Topic: Herbage

[Right Wing Wacko]

 
Are herbs considered "raw" on the chart as far as price is concerned?
I mean, if an herb is prepared, say brewed and lasts a month, and is for sale at the herb hooch, will it be more expensive than in the book?

Thanks!

[jasonbrisbane]

I've always taken the herbs to be "raw".
Otherwise the GM has to recalculate when the PC's do herbcraft searches to find wild herbs.

Personally I'd add 10% to the cost for preparations..
(Maybe 12.5% if you think its easier to calculate  )

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

Not "raw", but not "prepared" either, more along the lines of "preserved", meaning that they are dried and/or cut/stored in specific doses, ready to be prepared and used.

[Right Wing Wacko]

Not "raw", but not "prepared" either, more along the lines of "preserved", meaning that they are dried and/or cut/stored in specific doses, ready to be prepared and used.

Understood, but would a herb dealer have both "preserved" and "ready" herbs available for sale? I guess I am talking specifically of the herbs that are brewed and last a month. Couldn't these act as "potions" ...available for sale already prepared? And I assume they would cost a little extra than the "preservred" ones. Of course it is only good for a month but the PC's don't have to take the time to start the fire, boil the water, etc.

This sounds ok to me.
Comments?

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

I doubt that they would have many, if any, pre-prepared herbs (like in potions), unless they can be assured of its sale before it goes bad, otherwise they would be losing money for the materials lost in that manner.

However, most would likely be willing to prepare the herbs for the customer at a slight increase in cost.

Also, don't forget that many ingestible herbs can likely be prepared in a dried form, and put in the little ingestible packets for use with a Herbal Bandoleer.

[Uriel]

A little off topic, but humorous (Well, I think so,anyways...)

Back in my elder Rolemaster days, several of our players debated how herbs were prepared, as well as used. Also, just how big is a dose of an herb?

The best bang for your buck herb was Draaf  <sp?> (It has a HARP equiv, I noticed...), 9sp for 2-20 Concussion hits healed. My player would carry load of the stuff.
One day, Martin (A Dunedain Fighter) says 'I'm eating 10 Draaf' after getting whacked and slashed but good by some Orcs. Someone else said 'How big is a Draaf,anyways?'
Someone else remarked that it might be as big as a Napa Cabbage leaf, or romaine lettuce leaf... Without missing a beat, Martin grinned and announced that he was making a Draff salad, with Mirenna berries and some other nut that stopped bloodloss or some such. It was pretty funny. Someone else composed a 'Healing Trail Mix' as well.


-Uriel

[Right Wing Wacko]

Could someone give me an example of "tall grass" and "short grass" and explain how they differ from "plains"?
(In the context as applies to Herbs in the HARP rpg, and, more specifically, the climate codes)

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

Plains are basically relatively flat lands (as compared to very hilly or mountainous regions)

I did a bit of googling and came up with this for you....

The following is a selection of excerpts from this page -- http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~kenr/prairiewhatis.html

Prairies (i.e. plains) are a type of grassland, a landscape dominated by herbaceous plants, especially grasses; trees are either absent or only widely scattered on the landscape.

Rainfall decreases from east to west, resulting in different types of prairies, with the tallgrass prairie in the wetter eastern region, mixed-grass prairie in the central Great Plains, and shortgrass prairie towards the rain shadow of the Rockies. Today, these three prairie types largely correspond to the corn/soybean area, the wheat belt, and the western rangelands, respectively.

Illinois lies within an area called the "prairie peninsula," an eastward extension of prairies that borders deciduous forests to the north, east, and south. This is part of the tallgrass prairie region, sometimes called the true prairie, with the landscape dominated by grasses such as big bluestem and Indian grass as well as a large number of other species of grasses and wildflowers, the latter called forbs. The vegetation sometimes reaches a height of 10 feet or more.

The first European settlers moving westward from the forests of the eastern United States encountered the prairies, which seemed like a vast ocean of grass. The wind caused waves on the surface of the shimmering grasses. One type of wagon used by the pioneers was the "prairie schooner," a reference to a sailing vessel, further adding to the analogy of the prairie being a large inland sea of grasses. It was easy to get lost in the prairie, especially since there were few trees or other natural features to act as landmarks. Even when on horseback, it was often not possible to see across the prairie to the horizon.

And here is a link for Shortgrass Prairie -- http://www.cnrhome.uidaho.edu/default.aspx?pid=85864

[Right Wing Wacko]

Um...ok...
thanks... I think.

Rather, why are "plains" listed as a separate region from "tall" and "short" grass if they are basically the same thing?
So, since plains is flat, short and tall grass (plains?) are hilly?
And when you mix in the climate codes, some of them do come out a little goofy...

I guess it really is up to me to place the herbs, using the charts as guidelines only.
I thought there might have been a specific reason for the differentiation of plains, tall grass, and short grass other than just for fluff.

[dutch206]

Since I live in Illinois and have seen a restored tallgrass prarie in person, I would really like to see someone do an herb search in a field of tall grass. 

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

Could someone give me an example of "tall grass" and "short grass" and explain how they differ from "plains"?
(In the context as applies to Herbs in the HARP rpg, and, more specifically, the climate codes)

Sorry, I may have misread this the first time through...

In HARP, there is no tall grass vs short grass distinction, in fact, no separate grasslands category.

There are plains. Plains can be grasslands, plains can be slightly hilly even (undulating, not steep hills).

Grasslands can be found in the plains, on the seacoasts, on the edge of mountainous territories, etc...

The main point is that tall grasses grow where there is plenty of water, and short grasses grow where there is little water.

This means any grasses in hot/dry climes will be short grasses, while in semi-arid and humid areas, you would have longer grasses

For example: Amaled is a grass that grows in temperate plains, that is going to make it a tall grass (likely about 2' tall or taller when full grown).

 Beras is a grass that grows in semi-arid plains. While not a tall grass, it likely wouldn't be a short grass either, so I would put its height at more like 1.5 to 2' tall.

Broncel grows on arid plains. Little water. Although then entry says "stalk", not grass, you can pretty be sure that it is a small, short plant because the lack of water, likely no taller than 4-6 inches in height.

Is this more what you were looking for?

[Right Wing Wacko]

Yeah... thanks Rasyr.

[Right Wing Wacko]

I doubt that they would have many, if any, pre-prepared herbs (like in potions), unless they can be assured of its sale before it goes bad, otherwise they would be losing money for the materials lost in that manner.

However, most would likely be willing to prepare the herbs for the customer at a slight increase in cost.

Also, don't forget that many ingestible herbs can likely be prepared in a dried form, and put in the little ingestible packets for use with a Herbal Bandoleer.

Oh wow...  ...Can't believe I didn't take that into consideration!!
Makes perfectly good sense to me now that it is described from the economic point of view of the herb merchant!
Thanks again Rasyr!!

However, shouldn't liquid, or "brewed", herbs be unable to be stored in an herbal bandoleer?

[Aaron]

Soak some dried meat, or some other dry substance, in brewed herb, and put it on herbal bandoleer. Then eat that. So easy:)

[munchy]

Really a good idea. We had them turned into candy sometimes as chewing gum seemed to be quite out of place in the setting of Middle-Earth and Shadow World (although the latter might be almost ready for it). The candy could then be slowly sucked or simply chewed and swallowed thus releasing the terrible power of the apples ... ah ... sorry ... of the herbal brew.