Classes
Class refers to your character’s choice of adventuring profession.
RPG Series
Illustrations by the inimitable Julie Dillon.
PERFUME OIL BLENDS
Presented in an amber apothecary vial
“You all meet at an inn…”
Pen and paper role-playing games have been a tremendous influence in my life since my formative years. My parents bought me the magenta D&D boxed set back in 1982, along with the Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual. My lifelong passion for fantasy, science fiction, war games, and mythology was well-channeled through RPGs, and I credit playing D&D with helping me sustain my imagination and sense of wonder through adulthood.
I played with one particular group through the bulk of my late teens and early 20s, and this series — along with the atmosphere tools that Black Phoenix Trading Post has introduced — was inspired, specifically, by the time that we spent campaigning together. Our group was somewhat prop-driven in our gaming: we felt that setting a mood was conducive to our style of gameplay. Little things like changes in lighting, minor sound effects, and music made a world of difference, and we found that utilizing miniatures, model railroad scenery, and other tools in order to physically illustrate strategies and provide visual cues was tremendously useful. How much more immersive would it have been if we’d been able to smell the crypt we were crawling through? Or the stench of steel and blood that permeates a warrior’s cloak? What do the wizard’s spell components smell like? What does winter in the desert smell like? Or spring in a druid’s sanctuary?
Pen and paper role playing games are, to me, dynamic stories that are propelled by the active participation of many individuals. You can’t have a strong storyline without creating characters of some depth. When you create a character, you generally have their personalities, priorities, and history in mind, along with a clear vision of what your character looks and sounds like. But how does she smell? What does the world around her smell like?
In most pen and paper fantasy RPGs, three of the primary attributes that you must choose for your character are race, class, and alignment. 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. RPGs in all their myriad forms — CRPGs, MMOs, and old school pen and paper — have brought me immeasurable joy. This is my homage. This series is dedicated to my first DMs — my parents — for laughing off the nutter-perpetuated AD&D Satan Scare of the 80’s. Thanks for taking the time to play with your little girl. I miss you, and I love you.
Laurel Buliavac –
I ordered a big box of imps (well, a little box with a lot of imps) and this is hands down my favorite, I’m ordering a full-sized bottle before I’m even finished trying the other samplers.
Wet, the metal note dominates. but fades to the leather as it dries. The musk smell is the last to go. I apply perfume to my neck, and inevitably some gets on my shirt collar. The iron smell lingers noticeably longer on the fabric than on the skin, so it’s like I just took off armor or something.
This is the smell of the Mandalorian your man could smell like.
pdahbour –
12/5/20, I received my order this week and Fighter was the surprise add on. I’m enjoying fighter immensely. I’m noticing the leather most of all and luv it. I find a little dab at wrist and by ear/neck lasts all day. This one is subtle on me and I’ve worn it straight and mixed with a favorite, Dalal ,which is tobacco and vanilla like from another vendor.
I will be getting a larger size of Fighter soon as it can be worn in a variety of settings, albeit not much human contact during the pandemic. Lol, this one is excellent!
Angel Diaz –
Really nice scent and strangely ended up smelling like flowers and a typical cologne on me strangely but it wasn’t a super strong scent on me just nice. This scent…ahem. Made me act up as well.
azaenir –
The “blood” aspect made me really question how good this could be and GOD was I wrong. The leather really shows on me with this faint metallic tang that is just sexy. On my best friend the metal really strongly cones out with a faint after-note of leather. This is a VERY impressive scent and she plans to buy herself a bottle of it!
Chelsea –
Ugh, I am obsessed. I love the leather notes, probably because I love horses, but the mix of steel and blood is a perfect balance. It’s one of those scents where I keep smelling it, because I can’t quite put my finger on it…like a previous review, I did wonder what other people would think of it if they caught a whiff, but I absolutely love it!
redhotdepechemode –
I have mixed feelings about this scent, and unfortunately they are brought upon by others. I got this as an frimp in my first BPAL order and it ended up being my favorite even among the ones I hand selected for myself! As it aged it became even better, I’d have my nose inside my wrist while I was driving on the freeway just inhaling the scent, something of it was just…homey to me. I certainly got the steel/blood and musk, but perhaps not the leather, though my nose isn’t all that educated on picking out scents like that.
So, as I am over here basking in how the scent just became better and better as it meshed with my skin, I go downstairs when there are folks home and both my brother and mom start asking what that unpleasant smell is! My mom sniffed my wrist and told me that it reminded her of cleaning supplies. My brother said something along those lines too, like a spill of cleaner.
Well, I was a tad worried there, because was it really just me that was so thoroughly enjoying the scent and walking around I was disturbing the peace with cleaning fumes? Either way, I’ve been aging it more and stuck to only wearing it on my own until I can get more opinions.
So, 10/10 from me, less so from my family!
smags –
Holy Hannah, this is my favorite perfume ever, from any company. Bottle: hot metal, a bit of (clean) sweat, incredibly enticing. Wet: honestly a tiny bit of hot plastic, but much more warm metal and leather. Still extremely attractive. Dry down: the leather starts to shine, but it’s a worn leather, not a fresh saddle-like leather. There’s still some metal to it, too. Boyfriend also smells good in it, though he prefers it on me. He says when I come home after wearing it all day, he still smells metal. I adore this scent, and had to work really hard to find ways to describe it that weren’t “it’s f’ing awesome and just buy it!”
Deremna –
I love this scent so much. This and Chaotic are the two RPG scents that I am most likely to wear on their own instead of mixing them. Straight out of the bottle and on my skin, it smells like metallic leather. After it has had time to dry, it just smells like straight up leather with a hint of what my hands smell like after I’ve handled something iron. Perfect for those hot Vegas days where I want to smell like leather but don’t want to swelter in my leather jacket.
MikeJohns –
The creation of this scent is an achievement as it no-doubt smells exactly like the Fighter that it’s meant to, but it just didn’t work with my chemistry: the armor scent- metallic- was too strong on my skin and I was told I smelled like a metal robot.
john –
I bought an Imp to try it out. It is a very strong scent, and mostly reminded me of time spent washing dishes in a stainless steel industrial kitchen (a lot of sweet, steel, and a little blood).
Lowry –
Like others have said, this does indeed smell exactly like leather – it reminds me of the inside of a new car, an expensive one with leather seats.
Ryan –
I adore this scent, but it’s not because of the “fighter” aspect of it. (athough I totally get it).
When I first smelled this it was just a small whiff from the imp. From opening, a little bit got on my fingers and I could not stop smelling it. It was such a familar smell–it reminded my of something so much and I just couldn’t think of what it was. Then it hit me – VACATION!
This smells just like walking into the hotel lobby. You get leather furniture, the cleaning product smell from a freshly turned over room, the chlorine from the pool, and, yes, the blood, sweat, and tears of the thousands of guests who come in and out.
What’s really awesome is that when you smell it you actually feel a coolness that is like walking into your room and feeling the air conditioner blowing on you. Even the ozone smell from the A/C is there.
It brings back such pleasant memories from vacations past.
Now, I do get how it all relates as a figther, too: leather, blood, sweat, metal–even the cool sensation is like the cold metal blade of the sword.
But me, it should just be labeled “vacation.”
Such an amazing scent.
rachel.niehaus –
To me, this is the purest, truest leather imaginable. This Fighter hasn’t been in the ring yet, hasn’t faced his opponent and blooded them – at least, not this time, not right now. He stands before you instead freshly bathed and clad in shining leather, oiled and supple, with only the smallest touches of steel about him. He’s strong, uncompromising, almost harsh, and completely dominates the room with his presence.
And paradoxically, this also reminds me of my grandparents. It takes me straight back to when I was a child and they would come back from India with suitcases of treasures – silk scarves, carved bone jewelry, inlaid trinket boxes, and of course leather – sandals and purses and wallets and more. This is exactly the smell that would fill the room when they opened those suitcases to show me what they’d brought this time.
So in sum total, this is an absolutely photorealistic leather to and on me, and I hardly get musk, blood, or steel. It’s savage and dominant, familiar and comforting. Very hard to wear, especially for better than 16 hours – it lasts and lasts and lasts and doesn’t fade, soften, or change, and the very littlest smudge of oil on one pulse point is more than enough. Good, but not for me, at least not alone. 3 of 5.
Annabeth –
This is the best thing ever. It’s the first time I’ve found something I considered a signature scent.
Out of the RPG series scents that contain leather, this is the one that really smells like it to me/on me. When I first put it on, I taste blood and smell steel as well. As it dries down, the leather scent becomes most prominent and I smell as if I’ve just gotten off a horse. It smells like old leather that is actually being used, not something new in a store, which is part of what I like about it. I dress in very feminine clothes, and I really love putting this scent on in combination with that for an edge.
A friend described the scent as making me smell like Death itself (in a formidable, awesome way).
luxdancer –
The leathery scent is quite strong, there is a metallic after-note – my guy thought it was very reminiscent of leather and steel, I was a little put off by the metallic note because it had a weird texture to it that reminds me of alcohol (to which I am very sensitive).
A good “character” scent for his hot-blooded desert warrior, especially when I combined it with “hot” spicy essential oils.