Herbs & Plants - Online Generator

A gracious and patient individual took the liberty of loading all the table entries from my Herbs & Plants document into an online tool that quickly generates results:

❧Fantasy Herb Generator❧

It is certainly more convenient to see them instantaneously. Here are a few that stuck out after a few clicks:

• ❧ Stinknecklace is a plant sometimes found near planar gateways. Side effects of brewing it include a glowing ring finger.
• ❧Witchsorrel is a herb rarely found on hanged man's graves. Side effects of keeping it under your tongue include being compelled to wear clothes inside out.
• ❧ Giantbright is a plant rarely found in bird nests. Side effects of keeping it tucked inside your cheek include excessive thirst.
• ❧ Horseheather is a herb occasionally found on sandy beaches. Side effects of applying it include chapped lips.
• ❧Honeybonnet is a herb rarely found where sheep graze. Side effects of keeping it under your tongue include developing feathers.
• ❧Hencelery is a herb commonly found in ancient dolmens. Side effects of applying a paste made from it include migraines.

The benefit derived from generating the names alone is great, because it's always handy to have some semi-reasonable common plant names at the ready. It appears that they added a system that includes the frequency or rarity of the plants as well.

Eventually, I might try to add a 1d100 table or two for what a given plant's positive/intended uses might be. Right now I've just been roughly mapping them to the Rules Cyclopedia Cleric/Druid spells with a 1d8 for level (with an 8 re-rolling on the Magic User Spells), and then a 1d12 for the spell, but it might be more interesting to build word pairs using something similar to the old Magic Word system.

More Migration - Herb & Plant Generator

Here’s another bit of Google+ Content that I threw together a while back and forgot to share here. It's a Herb & Plant Generator that I whipped up based on some scattered notes and previous practices. I'm sure that Rolemaster 2nd Edition's juicy “list of Herbs, Breads, and Poisons” provided some inspiration here. I seem to recall it had some stern admonishments against having only magical sources of healing in your campaign, and since I acquired Character Law years before coming across Spell Law, for the longest time Herbs and Natural Healing were the only systems I had.

In particular, I recommend whipping up a few new plant names to use in descriptions for new regions to give the area some distinctive flavor. If the Lungwattle found sprouting in sunny clearings near creekbeds gradually gives way to Ghoulgrape as you approach the marshes, observant players may pick up on these changes in flora and they can even eventually serve as a subtle navigatory or climatory shorthand. Plus, fantastical worlds often benefit from even the most minor or mundane ornamentation, and developing a custom botanical nomenclature can be a great way to dress the setting.

Originally, I think the plants and herbs generated here were intended to assist with a system for replicating/replacing Cleric Spells (see this post: Cleric Spells Are Herbs). If you have a Ranger-type, Druid, Witch, Elf, or other “Woodland Type” in the party, consider letting them start out with knowledge of a few of these. Although for fun, I would be initially inclined to provide them with only the vaguest notions of side-effects or possibly only partial recipes for proper preparation. Experimentation with systems like this can help foster a neat kind of environmental engagement.