Herbalism for non-druid non-rangers

[Underbard]

Maybe it is just me, but I fail to see how walking up to a jungle cat and petting it relates to herbalism.  A common hunter would stand a much better chance of recognizing the common parts inside of an animal, lungs, heart, liver, etc..  A physician, would also recognize these things, even though they differ from ours.  A tree hugger that only befriended animals and never butchered them wouldn't know a liver from a heart.

  IMO wisdom or intelligence would make a better modifier.

[FleetingHeart]

A) Animal Empathy is not just walking up and petting wild animals. It's just poorly represented by the engine. It's about appearing non threatening to the animal and communicating with body language.

B) Herbalism is -not- only healing. This has been discussed elsewhere in the suggestion forums as to why it is not a heal check associated.

C) Druids are not all hippy tree huggers that never kill animals. Death is a natural part of the life cycle. As is predation. (ie, killing to EAT). Druids understand and embrace this.

D) Wisdom and Intelligence don't go up with levels or gear much. You're likely to only see 1 -maybe- 2 points increase in your stats, whereas skill points are much more readily incremented.

[FleetingHeart]

Honestly, short of a DM response saying otherwise, you should probably consider Animal Empathy as representative of one's link to nature (and thus plants as well as animals). The better you understand the whole system, the better you are able to make use of individual parts to create something useful.

[Drakill Tannan]

I guess i can have Wayne take a ranger level. Although that's what i wanted to avoid. Or just get a stock big enough so even if i only succed 10% i still have enough!

[Secutor]

Rangers and Druids have a rapport with nature that affords them superior skills in herbalism. This is represented in various ways that you have apparently discovered.

[Snoteye]

It never ceases to amaze me just how difficult it is for players to understand, let alone accept, that Animal Empathy is quite simply the best choice to represent an advanced understanding of nature.

And taking a single ranger or druid level just for e.g. Animal Empathy is a sure-fire way to get on the bad side of many of us.

[Cruzel]

Oona has alreayd clarified the way the check works, but;


I'm guessing some of you have not used these systems extensively, but you will find any PC without a negative wisdom modifier and a decent lore skill can make pretty much all the basic stuff.


Herbalism is by no means a system that only rangers and druids can use, but naturally  they excel at it because they have a connection to nature other classes don't share.


In fact, most of the DC's of the things a PC starting out in herbalism are rather low, and you would only have a hard time if you had no lore and no wisdom.  The more complicated stuff is obviously going to be more complicated, and you should think about making a deal with a ranger or druid to help you with your concoctions if you can't manage on your own.

(Having an experiment buddy is always a lot of fun anyways - I Strongly advise working in pairs or more when trying out the EFU:A Crafting systems)

[Drakill Tannan]

As i said i didn't know Lore added to the formula.. i was in the impresion it was only AE. I'm no longer in need for something else, i invest 9 points in lore and don't need anything else really.

Was there a sticky about this somewhere? i couldn't find it. Maybe there should be, and one for alchemy and cooking too, and all others.

[Cruzel]

This Thread contains the information you seek, Sirrah

[Drakill Tannan]

Just out of curiosity, aisdes from your post were is the link? I often forghet there was an EFU since i was never there, so seeking the UD forums is not really "obious" for me..

So i can read the info before suggesting too...

[Cruzel]

Old forums > Information for new players

[Drakill Tannan]

Thanks.. although i was expecting it to be on this forums.

[Underbard]

It never ceases to amaze me just how difficult it is for players to understand, let alone accept, that Animal Empathy is quite simply the best choice to represent an advanced understanding of nature.

While I agree that AE is the best choice to represent an understanding of nature, it is a poor choice for herbalism.  I don't claim to know every herbalist, but I have yet to meet one that wasn't a vegetarian, or one who would even consider killing an animal for any reason.  On the other hand, I hunt, fish, raise hogs and chickens, raise a garden etc..  I also use several plants and roots for various medicinal remedies.  Trust me when I say, herbalism has nothing to do with animals.
  As NWN has nothing to actually represent herbalism, and as it was mentioned above that Wis wouldn't add much as a modifier, I would suggest heal+lore as better alternatives, along with Ranger and Druid levels.
 
  My two cents.

[FleetingHeart]

Trust me when I say, herbalism has nothing to do with animals.

As has been said... AE, in the context of this server, is about more than just animals. It is a characters connection to all of nature. All. Plants, animals, and everything in between.

Now. As for those herbalists who are all vegetarians... Well take a quick look at traditional Chinese herbal medicine, which uses ample quantities of animal products including ried insects, dried animal parts, and various other oddities. You know tigers are nearly extinct because their testicles are used for male virlity potions? Just one of many uses for various tiger body parts. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/97184.php

Moreover, herbalism in EFU:A is -not- all about healing and medicinal supplies.

Let's take a look at this logically here for a moment. I believe when they redid the Alchemy/Herbalism systems they announced something like one hundred different items that can be crafted between the two systems. So, split that right down the middle and that leaves 50 for herbalism. I can't think of fifty healing items that could be possible given the limitations of the NWN engine. Right off the top of my head, I can think of 10 healing items that can be bought that would make candidates for herbalism.

That leaves roughly 40 other unique items that could be crafted that would have absolutely nothing to do with healing.

The system is fine, really. And as has been pointed out by me and now Cruzel as well, the basics are easily crafted by any character.

EDIT: Also, if people are just getting tripped up by the term 'herbalism', which I am beginning to think they are.... Don't take the word so seriously. It is a simple catch-all for traditional remedies and bodily supliments.

[Egon the Monkey]

Time to weigh in with a few more basic tips, hmm?
If you're interested in crafting, load up on crafting sets. Rings are great things to hoard with different ones for different checks, they are lightweight. There is a LOT of excellent Heal gear around from a certain 2-4 solo quest, and that often turns up at player merchants. Go to a wizard store and buy Spellcraft gear for Alchemy. Even go and buy a Wisdom buff off Mother Oggla before attempting some difficult Herbalism checks.

Work with a buddy. I'f you're a ranger or druid, collect the supplies easily and run them to a friendly mage when you want some Alchemy doing. Ahmed found out a lot of recipes by working with three other PCs on figuring out the recipe drops.