Herbs and Healing

[Kurt]

You know what this is missing? A section listing different herbs, where they can be found, what they are effective for and how to prepare them.

Hi Otaku-sempai and Glorelendil,

Thanks for your comments. I might do this in the future, I want to be careful how I write it up. If I add in herbs and where they can be found etc, I won't be adding any adjustments to dice rolls. It will purely be there for added roleplaying purposes.

Cheers,
Kurt

[Majestic]

Hey there, Kurt.

I don't know if you have ever seen it (I hadn't until today), but I just came across Arciryas, a servant of Saruman (Heart of the Wild, p. 53) who is "learned in the arts of herbalism and chirugery" (I had to look that last one up; apparently it's an "obsolete term for surgery"). It mentions how he seeks to catalogue the many plants in the marshes, and pokes under reeds with his staff, as well as a few other things.

You might include a reference to him in your work, just for fun, as he very much fits with this project.

[Kurt]

I don't know if you have ever seen it (I hadn't until today), but I just came across Arciryas, a servant of Saruman (Heart of the Wild, p. 53) who is "learned in the arts of herbalism and chirugery" (I had to look that last one up; apparently it's an "obsolete term for surgery"). It mentions how he seeks to catalogue the many plants in the marshes, and pokes under reeds with his staff, as well as a few other things. You might include a reference to him in your work, just for fun, as he very much fits with this project.

Awesome! Thank you so much. I just read about the character, it's nice to know that I want far off the mark with my assumptions regarding herb-lore and healing. Thanks for sharing that, I would like to include a reference to him. I noticed that he had Enemy-Lore in his list of traits, I'll have to look at that too and include it in the document.

Cheers,
Kurt

[Majestic]

Nice!

Just FYI I included the character in our game session tonight as the players travelled in the East Middle Vales. I initially had him approach the PC's camp cautiously, as they heard him moving through the woods around dusk. I made it seem at first like it might be a wizard, as I gave him a floppy hat, grey beard, and cloak to go with his long white staff. They invited him to their campsite and they each shared a meal together. Arciryas added some mushrooms and roots to their stew. They had no idea he reports back to Saruman, but he told them all about his interest in herbs and healing (I gave him a bunch of satchels and pouches).

I didn't actually use the Encounter rules (as they really didn't have any information they were trying to get out of each other), but I had him share about recent reports of a large beast up north (the Forest Dragon). They in turn told him about the dangerous spiders.

[Robin Smallburrow]

Very Good Work Kurt!

Now for the (constructive I hope) criticism:

1. I feel this work should be divided up by cultures as per the rulebook, as IMHO herbs are culturally specific and secondly this would then be consistent with how things are presented in official supplements. Thus, before you discuss the Trade in Herbs you should have a section such as "How Herbs are viewed by different cultures. An excellent starting point is ICE's 'Hands of the Healer' for MERP, which I used as a guide when compiling my list for my Desert Campaign Guide.

2. Historically in our Earth trade was greatest in those herbs & spices that preserved food, as this was the greatest problem, especially during lean periods. So the most valuable herbs/spices were those that aided with food preservation such as pepper, salt, rosemary etc. The idea of 'culinary delights' was important (especially after The Crusades when the Crusaders discovered all these new foods) but less so than trying to find ways to preserve food, one of the reasons The Crusades began. Middle-earth should not be much different IMHO - there is an annual fleet that leaves Umbar for the South & East to trade for these herbs/spices (just like the Venetian fleet went to India etc.) and Umbar jealously guards this fleet, just as the Venetians did.

3. Why are Elixirs permanent? Sounds too D&D-ish for me, unless you can come up with a good Tolkienish reason (I can accept that elixirs can last for several months, like our modern medicines).

Robin S.

[Kurt]

Hi Robin,

Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it.

I didn't have the opportunity to look at material from other gaming systems and focused on learning how TOR works while writing Herbs & Healing. I was only half way through the rules when I started the document, so writing it really was an exercise in learning the TOR system. Thankfully I had help along the way.

Like you, I do believe that certain cultures would use different herbs. Shamanism today uses specific herbs, roots and tobacco for rituals. For the purposes of this document I am unsure if I'd be able to do the task justice given that I am not an expert in Tolkien lore. I do think that it's an interesting point, but feel that detailing cultures is a job for someone well versed in the Tolkien lore, that's not me. Although I have read the books and seen the movies, I am far from one that's capable of detailing cultural specific medical practices and remedies. I am really interested in the Adventurers Companion, the website says that it will provide more detail on a variety of cultures.

Regarding trade, I really wanted to solidify my thinking on the availability and price of medicinal herbs in large cities and rural areas. To do this I needed to investigate the trade in herbs as well as the increased demand for medicines and herbal remedies. This lead to thinking about the spread of seeds, the practice of alchemy and subsistence farming etc. I find the trade in spices very interesting (I visited this exhibit last year). I'll update the document to reflect that spices are also used for medicinal purposes. Thanks for the suggestion.

I thought of elixirs as two types, those that helped in treatment (antiseptic) and those that could subdue pain when recovering (morphine and opiates). I felt elixirs were the product of a distillation process through alchemy and as such have quite a long lifespan, measured in years. I removed the reference to our modern day language for these medicines, as recommended by others.

Cheers,
Kurt

P.S. I like the document that you put up with Compendium of Character Backgrounds. I'll likely be using it to detail the personalities of people that the characters encounter.

[uhu79]

Outstanding work! Thanks, man. Shared it with my group - sure it will be used!

[Kurt]

Outstanding work! Thanks, man. Shared it with my group - sure it will be used!

Thank you

[Kurt]

Hi all,

I've been away for a bit focusing on finishing my degree and looking for work. Now that I've had a little more experience with the game over the last few months I have made a couple of adjustments.

1. Poisons - Removed the requirement for traits. Although it is possible to treat a poison delivered through a wound or consumption using the Healing skill alone, treatment will benefit from a person proficient in Herb-Lore or Herbal Remedies ‘Poison Remedies’, or Leechcraft.
2. Diseases - Removed the requirement for traits. Again the language here reflects that treatment will benefit from the use of appropriate traits.
3. Reworded the teamwork section to better reflect what I was trying to explain. I also provided an example of teamwork using Herb-Lore and Cooking.

Everyone should be able to heal wounds, poisons and diseases. Being skilled in Herb-Lore, Leechcraft, Cooking, Herbal Remedies etc. will give the hero a considerable advantage. I feel that this better reflects how healing was intended to work using the game system.

In my house rules I did retain that the Shadow-Lore trait as a requirement for healing witchcraft. I don't suspect that the heroes will encounter witchcraft too often and if they do it should be considered a very very serious problem. Witchcraft should scare the pants of heroes.

As previously explained, I wrote this document whilst I was learning the game. I haven't made any additions to this document as requested yet, I've just been too busy lately. For the moment I would like to focus on getting what I have already written fixed. If there is something glaringly obvious where text in my document contradicts the rules then let me know. If the contradiction was not intentional I will fix my document, if it was intentional (i.e. healing witchcraft) I will explain why.

Kind Regards,
Kurt

[zedturtle]

Sounds very good. I'm excited to see the new version!