So, just really noticed that my PHB stinks to high heaven... This is the first time I've spent any length of time with it open in front of me while making a character. I noticed that I was getting a little light headed and slightly queasy from it...
Does anyone else have this problem or is it just mine?
It's no Fiend Folio stank, but it is definitely turning my stomach...
My PHB smelled as well, though it got fainter with time. Something in the paper/ink?
It's performance art, enjoy the stank.
Mine is fine.
Mine also fine. Maybe a poll would have been good.
It has a mild 'newly printed' smell, but nothing really unusual.
Quote from: Will;784224Mine also fine. Maybe a poll would have been good.
It has a mild 'newly printed' smell, but nothing really unusual.
I didn't know how to do Polls...
It isn't a new book smell. IT smells like bad glue or something. Its fairly strong, and has made the drawer I keep it in stink as well. I noticed the smell when I first got it, but today is the first day I put together that it was making me slightly ill. I think its gotten stronger since I got it, not weaker...
I haven't noticed anything, but I live in a fairly arid area, so that might also have something to do with it.
It smells like victory !
Mine smells like a new book, and it is fairly humid here.
It could very well be moisture or something being spilled during shipping causing the issue. If leaving it in a drawer makes it stink more, letting it air would be a good thing to try next.
I love the smell. I actually checked to make sure it smelled like a new book when I got it. Mine is very faint, but it's there.
Smells like nostalgia.
Mine did too.
It smelled of fresh glue and ink. After a week its aired out pretty good.
Its been mentioned a few times on RPGG as well so it is not an isolated thing. Ine person got theirs poorly glued and its coming apart so we suggested that they get ahold of WOTC CS and see if they will replace.
I suspect they were rushed off the presses really fast.
Truly, if there is a just and good God, this thread will become an epic 50-page edition war over which Players Handbook smelled the worst.
Put it in a big zip lock with rice. Let sit for 12 hours.
What does it smell?
Quote from: Skywalker;784261What does it smell?
Truffles...
Fear...
Quote from: Mostlyjoe;784257Put it in a big zip lock with rice. Let sit for 12 hours.
I'll see about getting a ziplock bag big enough.
I was just wondering if it was a known issue and if I should contact WoTC. It is rather stomach turning, and the fact it was making me light headed didn't seem to be a good sign...
Quote from: Omega;784276Truffles...
Quote from: Skywalker;784278Fear...
either of those would be preferable to what it does smell like...
WOTC used an ink made from distilled 4E nerd rage. Is not for the faint hearted.
Asshole detector... you're doing it wrong.
My copy of the PHB doesn't particularly smell, but I did notice when I got a small spot of water on a page (about 1 cm in diameter, so about 1 drop of water), the ink ran off VERY easily on that spot.
It didn't completely wash off the ink and that spot was still readable, but the background color came right off and the text ink was lightened considerably.
I have had minor spills on other RPG manuals and they didn't display this behaviour.
Didn't that "Spoony" guy's multi-hour long review slogfest thing start with a similar complaint?
Mine seems fine, FWIW. Normal "new book" smell, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Yup, just got the new book smell, no different than the last half dozen new books to run through my hands in the last couple of months.
Mine smells OK. Nowhere near as good as my 13th Age books, though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4j7ggZqbiU
Could be mold, or rat urine?, from shipping. Though you could see that damage. Most likely the glue.
The rice trick is great: absorbs moisture and relatively safe to books.
Also could use a proper desiccator or activated charcoal to remove moisture and smell.
I would try those two first before upping the ante and doing Sunlight sterilization. That requires observation, especially every 20-30 minutes to avoid spot bleaching, light sand to absorb any sweating moisture, a drafting brush to brush the sand away, etc. That should kill and aerate just about everything.
Afterwards, once sterile, place in a drawer filled with incense to keep it smelling beautiful. I like cedar, sandalwood, occasional ayurvedic recipes because I like to huff the fumes...
Ziplock bag + cat litter removes odors too. Fresh cat litter anyway.
Quote from: YourSwordisMine;784283I'll see about getting a ziplock bag big enough.
I was just wondering if it was a known issue and if I should contact WoTC. It is rather stomach turning, and the fact it was making me light headed didn't seem to be a good sign...
An alternative is to lay the book open about midpoint in front of a fan so its hitting it edge on and the wind can blow through the slightly loose pages.
Despite UPS's best efforts to destroy the book it made it intact. BUT, it was mailed in an OPEN AIR MAILER????WTF???? And that day was really humid so the pages were severely rippled.
After a week each night laying flat in front of a fan its returned to normal. And general refferencing over the week has aired it out pretty good.
Quote from: YourSwordisMine;784283I'll see about getting a ziplock bag big enough.
I was just wondering if it was a known issue and if I should contact WoTC. It is rather stomach turning, and the fact it was making me light headed didn't seem to be a good sign...
Have you tried using Febreeze yet?
It might also be the truck it was shipped on.
Every once in a while at work we get a box that smells 'funny' - its usually humidity related or conditions with whatever truck or box it was in.
- Ed C.
It has been said that the Necronomicon sometimes disguises itself as another sort of tome.....
Burn it.
Quote from: Exploderwizard;784384Burn it.
Don't start that up again. ;o)
It could be possessed by a demon!
Quote from: Omega;784340An alternative is to lay the book open about midpoint in front of a fan so its hitting it edge on and the wind can blow through the slightly loose pages.
I wish I had a photo I could show, but one trick is to take two tables side by side with a gap between them, open the book and spread the covers on top of the tables with the pages hanging down in the gap. Weight the covers with other books to keep the binding from flexing backwards. The pages will fan out slightly. Now aim the fan on low at the end of the pages so it's blowing through them. This will air out all the pages quickly.
Mine has a faint chemical type of smell- I'm guessing from some process that they use. It was noticeable at first, but has diminished since.
As an aside, I had a used book I bought several weeks ago that smelled like the previous owner smoked cartons of Marlboro's and breathed constantly on each page. The scent of stale ashtray and kitty breath does not make for a fun read. That book went away.
Quote from: Raven;784337Ziplock bag + cat litter removes odors too. Fresh cat litter anyway.
Emphasis mine.
Good god man! Who the hell would use the alternative?!?
I love cats, but cat piss is one of God's ways of telling us he didn't make cats TOO perfect.
(the other is the bastard's love of knocking over full drinks on the table. Bastich!)
Well, if you go with used kitty litter, you wouldn't be noticing the original odor!
Quote from: Fiasco;784289WOTC used an ink made from distilled 4E nerd rage. Is not for the faint hearted.
Hey, fatbeard sweat is an important material component in some spells.
Mine looks fine - no obvious damage/staining. It smells, well, odd. Not exactly unpleasant, but very different from other new books. (And I really enjoy just shoving my nose into the pages and taking a good whiff, so I am confident that I know what new books smell like.)
Hoard of the Dragon Queen smells more like my other books, and its pages aren't as glossy, so maybe that's it. The PH does smell closer to some graphic novels than other gamebooks.
Mine only has "new book smell".
Otiluke's Tome of Gaseous Cloud