Talk:Cultivate Ferns & Mosses (sage ability)

Maxwell (talk) One of the two druids in my five-player party has been very gung ho about collecting ferns using this study ... even though I hadn't yet written him rules for what he can do with them! That is now rectified: I've written up my version of this ability. What do you think?

Cultivate Mosses and Ferns

The character is capable of collecting and processing wild moss and ferns into basic, but useful, industrial products. The plant material is abstractly assumed to fall into three categories suitable for making dyes, medicines, and oils.

Collecting the Material

(I've been following the Foraging ability for how much plant material can be collected per day. With the add'l restriction you give on the M&F main page that the character can only find mosses/ferns outside heavily-settled areas.)

Processing the Material

The character can process 10 pounds of fresh ferns (gathered within the last four days) into one of the following: 1 fluid ounce of ointment; 1 floz of fern oil (or 5 oz of fern oil incense); or enough woad for 1 pound of cloth. Once created, any of these substances can be kept indefinitely in an airtight container such as a vial or flacon.

Creation requires a mortar and pestle, a work table, a stirring rod, two pint bottles, and a crystal bowl, as well as a continuous source of heat, and (optional) storage vessels. Making 5 oz of incense requires 3 oz of wood ash and 2 oz of gum arabic. It takes 1d3+1 (2 to 4) hours to finish one unit of any product.

Dye

The character can produce woad, a blue dye which is a cheap and effective colorant for undyed cloth. This is a good way to get colored cloth without spending a pretty penny for it at the weaver's shop.

The character is capable of dying fabric with woad using certain mineral mordants learned as part of the study, but has no other knowledge of dying or otherwise treating cloth. Dying any amount of cloth involves repeatedly soaking and drying the cloth, and takes 3 hours (including drying time.) The character can dye up to 10 lbs at once, or up to 20 with a helper (who needs no special skills.) Dying requires two metal pots or vats, a continuous source of heat, and, per person working, one pair of work gloves and one stirring pole.

As woad is the only cheaply available source of bluish coloring, material dyed with it will typically find a ready market, fetching a 2-5x markup compared to ordinary undyed cloth ... as long as the character treads carefully, so as not to run afoul of the weavers' guild, dyers' guild, or other established interests in the region.

Medicine

These can be used to produce druid moss ointment for topical or oral application. Spreading 4 fluid ounces on a character will restore one point of damage taken from fire, extreme heat, desiccation, or chafing (such as from the background generator "you chafe in armor" result) in the last 48 hours.

Alternatively, consuming 2 ounces will alleviate, for 24 hours, the effects of a cold or similar minor nose/throat illness. Consumption in this way can also partially, temporarily counteract the effects of dehydration, such as caused by the dry heat of a desert.

Oil

These can be distilled to produce fern oil with a woody, herbal scent. This oil is pleasant to humans, but is mostly employed for its calming effect on mammals, and its soporific effect on insects.

One dose (1 floz) can affect up to 4 HD of creatures. Mammals must have the oil applied to their snouts, noses, mouths, or other smell/taste orifices; insects must be sprinkled with the oil. The oil will take effect 2 rounds after application, and remain effective for 5 minutes (25 rounds).

Mammals will be calmed into non-aggression, unless they are subsequently threatened. Insects will fall into a dormant or sleeping state if they fail a save vs magic; otherwise, they will be calmed as with mammals.

As it is usually difficult or dangerous to directly expose a creature to sufficient oil directly, the oil is usually mixed with wood ash and a binder, such as gum arabic, to form an incense. The character is capable of producing this incense if the extra materials are at hand when processing the ferns (see below).

Fern oil incense has a weaker effect than concentrated fern oil, but the duration is improved, and burnt incense allows indirect application over a larger area. 5 oz of incense (containing 1 oz of oil) will burn for 4 hours, and fill a 10x10 ft area with the effect, but can only affect 1 HD of creatures. Usually several chunks of incense are burned at once to pacify multiple animals.