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I was running Incident at Absalom Station and a couple of things stuck out about space combat. Certain creatures (Specific example Akatas) that I assume are meant to be dwellers of space, possess blindsense with the scent ability. I assume there is some way to smell in space but it had my players ask the question: Can you smell anything in space?
Normally smells are distributed via air currents but in the case of open space or 0-atmo situations would a creature that doesn't need to breathe but possesses the scent ability still be able to smell? If the answer is no, why would a creature designed for space have Blindsense (scent)? Also why is a creature that doesn't breathe able to use scent?
Their smell would be the picking up of particles on some receptor that are either floating or settled on a surface. The akata most likely have smell receptors not attached to respiratory organs. Maybe it’s on their feet? Maybe that is what their tentacle mane is for?
And in a vacuum there would still be particles to smell with floating around. The akata would be able to pick up on those particles that the players disturb as they flail about, bumping into walls and deck plates. Even if there was gravity, but no atmosphere you could see how dust and similarly sized particles could be bounced and jostled about to let them use scent when they can’t see their prey.
And in a vacuum there would still be particles to smell with floating around. The akata would be able to pick up on those particles that the players disturb as they flail about, bumping into walls and deck plates. Even if there was gravity, but no atmosphere you could see how dust and similarly sized particles could be bounced and jostled about to let them use scent when they can’t see their prey.
Oh.
I just ruled they couldn't scent anything until the players turned the atmosphere back on.
But that makes more sense.
Holy ()#*$()*#$ the smelloscope is real
They're smelling the suit.
They're smelling the suit.Why would the suit be giving off particles? That would imply its disintegrating, albeit very slowly. Even today, plastics, textiles, and metals of decent quality don't give off a scent. It seems unlikely (to me) that a futuristic space suit would be degrading in this way. Even if the suit were slowly, but constantly, falling part, I wouldn't expect those particles to be traveling very fast or very far.
Our scholars have found that very few hoo-mons scrub their skin-dust off of their space enviro-garb after putting it on. They leave much in the way of epidermal flakes, nasal ejectorant, mouth saliva, and auditory organ grease on their void clothes after putting them on, as well as various machine oils for maintaining the clothing, perhaps in some religious ritual capacity.
You would be surprised at how messy hoo-mons are.
My brother is an electrical engineer and develops cube satellites, the one problem with vacuum is that it makes things outgas. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materials_for_use_in_vacuum
Vacuum, combined with solar radiation is basically the worst environment for any man made materials. Outgassing even makes aluminum grow tiny splinters that will flake off of any exposed surface, often destroying electronics.I don’t think it’s too far fetched to assume a creature that can survive in space could have sensory organs that can “smell” these molocules all around them.
This is pretty much why the car spacex shot into space is going to be a bare skeleton pretty soon. Solar radiation+vacuum is going to wreck all the plastics and carbon stuff pretty fast until there is nothing but the most durable parts of its frame/motors left.
My brother is an electrical engineer and develops cube satellites, the one problem with vacuum is that it makes things outgas. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materials_for_use_in_vacuum
Vacuum, combined with solar radiation is basically the worst environment for any man made materials. Outgassing even makes aluminum grow tiny splinters that will flake off of any exposed surface, often destroying electronics.I don’t think it’s too far fetched to assume a creature that can survive in space could have sensory organs that can “smell” these molocules all around them.
That's fascinating stuff.
Not to mention everything in Starfinder is 3d printed usings upbs, and probably made to fall apart.
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I was going to mention outgasing and the molecule detritus we leave behind, but it's been covered. Ya. I gather what they are doing is picking up the random gas and molecules you give off. I'd imagine until the got close enough to the players to get a good whiff you might find them 'snuffing' around with their feelers picking up whatever they can from rocks, where people step, etc.
It wouldn't be scent as we normally think of smelling. While outgasing is real, the amount of particles produced is small, and in a vacuum with microgravity their is (to my knowledge) no easy way to predict where they end up. With such a small number of particles it is unlikely that you could "smell" them. Smell works well in an atmosphere. SO, I could see it if it was a particle detection organ that worked in space, that worked differently from normal olfactory sense.
I'm guessing that perhaps "scent" is the closest analogy they had.