Here's an odd question. Under the Afflications in "Horror Adventures," people can be cursed with Vampirism and gain the following skill:
Allure, giving a bonus to bluff, diplomacy, and intimidate checks.
However, it includes the Stain of not casting a reflection. As the GM, I feel this means there should also be a penalty to Disguise Checks as you can't check a mirror to make sure you're putting on the disguise properly. My player feels that the Afflicted could just put foundation on their face and thus they'd appear in the mirror.
The rules don't give an actual penalty to Disguise checks but to be honest? It makes sense to me. You cast no reflection so if you need to use a mirror for something? You're kind of screwed. (I do have to wonder how that impacts the use of mirrors in blind fighting - could the person look behind themselves by looking in a mirror and since they don't see themselves in the mirror (and others can't see them in the mirror) they can see what is behind them?)
Thoughts on this?
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A disguise kit doesn't include a mirror, so it seems that that not using one will not give a significative penalty.
Consider that makeup and disguising aren't necessarily correlated. If I want to pass as a city officer changing my attire, posture and attitude are way more important than changing my face. If I want to impersonate someone specific using makeup can be important, but even then it all depends on how well the other person knows the aspect of the one I am impersonating.
Mirror, not casting a reflection and the using of foundation: from what I recall of vampire lore it is not only the vampire body that is not reflected but all his gear too, so it will not work. But every author had as different take on that, so you can do as you prefer.
Disguise does not require you to check a mirror. Often makeup is not even needed for a disguise. If I am trying to disguise myself as member of an army all I need to do is to get ahold of some appropriate clothing and maybe some gear. Makeup might be useful if you are disguising yourself as a specific person or another race.
Do you penalize characters who don’t have a mirror? Good quality mirrors where actually pretty rare in medieval times.
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Do you penalize characters who don’t have a mirror? Good quality mirrors where actually pretty rare in medieval times.
The one in the Equipment guide is a polished steel slab (with an ungodly cost, 10 gp).
The shaving kit has a mirror (it doesn't say if it is a glass mirror or a polished bronze mirror) and cost only 15 sp.AFAIK there is no useful indication about the cost of high-quality glass or mirros.