Li Shenron
Legend
Always been a fan of herbalism in RPGs, I am having some casual thoughts about using special herbs as rewards during adventures, and let our Druid with proficiency in the herbalism kit prepare consumable items with them, which then anyone can use.
First of all, let's be clear that I do not want rules about crafting this stuff, I do not want checks, and I do not want gp prices. The idea is very simply that the DM decides when to grant the party X doses of Y to be added to their equipment list. If for some reason I come up with a herbalism item that is too good, I simply won't award it again.
Now, the general idea here is to provide occasional extra consumable items that are non-magical. I want them to feel different from spells, scrolls or potions. Being non-magical can be beneficial in some ways, e.g. they can't be found with Detect Magic or subject to an antimagic effect, but these are benefits that occur rarely. Instead, being non-magical shall mean they have something worse than magical items such as potions.
So in order to achieve that while keeping everything simple, I went with 1 minute of time required to use the herbalism item (which can be freely described as ingesting it, inhaling the fumes, spreading a balm...).
This simply means that herbalism items cannot be used in combat, unlike potions. However, they are still quick enough so that they practically take no significant time outside combat. But because you can't use them during combat, you have to use them either to prepare for combat or to recover after a combat.
So here are some examples that I thought of...
These benefits are all for recovery, so I wonder if the some herbalism items could also be used in advance for a more or less equivalent benefit. Considering that expending the item in advance has the advantage of avoiding the condition before it happens, but the disadvantage of possibly wasting the item if there was no need for it, would it be OK to grant immunity to the specific condition (for a short time such as 1 hour for example)? Obviously not all of the above would be usable this way, only those which refer to removing a negative condition.
First of all, let's be clear that I do not want rules about crafting this stuff, I do not want checks, and I do not want gp prices. The idea is very simply that the DM decides when to grant the party X doses of Y to be added to their equipment list. If for some reason I come up with a herbalism item that is too good, I simply won't award it again.
Now, the general idea here is to provide occasional extra consumable items that are non-magical. I want them to feel different from spells, scrolls or potions. Being non-magical can be beneficial in some ways, e.g. they can't be found with Detect Magic or subject to an antimagic effect, but these are benefits that occur rarely. Instead, being non-magical shall mean they have something worse than magical items such as potions.
So in order to achieve that while keeping everything simple, I went with 1 minute of time required to use the herbalism item (which can be freely described as ingesting it, inhaling the fumes, spreading a balm...).
This simply means that herbalism items cannot be used in combat, unlike potions. However, they are still quick enough so that they practically take no significant time outside combat. But because you can't use them during combat, you have to use them either to prepare for combat or to recover after a combat.
So here are some examples that I thought of...
- Aloe: (to be used during a short rest) for every HD rolled, heal an amount of fire damage equal to the HD max
- Belladonna: removes all mind-affecting effects, and disadvantage (or damage) to Int/Wis/Cha [side-effect: becomes unconscious for 2d4 hours, which don't count as rest]
- Chamomile: removes the frightened condition
- Cornflower: removes the blinded condition
- Flaxseed: removes the poisoned condition
- Ginseng: recover a single use of an ability that is normally regained during a short rest
- Lavender: removes the charmed condition or any charm and confusion effect
- Mandragora: regain consciousness and heal 1 HP [side-effect: become stunned for 1d4 hours]
- Melissa: recover all HD during a long rest, and require only half the normal time for a long rest
- Sage: restores 1 used spell slot
- Sandalwood: removes disadvantage (or damage) to Strength
- Snowdrop: prepare 1 extra spell (can be prepared immediately)
- Turmeric: remove the paralyzed condition
- Urtica/Nettle: removes disadvantage (or damage) to Dexterity
- Valerian: removes one level of exhaustion
- Veronica: removes the deafened condition
These benefits are all for recovery, so I wonder if the some herbalism items could also be used in advance for a more or less equivalent benefit. Considering that expending the item in advance has the advantage of avoiding the condition before it happens, but the disadvantage of possibly wasting the item if there was no need for it, would it be OK to grant immunity to the specific condition (for a short time such as 1 hour for example)? Obviously not all of the above would be usable this way, only those which refer to removing a negative condition.
