Re: Mermaids
 

I grew up in the sticks. :) Actually, I don't think I ever saw a girl chewing tobacco until I was in the big city of Minneapolis. She was part of a group of people who were all dressed really nice and were using chewing tobacco, I think, to avoid going outside to smoke.

Smoking is a turn-off if I'm close enough to be effected by the smoke. :) I used to smoke myself (back in the day when my wisdom score was much lower) so I'm probably more tolerant of it than I otherwise would be. Still, the smell in clothes of cigarette smoke is pretty gross...right up there with cat urine. :ninjas:

Re: Mermaids
 

Mmm - cat urine :D But cat urine should be sterile, right?

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Yeah, and it probably doesn't give you lung cancer.

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Ha ha... Sounds healthier to me... (but hard to swallow)

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Concerning the shaved heads, I generally agree with Manikus - but it depends greatly on the shape of the head (in both genders).
Any knowledge of tobacco in ADD I should have? I a cigar-smoking goblin possible?

Re: Mermaids
 

That's a good question, Dinonykos. There is no official mention of tobacco or any other drug with the exceptions of beer/ale and wine, and maybe spirits (hard liquor).
But, in the great Tolkeinian tradition, Elminster smokes a pipe quite regularly and I believe others occasionally pick up a pipe.

It is quite possible that there are traditions of smoking that develop from the shamanistic use of certain plants (the way tobacco smoking started on earth), or by accident such as a house catches fire and the plant with the pretty lavender flower burns up and smells good and makes the inhaler feel "better". :)

As for shaved heads, you bring up an excellent point, Dinonykos. There are many men who do not look good with a shaved head. The first person that comes to mind is the lead singer of the band Midnight Oil. His heas isn't 'round' enough. I don't want it to be a circle like Charlie Brown, however. ;) The other class that pops to mind are the guys whose necks are as big or bigger than their heads, which includes but is not limited to, pro wrestlers, football players and overweight old men riding around in little electric carts at the super market. :ninjas:

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This brings us back to the advantages of fantasy worlds: You can invent a Nicotiana-like plant when you need it... and explain its occurence with the influence of a god/titan/monster/magician or whatever... :)

I have just seen that eggplants/aubergines contain nicotine... :D

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Nicotine in eggplants? In the leaves or in the fruit? Wow. I'll have to look into this. :)

For an idea I've been working on for a while, I'm inventing all kinds of herbs to supplement those found in the AD&D 1e books (which are not many). I may very well add a tobacco-like plant as well. :ninjas:

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Maybe I can get my coworkers to eat lots of eggplant instead of smoking all the time...

I think the Forgotten Realms has a few instances of smoking (Elminster's magic pipe), but I can't remember... Not sure about Greyhawk (Gygax smoked himself, though)...

A list of historical herbs would be a lot of fun, actually (I like this kind of thing), but my knowledge of such is too small...

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There are a lot of great resources for herbs, but I'm also making some up. :)

I suspect that pipe smoke in the Forgotten Realms is a lot more likely than cigar smoke which is a lot more likely than cigarette smoke. Each step of processing done to the plant makes it less likely to be seen. :ninjas: