1001 Helpful Herbs
Instead of using thinly-disguised real herbs¸ use some of these unique 1001 Helpful Herbs in your fantasy of SF game.
1001 Helpful Herbs
The adventurers are taking a well-earned rest in the village of Egalliv¸ which they have made their temporary home base. They are all relaxing¸ recuperating¸ and preparing for their next exploits. Kalthros¸ meanwhile¸ has rather reluctantly accepted a cousin's teenage son as an apprentice.
Yander¸ the apprentice¸ bounces into the cottage the adventurers are renting¸ bearing a basket of spiny green leaves.
Yander: Here you go! I went out to the swamp like you said¸ and here's a whole basket of Golden Bearthistle!
Kalthros examines the basket of leaves with faintly glowing fingers.
Kalthros: This is useless. Useless!
Yander: But... I gathered them with a silver sickle!
Kalthros: Exactly! Which is why they're useless. I told you that you had to pick them with your teeth.
Yander: But they're... spiny!
Kalthros: Which is why I sent my apprentice to gather them. Which would be you.
Yander: Why do you need these so badly anyway?
Kalthros (looking disgusted): Because the house is full of fleas!
Welcome to the "1001 Things" collections
In the real wold¸ practically everything that grows has been believed to have some use¸ real or imagined. Why should a fantasy world be limited to just the plants of the real world? Here are hundreds of instant herbs¸ all named with their useful parts and effects described.
With 1001 Helpful Herbs¸ you're ready to fill your fields¸ swamps¸ and hills with unusual and useful herbs. Your players might want to find an herb for a particular purpose¸ perhaps entailing a quest if¸ for example¸ the herb that can cure a certain disease is only found in the distant mountains. They might want to see what herbs they can find in the nearby area. They might encounter an odd plant and wonder what it could be used for. They might need to research the proper way to harvest an herb to make use of its magical properties. Herbs are not just background color for your world anymore. And herbal knowledge can be much less abstract¸ not to mention much more important.
For easy lookup¸ the herbs have been organized by environment:
To use these herbs¸ you can either pick one you like¸ roll d100 for the current environment¸ or search for a specific effect and then determine what herb is needed and where it can be found. Of course¸ you can always put it in any environment you want to make finding it easier or harder for the players¸ swap names around¸ or do anything else to customize the herbs for your world. Plus¸ of course¸ you should change in the deity names¸ saints¸ and other features as needed.
In addition¸ there are 101 additional random names at the end of the file¸ in the event that you like an herb but don't like its name.