Herbs require Check

[manyscruples]

I'd like to suggest that herbs (bluespore mushrooms, toadstools, ripplebark, etc...) require a skill check to determine whether or not you can pluck cuttings and seeds.  This would cut down on the weird meta of characters without knowledge of herbs and fungus being able to spot these particular useful "herbs" out of thousands of non-placeable ones and plucking them dry.    

Basically,

"You look at the herb." [Herbology Skill Check]  Farming+(1/2)herbalism  

Success gives you the current menu for plucking.
Failure gives you a blank menu.

[MaximumOverDrive]

I like this, however I'd suggest adding that 1/2 lore or such be added to the check as lore falls into many categories! And well, this might be complicated, as for example, what if someone were to describe the herb in strong detail to someone and suddenly they see it but for some reason can't recognize it? Seems a bit mechanic-oocish. So I do think this is a good idea, and I don't, because it's just as simple as anyone telling anyone how to find the herb by appearance, and/or other visuals and traits of the herb itself.

[manyscruples]

I like this, however I'd suggest adding that 1/2 lore or such be added to the check as lore falls into many categories! And well, this might be complicated, as for example, what if someone were to describe the herb in strong detail to someone and suddenly they see it but for some reason can't recognize it? Seems a bit mechanic-oocish. So I do think this is a good idea, and I don't, because it's just as simple as anyone telling anyone how to find the herb by appearance, and/or other visuals and traits of the herb itself.

They can describe it all they want but that doesn't really give them the skill to properly harvest them.  It would be no different than mining purple crystals or the various mushrooms about for lairs.  I could tell someone to look for Amanita but that doesn't mean they can cut it in a way that's meaningful.

[Hound]

They can describe it all they want but that doesn't really give them the skill to properly harvest them.  It would be no different than mining purple crystals or the various mushrooms about for lairs.  I could tell someone to look for Amanita but that doesn't mean they can cut it in a way that's meaningful.

Harvesting sprouts, flowers and seeds is a really easy task most people can learn to do in primary school. All you need is a knife, and sometimes not even that. I imagine that in a medieval world everyone but aristocrats and shut-in wizards would know how to do this.

Conversely, its not very consistent to have 'resource herbs' valuable for lairs require checks while 'herbalism herbs' do not.

[Vlaid]

It also makes sense and probably encourages a little bit of conflict for nature oriented PCs to be angry with "shield dwellers" or more civilized PCs who clumsily harvest plants to death.

[manyscruples]

It also makes sense and probably encourages a little bit of conflict for nature oriented PCs to be angry with "shield dwellers" or more civilized PCs who clumsily harvest plants to death.

A change like this won't stop people with the appropriate skills from doing this.  Which, in my opinion, leads only to petty conflict of the farmer against some faceless goon they'll never be able to find.  What it will do is keep Joe the Fighter from moonlighting as a herbalist, knowing the difference between a bluecap and likely dozens of other blue mushrooms.  Even if you do describe the mushroom to someone else, there are likely dozens of lookalikes that will kill you dead. Experienced mycologists have trouble identifying some mushrooms from others because many have similar appearances that can only be discerned from one another through expert analysis.