It's an overlooked trait. I think fewer races should have darkvision, and more have heightened senses such as keen smell (back in 3e there was an optional rule that half-orcs and gnomes get the "scent" ability - maybe there was a feat that gave it - but that ability was super broken because it pretty much ruined any invisibility or hiding.)
I'd suggest just RP'ing it... that's what Perception, and maybe Survival (depending on what you're doing) is for. Just establish with your DM prior to play that your character relies more on smell than vision.
This is something that my Lizardfolk does in play, and my DM enjoys it and rolls with it - we both narrate that fairly often.
Feats can help, as well - Alert, Observant, or Skill Expert (expertise in Perception), could all be re-skinned to reflect your sense of smell without making things unbalanced. Again, you need DM buy in, but that's easy... and suddenly, those Troglodytes effect you like you got hit with Blindness on top of it, and maybe Darkness doesn't effect you so much - it's about consistency and party balance.
It would also be very easy to make a home brew feat, again with your DM buy in. That wouldn't be unbalanced at all... maybe even ask if you can swap it out for a different racial ability.
For matching flavor, it seems like Beastmaster Rangers, Beast Barbarians, and Druids would be appropriate classes. But they don’t have matching class abilities. The Warlock does - the Devil’s Sight invocation. Just reflavor it as a result of your sense of smell being superhuman, instead of magical sight.
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Is loxodon the only way to get Keene smell? I know druids can technically do it if they wild shape but I mean like a PC Race.
I don't know other ways to get Keen Smell
It's an overlooked trait. I think fewer races should have darkvision, and more have heightened senses such as keen smell (back in 3e there was an optional rule that half-orcs and gnomes get the "scent" ability - maybe there was a feat that gave it - but that ability was super broken because it pretty much ruined any invisibility or hiding.)
I totally agree with you it would make Darkvision a less common trait that way too
Lycanthropy offers Keen Smell.
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I'd suggest just RP'ing it... that's what Perception, and maybe Survival (depending on what you're doing) is for. Just establish with your DM prior to play that your character relies more on smell than vision.
This is something that my Lizardfolk does in play, and my DM enjoys it and rolls with it - we both narrate that fairly often.
Feats can help, as well - Alert, Observant, or Skill Expert (expertise in Perception), could all be re-skinned to reflect your sense of smell without making things unbalanced. Again, you need DM buy in, but that's easy... and suddenly, those Troglodytes effect you like you got hit with Blindness on top of it, and maybe Darkness doesn't effect you so much - it's about consistency and party balance.
It would also be very easy to make a home brew feat, again with your DM buy in. That wouldn't be unbalanced at all... maybe even ask if you can swap it out for a different racial ability.
For matching flavor, it seems like Beastmaster Rangers, Beast Barbarians, and Druids would be appropriate classes. But they don’t have matching class abilities. The Warlock does - the Devil’s Sight invocation. Just reflavor it as a result of your sense of smell being superhuman, instead of magical sight.