I'm going to run a game where a listed NPC has the habit of making a small vertical scar on her cheek whenever she terminates a slaver. That's how the book describes her, and I was planning to have a scene where, after working with the PCs she end up making a couple more scars on her cheek.

This is a minor issue, but hey, what's a RPG without details? I was wondering what would be the most effective, controllable and safest way for a person to make a small, controller scar on their cheek? Would you suggest cutting with a razor or perhaps branding it on with a hot wire?

I have no idea which would be better, and no intention of testing the methods out on myself, not do I encourage anyone to do anything like this IRL for the morons out there. I do know that some people have used cutting to make deliberate scars and others have used burning/branding.

I was leaning towards having her use a small gadget like a battery operated soldering iron, having worked with hotwires I know how hot a wire can get even with just a battery driving it, but wanted to know if it made scars as well as cutting would.

Well, if you're looking to scar yourself you don't want to use anything too sharp and it helps if it isn't too sanitary either. The soldering iron works. Painful, but if that's what your character is into...

-=Grim=-

Quote from: GrimJesta;246388Well, if you're looking to scar yourself you don't want to use anything too sharp and it helps if it isn't too sanitary either. The soldering iron works. Painful, but if that's what your character is into...

-=Grim=-

Not my character, a listed NPC who is said to add scars to her cheek whenever she gets rid of a slaver.

BTW, she has 2 levels of pain tolerance.

Razors are a poor choice for scarification. The tend to leave little to no scar tissue. A hot wire would leave a very visible scar, but it is one of the more painful ways to accomplish it.

I believe ritual scarification typically involves treating the cut with salves that essentially fill up the wound, spreading it so the scars are wider.

The Ainu people, however use razor cuts on teh face mixed with ashes to essentially tattoo beards onto their women... or at least historically did so.  The ash doesn't create a wide scar but gets under the skin like a tattoo.

Dull knife would work.

Based on scarring done in prisons:

Use the most narrow, sharp blade possible; a razor works best. Contrary to the above, its not the width or thickness of a blade that determines the size of a scar, but the force & angle of the cut, and the placement of muscle tissue in the cut area.

Secondly, pack the wound with a mixture of strained tallow and hot pine (or light, sap-rich wood) ash. Rub urine on the wound after you remove the tallow and before you apply a fresh packing.

This will create a nice, sharp scar.


You know, if I were a slaver, and I heard about this practice (and people who cut themselves tend to talk), it would make revenge a lot easier, because the target would be easier to find.

OneTin: Did you miss the point where they pack the cut with tallow and ash? Razors are used because they hurt less, require less work and are reasonably available, even in prisons, not because they create a great scar.

I agree that depth (force) and angle are strong complimentary forces on scarification, mind you. A deep cut or one at an extremely shallow angle will probably make a fearsome scar, more than a superficial trail.  The reason dull works better is that you get more tearing and to get any cut tends to require more force, resulting in a wound that requires more keloid tissue to heal over.

May I remind you that one reason for sharp scalpels in surgery is to reduce formation of scar tissue, and now lasers. Less tissue damage on the way in for both cases.

Quote from: Spike;246410OneTin: Did you miss the point where they pack the cut with tallow and ash? Razors are used because they hurt less, require less work and are reasonably available, even in prisons, not because they create a great scar.

I agree that depth (force) and angle are strong complimentary forces on scarification, mind you. A deep cut or one at an extremely shallow angle will probably make a fearsome scar, more than a superficial trail.  The reason dull works better is that you get more tearing and to get any cut tends to require more force, resulting in a wound that requires more keloid tissue to heal over.

May I remind you that one reason for sharp scalpels in surgery is to reduce formation of scar tissue, and now lasers. Less tissue damage on the way in for both cases.

Knives are just as avalible in prison. Sad but true.

Razors are used because sharp = controllable. Same reason scapels are used in surgery.

Cut too deep, and you can inflict nerve or muscle damage.

I'm not trying to claim reduction of scar formation is the only reason sharp implements are used, sorry if that appeared that way, but it IS a factor.  Thus the switch to lasers in many cases (even less... controllability can be debated but is irrelevant to the OP)

For a simple line, a shiv or other crude home made blade would probably work pretty good, especially for facial cuts where there is less probablilty of screwing up (self inflicted... I wouldn't trust a stranger to stab me in the face to make a mark...), and would pretty much garauntee a good, visible line.

The key is, correctly, less about sharpness or lack but tissue trauma, with staining and packing allowing for increased visibility.  A self inflicted razor cut to the cheek is just too likely to heal over leaving only a hair line that is visible only under the closest scrutiny, and packing it would remove the coolness factor of 'slices face open to mark another slaver-scum sent to hell!' that the OP seems to be after.

I dunno about 'coolness'-self multiation doesn't strike me as cool or smart.

But I've seen countless examples of the razor-scars I described, and they stand out sharply.

And do not knock the prison shank-I've collected several score over the years, and you would be amazed at the quality of the edges.

Of course, they don't hold an edge as would a tempered, purpose-made knife, but prison fights tend to be short affairs.

Quote from: OneTinSoldier;246409Based on scarring done in prisons:

Use the most narrow, sharp blade possible; a razor works best. Contrary to the above, its not the width or thickness of a blade that determines the size of a scar, but the force & angle of the cut, and the placement of muscle tissue in the cut area.

Secondly, pack the wound with a mixture of strained tallow and hot pine (or light, sap-rich wood) ash. Rub urine on the wound after you remove the tallow and before you apply a fresh packing.

This will create a nice, sharp scar.


You know, if I were a slaver, and I heard about this practice (and people who cut themselves tend to talk), it would make revenge a lot easier, because the target would be easier to find.

Well, in the brief but useful description of the woman in question, it was said that she doesn't talk about the scars and only those close to her know what it means. Those close to her would likely be her fellow slaver hunters, so the issue may be moot.

In any event, she'd probably be happy with slavers coming after her as it would save her the time of hunting them down.

I may go with the hotwire as someone said it would work but be the most painful way to do it. I figure those 2 levels of pain tolerance have to be for something.

Plus a burn with a hotwire doesn't take so long to heal and doesn't bleed a lot, wouldn't interfere with a busy slaver hunter's hectic schedule.

But in a lower tech society I might use the razor and packing bit.

Uh, BTW, how have you collected a lot of prison knives over the years, if I may ask

How about googling it, I'm sure there will be a body modding technique that serves your characters style.

Quote from: OneTinSoldier;246420I dunno about 'coolness'-self multiation doesn't strike me as cool or smart.

But I've seen countless examples of the razor-scars I described, and they stand out sharply.

And do not knock the prison shank-I've collected several score over the years, and you would be amazed at the quality of the edges.

Of course, they don't hold an edge as would a tempered, purpose-made knife, but prison fights tend to be short affairs.

Those would be razor scars from fights I'd guess, where the purpose is to cripple and/or kill your opponent, thus they will be deeper and more traumatic than even a non-pain feeling bad-ass fictional character would usually do to themselves.  The test, should we feel like conducting one, would be to inflict similar wounds with a razor blade and with a regular knife and a shiv and see if all three produce comparable scars....

...now, who wants to volunteer?

Quote from: Demonoid;246422Uh, BTW, how have you collected a lot of prison knives over the years, if I may ask

Police officer.

Quote from: SpikeThose would be razor scars from fights I'd guess, where the purpose is to cripple and/or kill your opponent, thus they will be deeper and more traumatic than even a non-pain feeling bad-ass fictional character would usually do to themselves.  

No, some gangs like to scar as opposed to tattoo for intimidation, and some like to mark or brand their...'morale volunteers'. Quicker than tattooing.

Some prison systems ban tattooing, too. Not that it does much good.

Interesting.  I hadn't heard of prison scarification as a practice before. Learn something new, I suppose.

The most effective means of scarification in this instance based on what the original post states would be a low-quality straight razor which has been sharpened against a rat-tail file; this produces breakages in the line of the razor without altering the sharpness of the remainder of the blade, making in essence a crude but razor-sharp series of serrations. The simple cut is not enough, unless it is so deep it risks nerve damage [on the face]: the scab must be regularly removed for perhaps a week, preferably when washing the face [the water removes the scab without tearing the neighboring "good" skin].

But honestly, any of these methods would be fine. She's going to run out of face really quickly anyway, so it's not an enormous problem if some of the wounds don't scar well enough.