Herbs and Healing

[Kurt]

Hi All,

Here is the Herbs and Healing house rules document that I have been working on. Feel free to use it for your game. This document is a living document and may change over time as the house rules for my roleplaying group change.

I'd like to thank Rich H, Zedturtle, Glorelendil and Winterwolf for reviewing the document, along with the artists that provided the artwork.

Regards,
Kurt

[Terisonen]

Really nice work!

[Kurt]

Really nice work!

Thank you sir

[SirGalrim]

Very nice work Kurt! Excellent layout and flavourful text.

If I am to nitpick I would wish for a few more "hard rules" to apply for use of Herbs and Healing. Though I know you where "advised against it" in the other thread. Your fluff text is really good, but it just lacks a little bit punch I feel. "What can I really do with this?"

Also the witchcraft part could be elaborated more as this is a somewhat new element. I see that some official adventures, and many house rules, use Song to counter "Witchcraft". But in those cases the witchcraft might be directed to affect spirit and mind, and not the physical body. Your supplement on the other hand seems to focus on physical effects of witchcraft. Maybe you could clarify, or even better; Explore the relation between healing and Song that seems to be present in Tolkien's world. And further explore more in depth the effects and healing of witchcraft affecting mind and spirit.

Edit: spelling

[Kurt]

Hi SirGalrim,

Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it. I like that you mentioned song and witchcraft, I might add that in document too in order to address a sickness of the mind. Thank you very much.

I tend to enjoy reading the explanatory material more because it means less work for me later on. For example, I like reading about the details of a region, who the dominant personalities are, what's the economy in the region, who are their trading partners and allies, what are the features of the culture and customs in the region. It's this kind of material that provides me with a level of consistency and believability (immersion) that enables me to spend more time thinking about other things in the game.

Thanks for the example on song ... it' a wonderful suggestion, I'll add it in.

Cheers,
Kurt

[Kurt]

Maybe you could clarify, or even better; Explore the relation between healing and Song that seems to be present in Tolkien's world. And further explore more in depth the effects and healing of witchcraft affecting mind and spirit.

Now you have me thinking about long forgotten tomes containing ancient songs, rhymes and lore from the first age.

[SirGalrim]

Now you have me thinking about long forgotten tomes containing ancient songs, rhymes and lore from the first age.

[Kurt]

Update - Document linked in original post.

1. I made changes to the disease section to better reflect what I was trying to describe. There is now a table with associated penalties to illustrate the increasing stress of a disease if left untreated and a period of recovery after the disease has been treated.
2. I have updated the witchcraft section and as a house rule I won't be allowing use of traits for an automatic success when healing witchcraft. In addition healing witchcraft will predominantly be either severe or daunting difficulty. This means a character must invest time and experience in learning how to heal witchcraft through song or lore. It is no easy task to heal such vile evils and I don't want to trivialise the threat that comes from the darkness of Melkor and Sauron.

I did find a good site on healing which I shall read soon, it was particularly interesting in how it related healing with song.

As always, feel free to comment.

Cheers,
Kurt

[Otaku-sempai]

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.

[Glorelendil]

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.

I agree...as long as it doesn't get too specific, or have any game-defined bonuses.

But I'd love to see a colorful list of herbs with their names in different languages, their physical descriptions (or art?), where they grow and when, how rare they are, etc.

Then let people with Herb-lore or other skills describe how they use them, e.g. when they evoke traits. Don't tie it to any rules, or give specific herbs specific mechanic benefits. "Winter Lily reduces Healing TN by 2 when treating Orc poison" or whatever. That way likes madness. (Or MERP.)