Why is my mage "sweating blood"?

Question

I'm about 12 hours into Dragon Age Origins for the first time.

During most of the game, my mage has been sweating what appears to be off-colored blood. My daughter explained that this indicates I've killed humans.

However, the graphics has disappeared for periods of time only to return later in the game.

What does the "sweating blood" graphic mean and how can I make it go away (in game and out of game)?

Answer 1

The gore effect doesn't really mean anything (certainly nothing important), just that you've recently been in combat with something that bleeds.

You can disable the blood effect by going to Gameplay Options and unticking Enable Persistent Gore.