Literally, my character had blood on her and she didn't want it cleaned off for personal religious reasons. My party's bard said no you're not walking around like that and Prestidigitationed her.
Next time he pulls something like that, is there any way I can avoid it? My DM is pretty easy going so if I come in with a good option, he'll probably let me use it.
Sounds like a player versus player situation, like a character stealing gold from another character. Should really talk to the DM about it. Blood can attract some carnivorous creatures in the wild since they have keen smell feature. Could be interesting in a way. But, in other words, the religious character avoids bathing that specific area? Regular blood tends to fade away on its own after a while, so it would need to be reapplied. Maybe there's a way to reapply it, with character's hit points so now the Bard has to consider if they wanna indirectly reduce party member's hp with their clashing religious views or something.
If that is not appropriate discuss it OOC to determine what to do in character. In character the bard might have legitimate concerns about you being covered in blood. (Attacting preditors or attention from the guards) but if handelled completely in character you might agree to part ways with one of your PCs leaving the party. Unless the player wants to reroll you want to avoid that so decide on a solution OOC and act it out in character.
Prestidigitation won’t clean blood off of your character’s face, only objects. Your character is a creature, not an object.
You instantaneously clean or soil an object no larger than 1 cubic foot.
Add to this, a character's clothes would not fit within 1 cubic foot while they're being worn. Going strictly by RAW the bard would have been out of luck; he (she?) would have to be given the clothing before being able to clean it like this. Yes, a shirt could be folded smaller than 1 cubic foot (making it eligible for the spell), but by that logic one could also target a 50-foot piece of copper pipe because, "I could melt/crush it down into less than a cubic foot." An easy-going DM probably wouldn't strictly enforce Prestidigitation's restrictions like this under normal circumstances, but it's very reasonable say, "I don't think he should be able to go beyond those restrictions, if I'm not cooperating."
Add to this, a character's clothes would not fit within 1 cubic foot while they're being worn.
It's a cantrip you can cast as often as you like; you can absolutely clean multiple people's clothes/armor/etc with it while they're being worn
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Active characters:
Askatu, hyperfocused vedalken freedom fighter in Wildspace (Zealot barb/Swashbuckler rogue/Battle Master fighter) Green Hill Sunrise, jaded tabaxi mercenary trapped in the Dark Domains (Battle Master fighter) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Next time he pulls something like that, is there any way I can avoid it? My DM is pretty easy going so if I come in with a good option, he'll probably let me use it.
Putting on my DM hat, that's really something I would prefer the players sort out via role-play
If you want a mechanic for it though, a DEX save or whatever to dodge it doesn't make sense, since the bard can just keep trying. If it's genuinely a religious thing with deep meaning for the character and/or their god, I might let the cleric burn a Channel Divinity to make the blood "immune" to being cleaned for the rest of the day
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Active characters:
Askatu, hyperfocused vedalken freedom fighter in Wildspace (Zealot barb/Swashbuckler rogue/Battle Master fighter) Green Hill Sunrise, jaded tabaxi mercenary trapped in the Dark Domains (Battle Master fighter) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Prestidigitation won’t clean blood off of your character’s face, only objects. Your character is a creature, not an object.
You instantaneously clean or soil an object no larger than 1 cubic foot.
Add to this, a character's clothes would not fit within 1 cubic foot while they're being worn….
That would the most nit-picky, rules-lawyery, anal-retentive ruling ever. If a DM ever actually said that to me, the second thing I would do after picking my jaw up off the floor would be to ask if they were actually serious or just pulling my leg.
Literally, my character had blood on her and she didn't want it cleaned off for personal religious reasons. My party's bard said no you're not walking around like that and Prestidigitationed her.
Next time he pulls something like that, is there any way I can avoid it? My DM is pretty easy going so if I come in with a good option, he'll probably let me use it.
Well, I mean, if you wanted to you could point to the Dex save granted by the light cantrip as a potentially viable way to avoid the bards unwanted laundry services.
Or, since what the bard did is technically a PC v PC action, you could always declare that your character punches the bard in the nose, wipes the blood off their face and then wipes it on your character’s clothes. That would simultaneously deliver some negative reinforcement to them for their actions and reinforce your character’s desire to be blooded. However lots of tables would look unkindly on that sort of thing so I would clear it with your DM first. If I was your DM I’d allow it, and if I was the bard’s player I would think it both funny and befitting the situation, but I’m also told I’m an outlier in those regards so take it with a very large grain of salt. Just sayin.’
Or you could just pull that player aside and tell them the truth about how you feel regarding their character’s actions and how it violated your agency. If they insist on disregarding your wishes, then go to the DM and explain the situation to them and let them tell the bard player to knock it off or else.
Prestidigitation won’t clean blood off of your character’s face, only objects. Your character is a creature, not an object.
You instantaneously clean or soil an object no larger than 1 cubic foot.
Add to this, a character's clothes would not fit within 1 cubic foot while they're being worn….
That would the most nit-picky, rules-lawyery, anal-retentive ruling ever. If a DM ever actually said that to me, the second thing I would do after picking my jaw up off the floor would be to ask if they were actually serious or just pulling my leg.
And as a DM I wouldn't say it to you... unless you were using Prestidigitation to hassle another player at my table. In which case this would be part of a polite request to knock it off and work something out with them.
Prestidigitation won’t clean blood off of your character’s face, only objects. Your character is a creature, not an object.
You instantaneously clean or soil an object no larger than 1 cubic foot.
Add to this, a character's clothes would not fit within 1 cubic foot while they're being worn….
That would the most nit-picky, rules-lawyery, anal-retentive ruling ever. If a DM ever actually said that to me, the second thing I would do after picking my jaw up off the floor would be to ask if they were actually serious or just pulling my leg.
And as a DM I wouldn't say it to you... unless you were using Prestidigitation to hassle another player at my table. In which case this would be part of a polite request to knock it off and work something out with them.
But then that sets a precedent. I would just handle it differently is all.
If this was a religious practice, would it be common enough that people seeing someone obviously a cleric of this type of god that it wouldn’t be remarked on? If so, then the bard should understand this and what they did might be seen as sacrilegious by others. So it’s not like your just some crazed axe murderer strolling through town.
If its obscure then the bard might have concern that you, and by association them, could get in trouble. But it still shouldn’t be something one player should do to another without their permission. So OOC discussion should be the first avenue to resolving this.
If this was a religious practice, would it be common enough that people seeing someone obviously a cleric of this type of god that it wouldn’t be remarked on? If so, then the bard should understand this and what they did might be seen as sacrilegious by others. So it’s not like your just some crazed axe murderer strolling through town.
If its obscure then the bard might have concern that you, and by association them, could get in trouble. But it still shouldn’t be something one player should do to another without their permission. So OOC discussion should be the first avenue to resolving this.
Thats sort of my question also.
Why does the general populous find it normal and everyday to see someone walking around dripping blood?
A party I was a member of sort of had the same problem. The Necro guy wanted to walk into town with his undead entourage. It took a little explaining about how the locals might not like seeing people they knew and now know are dead, walking around.
Attitudes to people being covered in blood can vary by campaign and the impact will vary whether you are in town, in the wilderness or in a dungeon. So the bards decision to cast prestidigitation could be based on that.
A RAW prestidigitation only works if the object is smaller than 1 cubic put. It can not be used on part of a larger object. Normally a DM will disregard this under rule of cool but I could see a DM enforcing it to prevent a PVP conflict.
On a related note I had a monk which the first time he had haste cast on him on his first turn he missed on all his attacks and the spell ended before his next turn resulting in him not being able to act at all. Since then he has made it clear he does not want the spell cast on him again. As the trget of haste is "a willing creature" the spell will fail on him if it is cast.
Prestidigitation won’t clean blood off of your character’s face, only objects. Your character is a creature, not an object.
You instantaneously clean or soil an object no larger than 1 cubic foot.
Add to this, a character's clothes would not fit within 1 cubic foot while they're being worn. Going strictly by RAW the bard would have been out of luck; he (she?) would have to be given the clothing before being able to clean it like this. Yes, a shirt could be folded smaller than 1 cubic foot (making it eligible for the spell), but by that logic one could also target a 50-foot piece of copper pipe because, "I could melt/crush it down into less than a cubic foot." An easy-going DM probably wouldn't strictly enforce Prestidigitation's restrictions like this under normal circumstances, but it's very reasonable say, "I don't think he should be able to go beyond those restrictions, if I'm not cooperating."
I'd just like to add that VOLUME as specified in RAW of 1 cu ft does NOT define the dimensions of the object. 1 cu ft could be 1'x1'x1' ... however, 1 cu ft is ALSO, 2'x3'x2" - that is also 1 cu ft, as is any permutation which totals a volume of 1 cubic foot. In spell descriptions when they wany an area of effect of a 20'x20'x20' area the description uses "20 foot cube" to describe the area. Prestidigitation could just have easily been written to say a one foot cube but it was not. It defines the volume as 1 cubic foot which does NOT impose restrictions on the dimensions leaving it up to the DM to decide but RAW, the spell can affect many differently shaped volumes than a one foot cube.
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To the OP, having one character cast spells on another or directly DO something to the other character comes into the realm of PVP. Player vs player.
Deciding how player vs player interactions will be handled in a campaign is a discussion for all of the players and DM to have together. Once it is decided how PVP interactions will be resolved in the campaign... (A) not allow them at all (B) only allow them if both players agree to it (C) role play the resolution ... then folks need to accept the consequences.
As the OP demonstrates, some characters (and even players) will not like it if another character does anything that affects their character. The character/player could consider the interaction to cross personal space boundaries (i.e. in game via role playing or in some cases even out of game as one player interferes with how another player wants to role play their character - in this case the bard player was essentially telling the other player that they are doing it wrong and the character should stay clean whether for role playing reasons or otherwise - it is impossible to tell from our perspective whether the interaction is just role playing or whether there was additional subtext with the players).
Finally, if the players and DM agree to resolve PVP via role playing then they should not be surprised if a character with a hair trigger temper or a religious belief in blood decides that violence is the best way to handle a blasphemous bard that tries to clean them up while they are following religious rituals the bard does not agree with. It is not unreasonable that either one of the two characters will die or one of the two will be forced to leave the party, unless at least one of the two is willing to compromise.
I've had this happen in a game I ran in which a magic loving gnomish illusionist/thief was in a party with a magic hating barbarian. When a particularly powerful magic item fell into the hands of the party, the gnome stole it and hid it for themselves. The barbarian, already suspicious of the gnome from previous events searched and found the item. The barbarian decided that it was time for the gnome to meet their end since they were so untrustworthy. The thief managed to recover the magic item, flee the camp and exited the campaign never to return. It was fine with the players since PVP interaction resolution was something we discussed in advance. The two characters had diametrically opposite goals and views of the world, it was something of a miracle that they managed to stay together through 7 levels or so but the writing was on the wall from the first day of the campaign.
Finally, if the players and DM agree to resolve PVP via role playing then they should not be surprised if a character with a hair trigger temper or a religious belief in blood decides that violence is the best way to handle a blasphemous bard that tries to clean them up while they are following religious rituals the bard does not agree with. It is not unreasonable that either one of the two characters will die or one of the two will be forced to leave the party, unless at least one of the two is willing to compromise.
Sorry, no, it's just as much the OP's responsibility as the bard, maybe more so. Who in their right mind would antagonize an entire town by walking around covered in blood? Sorry, blood-soaked raving psychotics aren't generally welcome in the civilized world. Just consider the stigma attached to butchers and abattoir workers in pretty much any point in history. The OP was putting her rp amusement ahead of the party's safety and should have reconsidered the consequences, just as much as the bard should have talked her down before taking unilateral action. At least the bard had the party's interests at heart.
Finally, if the players and DM agree to resolve PVP via role playing then they should not be surprised if a character with a hair trigger temper or a religious belief in blood decides that violence is the best way to handle a blasphemous bard that tries to clean them up while they are following religious rituals the bard does not agree with. It is not unreasonable that either one of the two characters will die or one of the two will be forced to leave the party, unless at least one of the two is willing to compromise.
Sorry, no, it's just as much the OP's responsibility as the bard, maybe more so. Who in their right mind would antagonize an entire town by walking around covered in blood? Sorry, blood-soaked raving psychotics aren't generally welcome in the civilized world. Just consider the stigma attached to butchers and abattoir workers in pretty much any point in history. The OP was putting her rp amusement ahead of the party's safety and should have reconsidered the consequences, just as much as the bard should have talked her down before taking unilateral action. At least the bard had the party's interests at heart.
How do you know they are antagonizing an entire town? Unless I missed it we don’t know if this is a common practice among clerics of a commonly known god. Or do we know if the party was in any danger from it. Or if it was the bard who acted inappropriately or the cleric in this instance.
The OP didn’t say anything about the locale or the bard’s reasoning. So we have no way of knowing whether the bard had any legit concern. And even if they did, taking unilateral action is kind of a jerk move unless there is a significant threat. Religions do all sorts of objectively odd things, and each society has its own customs and rules. Hard to judge any of this without knowing the setting and rest of the context.
Finally, if the players and DM agree to resolve PVP via role playing then they should not be surprised if a character with a hair trigger temper or a religious belief in blood decides that violence is the best way to handle a blasphemous bard that tries to clean them up while they are following religious rituals the bard does not agree with. It is not unreasonable that either one of the two characters will die or one of the two will be forced to leave the party, unless at least one of the two is willing to compromise.
Sorry, no, it's just as much the OP's responsibility as the bard, maybe more so. Who in their right mind would antagonize an entire town by walking around covered in blood? Sorry, blood-soaked raving psychotics aren't generally welcome in the civilized world. Just consider the stigma attached to butchers and abattoir workers in pretty much any point in history. The OP was putting her rp amusement ahead of the party's safety and should have reconsidered the consequences, just as much as the bard should have talked her down before taking unilateral action. At least the bard had the party's interests at heart.
Who in the hell said anything whatsoever about their character being a “raging psychotic” before you?!? Nobody. Nothing posted has in any way even hinted at that PC running around shouting crazy talk (raving), nor that they are displaying any evidence of psychosis unless one believes that their staying blooded qualifies as displaying a lack of personal grooming or hygiene. However it’s been stated that behavior is not in fact a lack of grooming/hygiene, but instead a religious/cultural observance.
Throughout history and across the world there have been numerous examples of cultures in which a blooded warrior was afforded honors and special privileges. Heck, there have even been cultures who viewed those who weren’t blooded warriors as lesser members of society. I’m not saying that they were altogether common, and there were most definitely, shall we say “misunderstandings” or “friction” when people of those cultures interacted with people from other cultures. However they did (and in some cases still do*👇) exist. It’s perfectly viable for a player to wish to experience such cultural interactions through their character. Or perhaps that’s not their intention, but might be the result of their playing such a character regardless of their intent, and that’s okay too. Who are any of us to judge them for it?!?
This thread is not about whether or not the bard was correct in their belief or assertion that it would be inappropriate, unwise, or culturally unacceptable to walk around blooded. The point of this thread is to discuss ways the OP could address the bard player having taken away their agency, which to the TTRPG culture in which we all exist, is generally understood to be inappropriate, unwise, and unacceptable behavior. So let’s just stick to that. Okay?
*👉For example, consider the American gang member/convict practice of sporting teardrop tattoos to indicate that an individual has killed someone, or even multiple people. Or having one’s entire “criminal resume” tattooed on one’s body as famously practiced by the yakuza and Russian mafia. In these cultures, if one can’t visibly display that they’ve “put in work,” they don’t get the respect and privileges afforded to those who can.
And take an average “civilized” town or village, and a bunch of rough and tumble adventurers loaded to the gills with weapons and armor come stomping into the community, could that be seen as much of a threat than a cleric with some blood on them? We don’t know how much blood, was it in the shape of a holy symbol for the god, etc to make too many judgments on so little information.
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Literally, my character had blood on her and she didn't want it cleaned off for personal religious reasons. My party's bard said no you're not walking around like that and Prestidigitationed her.
Next time he pulls something like that, is there any way I can avoid it? My DM is pretty easy going so if I come in with a good option, he'll probably let me use it.
Sounds like a player versus player situation, like a character stealing gold from another character. Should really talk to the DM about it. Blood can attract some carnivorous creatures in the wild since they have keen smell feature. Could be interesting in a way. But, in other words, the religious character avoids bathing that specific area? Regular blood tends to fade away on its own after a while, so it would need to be reapplied. Maybe there's a way to reapply it, with character's hit points so now the Bard has to consider if they wanna indirectly reduce party member's hp with their clashing religious views or something.
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She could try and find a butcher's bib.
If that is not appropriate discuss it OOC to determine what to do in character. In character the bard might have legitimate concerns about you being covered in blood. (Attacting preditors or attention from the guards) but if handelled completely in character you might agree to part ways with one of your PCs leaving the party. Unless the player wants to reroll you want to avoid that so decide on a solution OOC and act it out in character.
Prestidigitation won’t clean blood off of your character’s face, only objects. Your character is a creature, not an object.
But the other posters are right that such things could also be dealt with in or out of character.
Add to this, a character's clothes would not fit within 1 cubic foot while they're being worn. Going strictly by RAW the bard would have been out of luck; he (she?) would have to be given the clothing before being able to clean it like this. Yes, a shirt could be folded smaller than 1 cubic foot (making it eligible for the spell), but by that logic one could also target a 50-foot piece of copper pipe because, "I could melt/crush it down into less than a cubic foot." An easy-going DM probably wouldn't strictly enforce Prestidigitation's restrictions like this under normal circumstances, but it's very reasonable say, "I don't think he should be able to go beyond those restrictions, if I'm not cooperating."
It's a cantrip you can cast as often as you like; you can absolutely clean multiple people's clothes/armor/etc with it while they're being worn
Active characters:
Askatu, hyperfocused vedalken freedom fighter in Wildspace (Zealot barb/Swashbuckler rogue/Battle Master fighter)
Green Hill Sunrise, jaded tabaxi mercenary trapped in the Dark Domains (Battle Master fighter)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Putting on my DM hat, that's really something I would prefer the players sort out via role-play
If you want a mechanic for it though, a DEX save or whatever to dodge it doesn't make sense, since the bard can just keep trying. If it's genuinely a religious thing with deep meaning for the character and/or their god, I might let the cleric burn a Channel Divinity to make the blood "immune" to being cleaned for the rest of the day
Active characters:
Askatu, hyperfocused vedalken freedom fighter in Wildspace (Zealot barb/Swashbuckler rogue/Battle Master fighter)
Green Hill Sunrise, jaded tabaxi mercenary trapped in the Dark Domains (Battle Master fighter)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
That would the most nit-picky, rules-lawyery, anal-retentive ruling ever. If a DM ever actually said that to me, the second thing I would do after picking my jaw up off the floor would be to ask if they were actually serious or just pulling my leg.
Well, I mean, if you wanted to you could point to the Dex save granted by the light cantrip as a potentially viable way to avoid the bards unwanted laundry services.
Or, since what the bard did is technically a PC v PC action, you could always declare that your character punches the bard in the nose, wipes the blood off their face and then wipes it on your character’s clothes. That would simultaneously deliver some negative reinforcement to them for their actions and reinforce your character’s desire to be blooded. However lots of tables would look unkindly on that sort of thing so I would clear it with your DM first. If I was your DM I’d allow it, and if I was the bard’s player I would think it both funny and befitting the situation, but I’m also told I’m an outlier in those regards so take it with a very large grain of salt. Just sayin.’
Or you could just pull that player aside and tell them the truth about how you feel regarding their character’s actions and how it violated your agency. If they insist on disregarding your wishes, then go to the DM and explain the situation to them and let them tell the bard player to knock it off or else.
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And as a DM I wouldn't say it to you... unless you were using Prestidigitation to hassle another player at my table. In which case this would be part of a polite request to knock it off and work something out with them.
But then that sets a precedent. I would just handle it differently is all.
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If this was a religious practice, would it be common enough that people seeing someone obviously a cleric of this type of god that it wouldn’t be remarked on? If so, then the bard should understand this and what they did might be seen as sacrilegious by others. So it’s not like your just some crazed axe murderer strolling through town.
If its obscure then the bard might have concern that you, and by association them, could get in trouble. But it still shouldn’t be something one player should do to another without their permission. So OOC discussion should be the first avenue to resolving this.
Thats sort of my question also.
Why does the general populous find it normal and everyday to see someone walking around dripping blood?
A party I was a member of sort of had the same problem. The Necro guy wanted to walk into town with his undead entourage. It took a little explaining about how the locals might not like seeing people they knew and now know are dead, walking around.
Being lynched is normally not a fun time.
Attitudes to people being covered in blood can vary by campaign and the impact will vary whether you are in town, in the wilderness or in a dungeon. So the bards decision to cast prestidigitation could be based on that.
A RAW prestidigitation only works if the object is smaller than 1 cubic put. It can not be used on part of a larger object. Normally a DM will disregard this under rule of cool but I could see a DM enforcing it to prevent a PVP conflict.
On a related note I had a monk which the first time he had haste cast on him on his first turn he missed on all his attacks and the spell ended before his next turn resulting in him not being able to act at all. Since then he has made it clear he does not want the spell cast on him again. As the trget of haste is "a willing creature" the spell will fail on him if it is cast.
I'd just like to add that VOLUME as specified in RAW of 1 cu ft does NOT define the dimensions of the object. 1 cu ft could be 1'x1'x1' ... however, 1 cu ft is ALSO, 2'x3'x2" - that is also 1 cu ft, as is any permutation which totals a volume of 1 cubic foot. In spell descriptions when they wany an area of effect of a 20'x20'x20' area the description uses "20 foot cube" to describe the area. Prestidigitation could just have easily been written to say a one foot cube but it was not. It defines the volume as 1 cubic foot which does NOT impose restrictions on the dimensions leaving it up to the DM to decide but RAW, the spell can affect many differently shaped volumes than a one foot cube.
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To the OP, having one character cast spells on another or directly DO something to the other character comes into the realm of PVP. Player vs player.
Deciding how player vs player interactions will be handled in a campaign is a discussion for all of the players and DM to have together. Once it is decided how PVP interactions will be resolved in the campaign... (A) not allow them at all (B) only allow them if both players agree to it (C) role play the resolution ... then folks need to accept the consequences.
As the OP demonstrates, some characters (and even players) will not like it if another character does anything that affects their character. The character/player could consider the interaction to cross personal space boundaries (i.e. in game via role playing or in some cases even out of game as one player interferes with how another player wants to role play their character - in this case the bard player was essentially telling the other player that they are doing it wrong and the character should stay clean whether for role playing reasons or otherwise - it is impossible to tell from our perspective whether the interaction is just role playing or whether there was additional subtext with the players).
Finally, if the players and DM agree to resolve PVP via role playing then they should not be surprised if a character with a hair trigger temper or a religious belief in blood decides that violence is the best way to handle a blasphemous bard that tries to clean them up while they are following religious rituals the bard does not agree with. It is not unreasonable that either one of the two characters will die or one of the two will be forced to leave the party, unless at least one of the two is willing to compromise.
I've had this happen in a game I ran in which a magic loving gnomish illusionist/thief was in a party with a magic hating barbarian. When a particularly powerful magic item fell into the hands of the party, the gnome stole it and hid it for themselves. The barbarian, already suspicious of the gnome from previous events searched and found the item. The barbarian decided that it was time for the gnome to meet their end since they were so untrustworthy. The thief managed to recover the magic item, flee the camp and exited the campaign never to return. It was fine with the players since PVP interaction resolution was something we discussed in advance. The two characters had diametrically opposite goals and views of the world, it was something of a miracle that they managed to stay together through 7 levels or so but the writing was on the wall from the first day of the campaign.
In ADD1 Barbarians gained additional experience through destroying magic items. They distrusted magic just that much.
Barbs would actually rather fight a magic using party member than go look for some other magic caster to kill. They were closer.
I guess this was removed later for obvious reasons.
They were far closer to the Conan character then what we have now.
Sorry, no, it's just as much the OP's responsibility as the bard, maybe more so. Who in their right mind would antagonize an entire town by walking around covered in blood? Sorry, blood-soaked raving psychotics aren't generally welcome in the civilized world. Just consider the stigma attached to butchers and abattoir workers in pretty much any point in history. The OP was putting her rp amusement ahead of the party's safety and should have reconsidered the consequences, just as much as the bard should have talked her down before taking unilateral action. At least the bard had the party's interests at heart.
How do you know they are antagonizing an entire town? Unless I missed it we don’t know if this is a common practice among clerics of a commonly known god. Or do we know if the party was in any danger from it. Or if it was the bard who acted inappropriately or the cleric in this instance.
The OP didn’t say anything about the locale or the bard’s reasoning. So we have no way of knowing whether the bard had any legit concern. And even if they did, taking unilateral action is kind of a jerk move unless there is a significant threat. Religions do all sorts of objectively odd things, and each society has its own customs and rules. Hard to judge any of this without knowing the setting and rest of the context.
Who in the hell said anything whatsoever about their character being a “raging psychotic” before you?!? Nobody. Nothing posted has in any way even hinted at that PC running around shouting crazy talk (raving), nor that they are displaying any evidence of psychosis unless one believes that their staying blooded qualifies as displaying a lack of personal grooming or hygiene. However it’s been stated that behavior is not in fact a lack of grooming/hygiene, but instead a religious/cultural observance.
Throughout history and across the world there have been numerous examples of cultures in which a blooded warrior was afforded honors and special privileges. Heck, there have even been cultures who viewed those who weren’t blooded warriors as lesser members of society. I’m not saying that they were altogether common, and there were most definitely, shall we say “misunderstandings” or “friction” when people of those cultures interacted with people from other cultures. However they did (and in some cases still do*👇) exist. It’s perfectly viable for a player to wish to experience such cultural interactions through their character. Or perhaps that’s not their intention, but might be the result of their playing such a character regardless of their intent, and that’s okay too. Who are any of us to judge them for it?!?
This thread is not about whether or not the bard was correct in their belief or assertion that it would be inappropriate, unwise, or culturally unacceptable to walk around blooded. The point of this thread is to discuss ways the OP could address the bard player having taken away their agency, which to the TTRPG culture in which we all exist, is generally understood to be inappropriate, unwise, and unacceptable behavior. So let’s just stick to that. Okay?
*👉For example, consider the American gang member/convict practice of sporting teardrop tattoos to indicate that an individual has killed someone, or even multiple people. Or having one’s entire “criminal resume” tattooed on one’s body as famously practiced by the yakuza and Russian mafia. In these cultures, if one can’t visibly display that they’ve “put in work,” they don’t get the respect and privileges afforded to those who can.
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And take an average “civilized” town or village, and a bunch of rough and tumble adventurers loaded to the gills with weapons and armor come stomping into the community, could that be seen as much of a threat than a cleric with some blood on them? We don’t know how much blood, was it in the shape of a holy symbol for the god, etc to make too many judgments on so little information.