Island Herbalism

[Thomas_Not_very_wise]

...Isle Herbalism is sort of lacking. Plants please!

[9lives]

...

I'm going to go into our tables and remove several plants.

[Secutor]

Sorry, didn't follow 9's answer quite right.
Is there any idea when plants will begin to be put into the module?

[dragonfire9000]

I mean hey, we've got snakes on this island! We need antitoxins!!

[Mort]

Yes. There are plants that will be included in the module. Nine was just offended by Thomas' condescending attitude. If you want to make a suggestion that actually helps, you could take the time to research some interesting surface plants and make a brief description for them: i.e.

[Catnip]: Plant ... that... etc... etc...


This would help in giving ideas in order to replace the old plant system with equally flavorful plants.

[Garem]

Would you prefer REAL plants like this?

Artemesia - Artemesia, also called Wormwood, is a bushy plant reaching heights of up to three feet with its tall shoots linked at the base and its narrow leaves. Artemesia is known for having some medicinal properties when chewed for great lengths of time. It has a notably potent, bitter taste, and is the fear of all sick children. The Rashemi in particular are fond of its uses in medicine, its bitter taste being a symbol of "bitter truth" and taken in by the deluded person-- the subject of many Rashemi poems.

Used in the real world to treat Malaria (Artemesia Annua) and other diseases of ancient history (Artemesia Absinthia) and could be used in the creation of Tonics. The little bit about the Rashemi was taken from wikipedia.org and was ACTUALLY the Russians. Just picked the Rashemi 'cause I think they're the most similar.

Or do you want fantasy plants we just made up, like this?

Snuffleroot - "Distant cousin of the touch-me-not, this shrubby herb makes a soft, snotty whimper when its roots are touched. What is actually occurring is the pockets of foul-smelling gas created in its roots are being released to ward off predators. Fortunately, the smell only affects the wild creatures possessing greater sense of smell than most sentients."

Might even script it to cause 2 round fear vs. poison on any nearby animals or animal companions if you wanted to get REALLY fancy!

[Mort]

This is really cool, Garem. Just any ideas that might inspire us. We might even steal your suggestion if they match what we want to create.

[Garem]

Which one is cool? Artemesia is a real plant genus! Snuffleroot is sort of... Harry Potter/fantasy inspired! Personally, I like the real stuff better. Just me...

[Semli]

While I do not mean to be condescending while maintaining the same vein of thought as the OP, few creatures in my experience on the new server drop sinews and guts.  While I'm not positive I assume they serve some purpose in the alchemy, herbalism, and consecretion systems.  Are there any plans to change this?

[Egon the Monkey]

Sinews and guts do have a use in crafting, I can confirm that.
As for snuffleroot, go for it. Touch-me-not exists acually, if I recall, is either a Balsam that has seed pods that burst and disperse when touched, or the plant that has leaves that collapse against the stem when touched.

A variety of plants are perfectly capable of signalling to each other and responding to attack. There's even clovers that produce cyanide in damaged leaves to kill off attackers while sacrificing some of the leaf to poision.

Sorry, I'm a biologist, I LOVE this sort of info :D. So, yeah, /c Science Mode on.

Other things I'd suggest:
Willow tree for Medicinal Herbs (willow bark has a precursor to aspirin, and is a classic old folk remedy that works.)
Some sort of moss for that too (Sphagnum moss has been used as an emergency dressing)
Maybe a mould for Tonics? A good number of antibiotics come from fungi, and a mouldy bread poultice was again a folk remedy with likely efficacy.

[DenGrasse]

Hm.. and what subsume alum (sulphate amonia-potassium)? Is antiseptic, styptic...

[lovethesuit]

I've looked up a couple potential plants for medicinal herbs and tonics, etc.

Garlic has potential for tonics. Supposedly it's an antibiotic, an antiviral, an antifungal, an anticoagulant, and it works for infections as well.

Goldenseal could be used for medicinal herbs. It's an antiseptic, and an antinflammatory for helping wounds heal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfrey
Comfrey, a.k.a. Comphrey or "knitbone", has applications for traditional healing, even with bone damage. From the Wiki: "The herb contains allantoin, a cell proliferant that speeds up the natural replacement of body cells. Comfrey was used to treat a wide variety of ailments ranging from bronchial problems, broken bones, sprains, arthritis, gastric and varicose ulcers, severe burns, acne and other skin conditions."

Mint has potential for tonics as well. Supposedly mint tea has an effect on colds, coughs, and fevers.

Hopefully some of these give the DMs ideas. Possibly you could mix a real herb with a Forgotten Realms-only herb with enhanced properties.

iono

orz