scent from a particular crime spot at a time. Scents do expire in your inventory or containers.
Leaving a summonable scent (see chart below) gives you two debuffs:
- Redhanded - lasts for 20 minutes, you cannot log off or use travel function while it lasts.
- Outlaw - lasts for the period of scent (look below for the table). Your character cannot log off while it lasts.
Scents of Vandalism, Battery, Murder and Theft can also be used to craft a Nidbane Fetter which if used in conjunction with Runed Dolmen, will sumon a Nidbane and allow you to take revenge on a player. A Nidbane persists even if the scent it is tracking expires. Once let loose the Nidbane always needs to be either destroyed in combat, or undone at the Runed Dolmen, by removing the Fetter from the Dolmen. A Touch of Vengeance (2016-01-13)
Criminal Acts Scent Duration
| Crime | Game Time | Real Time | Nidbane/
Outlaw |
Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Odor of Trespassing | 1 day | 8 hrs | No | Walking into claim (personal only), entering houses |
| Whiff of Rummaging | ? | ? | No | Looking into containers, opening gates, placing Stockpiles |
| Smell of Assault | 2 days | 16 hrs | No | Initiating combat with an another player |
| Reek of Theft | 8 days | 2 days 16 hrs | Yes | Taking items into your inventory, carrying objects outside the claim |
| Stink of Battery | 8 days | 2 days 16 hrs | Yes | Knocking Out Another player |
| Vile Vapor of Vandalism | 12 days | 4 days | Yes | Obviously destroying, but also actions like digging soil, harvesting crops, placing construction signs |
| Stench of Murder | 28 days | 9 days 8 hrs | Yes | Performing a Killing Blow on an another player |
Notes
- The number of times scents can be used is now based on the roll to see the scent. Sandy Scrimshaw (2019-03-05)
- Red-Handed time has been decreased from 1 hour to 5 minutes during Starboard Bough (2021-11-14), and then has been prolonged to 20 minutes during Spy-with-Eye (2021-11-21).
- Since World 7, leaving scents does 1 SHP damage. World 7 patchnotes
Game Development
- Juniper Buoy (2022-09-18)◎ >"Tents can now be folded with scents inside. Scents inside will be dumped to the overworld where the tent stood if you do."
- Sandy Scrimshaw (2019-03-05)◎ >"Scents have been easy to see, even with moderate amounts of perception/exploration. Adjusted this to something hopefully more reasonable, and also made it so that, the better roll you have when detecting a scent, the more uses it will have when collected. Stealth could perhaps be more relevant now."
- Another Touch of Fix (2017-03-08)◎ >"Differentiated a new crime: Rummaging. Rummaging becomes possible with the Trespassing skill, and covers minor offensive acts somewhere in between vandalism and trespassing, such as moving objects, opening gates, or lighting fires. Rummaging is not considered a griveous crime, and does not prevent logout. The idea being to give you better permission control."