RPG Combos

[nekogrrl]

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab’s RPG scent series was designed to emulate the character creation process, and are meant to be layered in order to create a character concept. In short: you layer your class, race, and the two fragrances that compose your alignment to construct your character scent.

Hee hee, my turn to play! My first layering combo was Chaotic Rogue Elf. YUM. Musky leather with a hint of pine for the m'fin WIN. The combo on me turned out to be a bit masculine, as there was a bit of spice with the musky leather in the initial application, likely from the wasabi in Chaotic, but it's dried down and faded into a lovely musky scent. Not particularly picking up any of the florals in Elf, but they may have been covered up by Rogue and Chaotic before burning off.

My inner Elf wants to put this combo on at the LARP and go running around going 'Sniff me! SNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIF!!!' and hand out action slips for anyone who does. </dork>

[ajansuz]

OK, second combo. Chaotic Evil Orc Fighter. Man, was this one interesting! I did equal wand swipes on my wrists, inner arms, and neck, and it smelled different everywhere!

 

On my wrists, opium tar and leather duked it out in a gorgeous mix that was quite unisex overall but leaning a little more toward the feminine.

 

The crooks of my arms were delicious incensey, opium goodness with musk, leather, zucchini, and a slight metallic tang.

 

The mixture on my neck went pure metallic, like I rubbed a piece of steel all over me. It killed and ate every other note. I got lots of compliments, though!

[Diva Urd]

I've had Layer Fest 2011 today, and here are my results

 

Lawful Evil Dwarf Cleric

 

The "Dwarf" and the "Lawful" component dominate this combination, with a bit of smokiness from "Evil." "Cleric" got lost in the jumble. It's a combination that smells smoky-brown with a tangy-bitter edge to me. It's not terrible, but I'm a bit bummed that the Cleric left the building.

 

True Neutral Dwarf Paladin

 

I gave this two layers of "Neutral", and this is the strongest component. The hops of the "Dwarf" come next, with a hint of sweetness that might be from "Paladin" - this works surprisingly well, smells good, and symbolizes the concept for me.

 

Neutral Evil Rogue Half-Elf

 

The "Evil" got lost a bit. I get the slightly floral musk of "Neutral", the interesting beeswax from "Half-Elf" and a hint of leather from "Rogue." Not too bad of a combination, smelling woodsy, yet musky AND fresh.

 

Neutral Evil Orc Mage

 

... Mhm, I like Neutral Evil Orc Mages! There definitely is the funky green zucchini vibe, the fresh galangal of "Mage", "Neutral"s floral hint and a wisp of smoke and plum from "Evil."

 

Chaotic Evil Half-Elf Fighter

 

This is giving me a shoe-polish vibe. It seems like whatever went wrong on me with "Fighter" is amped here. There is a bit of residual sweetness from "Evil", otherwise it's all "Fighter" amped x 1000. "Chaotic" is totally lost and I cannot detect a distinct trace of "Half-Elf", either.

 

Neutral Evil Dwarf Mage

 

This retains a little bit of all components - "Dwarf"s hoppiness, "Neutral"s freshness, "Mage"s darker notes and maybe a hint of galangal, and a hint of smoke. Quite nice!

[Wwindy]

Chaotic Neutral Half-Elf Mage

 

This is absolutely *amazing*. I don't care for either Chaotic or Neutral by themselves, but somehow as a team they just work. Neutral tames the super-sharp sandalwood edge Half-Elf sometimes gets, and Chaotic brings a hint of well-rounded fruitiness to the party. Overall, it's a gorgeously complex blend of musky, woody notes with overtones of green and a touch of fruity floral -- it's hard to describe, but it smells SO GOOD! I've been wearing this combination for four days straight now, and I hardly ever do that...

[steelgossamer]

I'm trying out Neutral + Elf + Rogue today and it's a morpher.

 

Now that they've all dried down, I have one wrist that smells more Elfy and one that smells more Roguey. The musky underlayer is there, along with some warm berries and leather. I'm really digging Rogue with pretty much everything. This one is pretty nice, but I think Halfling will blend better with these two than Elf did. Ah well, there's always tomorrow .

[cyphersushi]

I've only got hold of a few tester imps so far, more sniffies really so your milage may wary from what I got since I got so small amounts.

 

Evil Halfling - Before testing I can't really get the phrase "evil cookie" out of my mind and it appealed to me alot. When I finally got to try these toghether I wasn't really disappointed. My first reaction was that is was a lot like Bilquis. Later it fades to be more evil fruit and less cookies but still with some crumbs remaining. All in all my little test makes me want a bigger sample so I can slater and hopefully get it to last longer.

 

Evil Halfling Mage - The mage and the evil combine to drown out most of the halfling but I'd need more testing to say more than that. I do believe there's an RPG imp puchase in my future at least. I need to try both the combos a bit more but it's very enticing so far.

[patina]

Yay! I got some imps. Here's a series of Evil themed tests

____________________________________________________________

Evil Cleric: I don't really care for this. The Cleric dominates and tends to bring out the soapiness in Evil. It's sweet and the the tobacco and frankenscence does well together, but I don't like it. The roses clash with the plum.

 

Evil Cleric Orc: The leather smooths and improves the Evil Cleric. The zucchini and vetiver, however are just plain out of place until the scent settles down. Picture an orc in a slinky black dress, wearing eyeliner. She's got roses in her hair, she works with sweet inscence every day, but if you cross her she will smash you with her enormous fist. On the American grading scale, I give it a C.

***********************

Evil Elf: Elf smells a little childish to me on its own, but add Evil and it smells like a Saturday morning cartoon villianess. Still childish, but sultury. For some reason I picture her with light purplish skin and white hair. B.

 

Evil Elf Ranger: Even more fruity. Why so fruity? Well at least there's the buckskin showing up. I think Ranger deepens the scent a bit, but doesn't measurably improve it.

 

Chaotic Evil Elf Ranger: Lollipops. Grape, cherry and pear flavored lollipops with musk. The beeswax must be bringing out the sweetness because this is much too much for me.

*****************************

 

Elf Fighter: The berries clash with the steel and leather a bit, turning Fighter chemically in a major way. I'm afraid it probably wasn't meant to be.

 

*****************

 

Evil Dwarf: Sweeter than Dwarf alone. I can't help but think of Evil as feminine. Now, I have an image of a dwarf in a slinky black dress and eyeliner, swigging beer and smoking in some dark workshop. Cheri Littlebottom, is that you?

 

Lawful Evil Dwarf: Ahh, that's better. Not that it was bad before, but Lawful gives a certain backbone to the scent, pulls it together somehow.

 

Lawful Evil Dwarf Rogue: Wood, leather, and chemical musk overkill. The reisen in Rogue is nice, but the hemp seems to turn into scented tissues. Not my thing.

**************

NON-EVIL RELATED STUFF I LIKE: Sorry this post is so long!

 

Orc Fighter- Light, leathery unisex cologne. This is so good on the inside of my wrists. Seriously, neither of them smell nearly so good alone.

 

Sexy Orc (Snake Oil + Orc): Seriously, it's Snake Oil, rough leather and the cucumber turns to grass. How could it smell anything less than good?

 

But Chaotic Sexy is even better. I don't have Neutral, but I think Chaotic must need some kind of light musk to keep it under control. Chaotic and Snake Oil is just amazing. Rogue or Mage does further nice things to this blend.

Edited June 11, 2011 by patina

[AnyseLawsBray]

I was the lucky, lucky recipient of a tester set of all 16 RPG scents, and so I feel it my duty to share my layering findings here. By my rough calculations, there are at least 155 different combinations if you stick to the general race-class-alignment way of doing things. I needed to pare it down so I didn't feel overwhelmed or get stuck trying combos for the next 3 months. So I made a little character sheet, giving each blend a corresponding name from Lord of the Rings. It has been a blast trying these out! (Not to offend you hardcore LOTR buffs, this was just for fun so don't be too picky about my combos- I decided on them based on my perception/knowledge of the characters. For example, in Elrond/Arwen/Aragorn's cases, they actually do have half-elf lineage, hence my selection, etc) Anyway, I will be adding more character combos as I think of them- but here's what I have so far. My fave combos are starred!

 

Neutral Dwarf Fighter - Gimli

(sweet & sour leather?! hmmm)

 

Good Half-Elf Paladin - Arwen

(not as thrilling as I had hoped- sugary sandalwood)

 

Good Elf Rogue** - Legolas

(pale, soft berry-stained leather)

 

Lawful Good Elf - Galadriel

(haven't tried yet)

 

Lawful Half-Elf Cleric - Elrond

(the dusty golden scent of ancient magic)

 

Lawful Good Half-Elf Ranger - Aragorn

(evergreems, clean & woodsy)

 

Lawful Halfling - Sam

(tart, green strawberries)

 

Good Halfling - Frodo

(vaguely soapy, with rich honey undertones)

 

Chaotic Halfling** - Merry

(creamy, lightly spiced porridge)

 

Neutral Halfling* - Pippin

(smells exactly like what I hoped Lilith's Tea Party would be, but wasn't on me)

 

Chaotic Good Mage - Gandalf

(haven't tried yet)

 

Chaotic Evil Mage** - Saruman

(deep purple, black & green, spicy resined plums)

 

Chaotic Neutral Fighter - Boromir

(haven't tried yet)

 

Good Paladin - Eowyn

(haven't tried yet)

[white_jenna63]

So, tried Chaotic + Elf this afternoon.

After the initial burst of, aspen, I guess, it settled down to a musky, perfume-y mess. And it was *strong*. I'm thinking it was the amber combined with...something that said commercial perfume to me, but it was headache inducing. After about ten minutes it finally calmed down and now it's much closer to the skin.

Musky, sweet, powdery, but still something that says "perfume" as opposed to "BPAL" to me.

Love the individual scents, but this combo is not for me.

 

ETA: Also tried the following today:

Good + Elf: Oh, this is nice. I found Good to be too one dimensional to wear on its own, but Elf adds almost a spiciness to it. I'm getting whiffs of something like licorice. Definitely adds depth and complexity to it.

 

Neutral + Elf: This is fantastic. Still getting the initial forest burst from Elf, but then the musk works beautifully with it. It's musky and sweet and sexy and woodsy, without being too masculine.

 

ETA: I don't wear the RPG combos that often, and I've now found that Neutral Elf fades *very quickly* on me. I'll be removing it from my combo list.

Edited December 6, 2013 by white_jenna63

[Penance]

Elf + Rogue - Rogue is the dominant scent here. This is predominately a leather and hemp scent, but with a touch of leaves and berries. It's like a woodsier version of Rogue alone.

 

The verdict - Next time I'm going to try this at a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio instead of a 1:1. Elf is a soft scent on me and it's getting overpowered by the intensity of Rogue, but it's still a really nice combination anyway. I can definitely see myself wearing these two together.

 

Elf + Ranger - Once again Elf is getting shoved aside even though I applied this in about a 2:1 ratio. Elf is there, lending a softer, more feminine woodsiness to the scent, but this is mainly the pine woods of Ranger.

 

The verdict - I'm going to have to go a little lighter still on Ranger next time, but this smells really good. Elf tones Ranger down a bit and makes it less aggressive smelling. This is my favorite RPG combo yet, even though I need to work on the balance.

 

ETA: I think I've figured out the issue with Elf being overpowered. My skin swallows Elf up in no time flat, but leaves the other RPG's to live out long, happy lives. So Elf disappears almost as soon as the drydown is complete and leaves just a tiny hint of itself to mix with whatever other scent I've layered with it. So slathering more Elf on won't help in the long run, but at least I'll smell really good for a little while.

Edited June 24, 2011 by Penance

[JamieEvangelista]

Lawful Dwarf Ranger

 

Ranger plays back up. Lawful and dwarf really shined on this one. The scent is very alluring and relaxing. I'm not sure if it's the leather, plant, and soot working well with the hops, but this was just delightful.

[DeCuvieri]

Let me be the fourth or fifth person to tout Chaotic Neutral. Neutral by itself is a simple musk, but it really does compliment Chaotic well. Getting bottles of both on the next order for sure!

Many years ago, a lifetime in terms of computer games, came a BioWare title called Baldur's Gate. It was there that I created one of two characters who have followed me around for years: A Chaotic-Neutral human (Fallen) Ranger. I was really excited to see how this lineup would layer when the RPG line came out, and I'm so psyched because this combination turned out to be a perfect match to what I think my character would smell like.

 

Chaotic Neutral Ranger: Even though each cites some musk or another in their ingredients list, these three layer up into a pleasant, warm woodsy scent. My big concern with Ranger the first go around was that it was a little too masculine, but Chaotic breaks the straight-up ruggedness with some really alien notes and Neutral softens the blend enough for a woman to wear comfortably. I am in love with this combination!

 

Neutral Evil Rogue: Inspired by my other old role play subject, I think this one has potential applied in the right proportion. I originally felt that Rogue really needed a compliment scent, and I think Evil accommodates that PERFECTLY. The end result is a foreboding figure in leather armor. Plus it's gender-neutral which addresses the suspicion I had that Rogue was too manly. I spread the three oils in equal proportions, but I think it would serve better to go a little easy on the Neutral next time, heavier on the Evil. Now I just need a Tiefling race scent and I'll be one happy camper!

Edited June 23, 2011 by DeCuvieri

[CiaoBonefish]

Half-Elf + Ranger = Wow. this is LOVELY. I really adore Half-Elf but it can be almost too woodsy leafy every now and then, but when combined with Ranger? Swoon. Sandalwood and musk laden beeswax with some leather, pine, and juniper. That being said, this blend is so so so much more than a simple description of it's notes. So completely evocative and I love the idea of Lord of the Rings scents and this is definitely what I would imagine Aragorn to smell like (will need to try this layered with Good and Lawful too)! Woodsy, forest-y, brown, green, extremely well put together, and a touch mystical and powerful while still being rugged and somewhat sexy? YES PLEASE.

[mineralgirl]

I bought imps of NEUTRAL and HALFLING as those were the two that appealed to me. I loved them each enough on their own that I turned around and ordered bottles the same day I got my imps... and then I remembered they were meant to layer so I did and now I am IN LOVE with the two even more! My husband even said 'that actually smells really good'

[zankoku_zen]

I sneer at conventions. Most of the classes didn't appeal to me, wheras most of the alignments did... so,

 

Lawful + Evil

I get a very smoky oak. However, as it dries the rhubarb peeks out and brings a lot of sweetness to it. On the final drydown, its more of rhubarb + chamomile, on top of a oak base. Slightly masculine. I found this very intriguing, although it lacked something.

 

Lawful + Neutral

Again, for me neutral is a cantaloupe sweet musk and that was very prominent on wet. As it dried, the sweetness became less aggressive but still prevalent and I got more chamomile and powderiness.

 

 

I think I might try race combos next. Because for me, this makes me think of MUNCHKIN. And I'm totally a half breed when I can. Can't wait until I get my gnome imp though!

[zankoku_zen]

Yes, I'm still human...

 

Good Ranger

Good brings a pervading sweetness to Ranger, and I get more of the musk coming out on this one.

 

Evil Ranger

I think Evil and Ranger are a good pairing, if somewhat masculine. The smokiness of Evil plays well with the woodsy Ranger base, and I get more of the plum in Evil coming out. Fierce.

[zankoku_zen]

Halfing Ranger

Ranger's woodiness tempers the foodiness in Halfling quite well. The foodiness brings sweetness to Ranger's wood and musk. I think some Evil layered on this would be awesome. Which is what I'm going to do next.

 

Elf Ranger

Elf's musk combined with Ranger's musk and woods ends up bringing up the leather aspects in Ranger, esp. on my skin. It smells very masculine actually, with a touch of honey. It's like a sophisticated men's cologne.

 

Later...

Evil Halfing Ranger

I feel that this is a very well rounded combination - the smokiness of evil, the hint of toothy foodiness from halfling, and it is weighted down by the woodsiness of ranger. Definitely in the darker scent category.

 

Good Elf Ranger

The good overlay definitely amps up the musks in all three blends, and honey. It doesn't go as powdery as good by itself, and I feel like the ranger again, weighs down the blend quite a bit. I don't think in general good is a scent element that I enjoy.

 

This will probably be updated with the combination of evil + elf and evil + halfing. Since, well, I love evil.

Edited June 30, 2011 by zankoku_zen

[white_jenna63]

Tried Good + Paladin yesterday.

Was "perfumy" to start with and then morphed into cheap roses about ten minutes in. No idea where the rose was coming from. It finally dried down to a sweet "meh". Definitely think it would work better with the addition of another scent for some variety, although hoping the roses don't come back.

[zankoku_zen]

Evil Half-Elf

Definitely pitches the evil into the more masculine side, making it muskier yet slightly sweeter. It comes off as more 'sophisticated'.

 

Neutral Half-Elf

Sweeter, white musk, slightly citrusy bouquet. It's an interesting, very urbane mix. Again, I feel like half-elf is masculine on me, but this one because of the sweetness in neutral ends up in a more gender-neutral category.

[Blood onmy hands]

.

Edited September 9, 2013 by Little Bird

[patina]

I don't care for Gnome on its own, but it's beautiful with resinous scents like Mage or Cleric. With Neutral, it even turns Good into something more than a sugary mess on me.

 

Neutral Good Gnome Cleric is sweet, gingery rose and resin that fades quite a bit.

 

Chaotic Neutral Gnome is fruity musk overkill with a tiny hint of ginger.

 

Neutral Evil Gnome Rogue is very dark and the ginger meshes well with Evil's green tea and Neutral's fruit musk. Gorgeous!

 

But Good Gnome (sweet gingerale!) or Chaotic Good Gnome are my favorites.

Edited April 3, 2013 by patina

[Blood onmy hands]

Elf + Ranger: I wanted to try this, because Elf and Ranger are both pretty heavy on the pine. The addition of Ranger makes Elf smell more masculine on me, and it's like being beaten over the head with pine boughs. It dries down to a fizzy, sweet pine/juniper that reminds me of the lab's gin note. Don't know why, lol.

 

Elf + Rogue: I love Rogue, and seem to like it layered with just about anything. Elf seems to add a cool, slightly foresty edge to Rogue's soft leather, and I can smell a sweet berry note as it dries down. Very pretty, and makes me think of a stealthy hunter moving through a forest at dusk.

 

Elf + Paladin: My favorite thing layered with Elf, even though it sounds like something that I'd normally hate (as it goes a bit sharp and soapy-clean on my skin). It's like an electric clash of metal in the middle of a pine forest. Very evocative. Sexy and clean with an edge. I think I'll mix these two together in a spray bottle for my husband. It actually reminds me of blends like Snow Moon.

 

For some reason, I have good luck layering the classes with the races, but the alignment scents don't layer well for me, with the exception of Neutral. Chaotic, Good, and Evil all tend to overpower the other blends for me.

[mxtine]

My first time testing RPGs. Half-Elf and Elf didn't work out for me, but I love Ranger, Paladin, Good and Evil. So far I've tried:

 

Paladin + Good

Pollen/beeswaxy honey white musk. White musk usually smells clean, but the beeswax is giving this a naughty vibe.

 

Paladin + Evil

Evil was dark powdery opium, which I love, but Paladin makes it smell less powdery and lends some sexy leather to this combo.

 

Paladin + Evil + Ranger

Same as above, with a balsam note.

 

Ranger + Good

Honey in the forest. I don't know how else to describe it, but it works!

Edited July 29, 2011 by mxtine

[Blood onmy hands]

Two not-so-good mixes I tried recently:

 

Lawful and Paladin both have clean qualities to them, so I wanted to try them together. Oddly, together, they seem to amp up those clean qualities and actually turn soapy on me, when neither are soapy on their own. The chamomile also seems sharper and more bitter.

 

Evil Halfling. I like Halfling layered with most things, but I hate Evil, so I wanted to see if Halfling could make Evil wearable for me. It doesn't. It's better than Evil on its own, because Halfling tries to sweeten up the blend, but it smells sort of like cookies smashed into an ash tray with a splash of sharp opium poured over them. Adding Rogue into the mix makes everything better again, though. I'll have to try just Evil and Rogue together at some point...

[milo]

Good Elf: The Good seems to temper the Elf's piney outdoorsy feel, and Elf seems to tone down the sweetness, though Good to me isn't overly sweet anyways. The result is two beautiful musks, slightly sweetened with honey. This is like freshly washed elf (female) that has bathed in a woodland pool. I really like this, and have a bottle of Good on the way. I may have to get Elf too, if my imp doesn't last...

 

Good Half-Elf: I'm getting amber out of this, and it's beautiful. Not as sweet as Good.

 

Chaotic Neutral: I don't know what happened here, but I'm getting something strong and weedy, though I don't get that note on my own when I tried them separate. I love the musks in the background, but the pungent weedy note is just plain bad on me. It smells like someone has whacked off a bunch of thistles from the weedeater. Not a smell I like.

 

Good Ranger: Seems like anything with Good can't go wrong. Though Ranger was much too 'butch' for me, the combination is a very fresh, summer day in a meadow. In the distance a hot guy with chaps is laying down beside you. Lovely, the leather in Ranger is REALLY good.

 

Evil Ranger: Masculine, musky, leather outdoorsy. Kind of like a guy in leather walking through the woods.

 

Neutral Half-Elf: At first, there's that weedy note, as in Chaotic Neutral, but it does fade fast this time. Dries to a minty aquatic, (but not too strong of one) on me. In fact, very much like Polar Bear Plunge. Very fresh and summery. Nice combo, this one.

 

Good Paladin: Though I like Good, when it's mixed with Paladin, it smells kind of musty. The leather here isn't as good as Ranger.

 

Evil Half-Elf: I was hoping the light besswax musk of Half Elf would temper Evil's well, evilness. At first, Evil still overpowers everything, which is kind of true in real life, but after a bit, it's a nice musk. I still don't get much sweet musk or beeswax, but Evil combined with Half Elf is much better than Evil by itself.

 

Evil Elf: The fresh forest pine of Elf seems to temper Evil's overpowering musky resin's somewhat. After twenty minutes it's REALLY good, yet I'm not too fond of both by themselves. I think the light musks and heavy ones balance each other out. I would ssy this was gender neutral.

 

Neutral Elf: Though I used equal amounts of oil, Neutral seems to be the dominant one here. Kind of white florally musk. I think I'm going to add more Elf and report back.

 

Chaotic Elf: Cologney, fresh aquatic.

 

Neutral Ranger: Ranger seems to make Neutral less florally to me. Kind of an un-assuming gender neutral blend. Nothing to write home about..

 

Chaotic Good Elf: Sweet, outdoors musk. I love Good Elf, and this is pretty similar.

 

Neutral Good Elf: Sweet again, very unoffensive combinations of fresh and musk. I love this.

 

Neutra Good Elf Ranger: Same as above, only with added leather.

Edited September 29, 2011 by milo