[CONAN] Warrior Patties

[Water Bob]

This question is really directed at Conan RPG players....but, if you think you can contribut otherwise, I'm all ears...





Check out the herbal section of Fiercest (also in Tito's). The first listing is Acacia, which, when applied, restores 1d4 hit points.

In my game, I'm going to call these warrior patties. The sap of the Acacia tree is heated, creamed, and concentrated, then cooled to form a white, flaky, sticky substance not unlike Bengay or Chapstick. This substance is spread on to leaves, cloth, leather squares, and the like, then rolled and carried in a small sack. When a warrior is hurt, he simply pulls the strings on the small leather container, pulls out the warrior patty, then applies the substance to a wound.

Warrior Patties help reduce swelling as a topical agent, thereby returning 1d4 hit points to the character.





I've got a couple of questions.

1. The book doesn't say how often Acacia can be used. If a warrior had an unlimited supply, could he keep slapping warrior patties on himself after a battle to regain 50+ hit points?

I'm thinking I should limit use, like once per combat encounter (like short term healing) or once per day, no matter how many applications are used.



2. And, what about how long it takes to craft Warrior Patties. I need a cost to figure time when using the standard herbalism crafting rules. But, no cost is listed.



Thoughts on either of these questions?

 

[Greenfield]

Hmm. Not being a Conan player my input would be suspect, but...

What you're making resemble "Trauma Patches" in other games.

I'd limit the amount of healing it can restore to 1/2 of damage taken. It isn't going to actually unbreak any bones or close up any wounds, but it can help an injured character become more functional.

So let it treat trauma and shock, swelling and pain, and fight infection, and call that half of the damage. The other half takes time or, in D&D terms, healing magic.

I'd allow up to 1/2 of the remaining damage to be repaired with Healing skill, as represented by sewing up open wounds, popping dislocated joints back into place, or just proper care and diet to help recover from massive blood loss.

For bookkeeping purposes, I'd treat the repairs as "Temporary" hit points which vanish at half the character's normal healing rate. That way you can keep track as new wounds get stacked on top of old ones.

Oh, I know that you don't normally roll Healing skill in your games (we've had an argument or two on the subject, as I recall), but I'd make an exception for post-battle repairs. I'd tie the amount of "temporary" hit points recovered to the Healing skill check of the attending, with a penalty if you're trying to treat your own wounds. (I defy anyone to effectively stitch up a wound to their own arm or back. The arm wound has to be treated with one hand, and the back wound can't even be examined very closely, much less cleaned and stitched.)

Linking the hit points regained to the quality of care, as expressed by a skill check, is easier, since you're relating numbers to numbers.

 

[Samloyal23]

You're looking at having to decide which injuries would be helped. I don't think an herbal remedy would help a bleeding stab wound. I would say it is more like a bonus on natural healing from rest...

 

[Water Bob]

Oh, I know that you don't normally roll Healing skill in your games (we've had an argument or two on the subject, as I recall), but I'd make an exception for post-battle repairs.

I do roll the Healing skill in my games. I just don't do it abstractly. I want to know what the character is doing. If a player says his character is using water from his costrel to clean wounds then cutting strips from his tunic to use to bind the wounds, I'm OK with that. Roll the Heal check.

 

[Water Bob]

You're looking at having to decide which injuries would be helped. I don't think an herbal remedy would help a bleeding stab wound. I would say it is more like a bonus on natural healing from rest...

How it works I made up. The item in the book simply says that it grants 1d4 HP.

So, it could work differently than what I'm saying (what I say is how the real Acacia tree herbals work).

 

[Greenfield]

With the caveat that Acacia grows in warm, tropical or even desert climates, and won't be found in Conan's homeland of Cimmeria, or any of the northern "barbarian" lands.

Yeah, I know, inserting reality into a fantasy game is a dirty trick, but you started it (sticks out tongue).

 

[Water Bob]

With the caveat that Acacia grows in warm, tropical or even desert climates, and won't be found in Conan's homeland of Cimmeria, or any of the northern "barbarian" lands.

Yeah, I know, inserting reality into a fantasy game is a dirty trick, but you started it (sticks out tongue).

The temperature in Cimmeria isn't as cold as you might think, unless you're high in the Eiglophain mountains. Mean temperature is about 50 degrees. In the summer months, it gets to 65 or 70+. The winters are icy and cold, but an Acacia tree can withstand that, as shown in this pic....

I'll agree it's a stretch (yes,it's more likely they grow in Stygia), but not that far of a stretch, to say that Acacia trees grow in Cimmeria, down in the valleys.

Cimmeria is pre-historic Ireland and Scotland. Though there will be some climate change during the cataclysm when the world changes into its present shape (and most of Cimmeria sinks beneath the waves of the Atlantic), we can say that Cimmeria's climate and ecosystem is not too much different than modern day Scotland/Ireland.

Acacia trees thrive in both of those countries. Remember, there are more than 1300 species of Acacia tree.