I remember an adventure I ran years ago, where I gave a detail about a flower in an npc's hair. A clever player learned that the local villain had a crush on that woman ( who did not like the villain in return), so he used the same flower, along with some perfume and a forged letter, to lure the villain away from his minions. Subtle detail, but it became part of something cool. The fact that the PC was an elf who specialized in potions and alchemy made for great background role-playing. Many bonus xp were awarded that game.
I really like the titles on the side! They really help me keep track of what topic we're on, and I'm sure it will helpme jump to specific topics I'm looking for upon further rewatches!
Another good one: Yarrow makes for a great poltice to pack wounds. Had a friend who tore up their knee on a biking accident, saw Yarrow growing nearby, crawled to it, and packed the leaves into the gash and after about fifteen minutes was able to make it back home.
My fave thing to do is 'the sacred tree' which can have cultural significance to the area or sometimes if a character spontaneously prays to it I might give them a small, short-term buff.
I really like the bullet points on the side. They make it much easier to remember what you're talking about, and they make it easier to find a specific part of the video again if we're looking for a specific quote. You used them way back when How to Be A Great Player was on the Bacon Battalion channel, and I've missed them ever since.
The thing I love the most about them, is how their names can enhance your world and almost stablish a culture by themselves. I'm my group, all names are local. There are no Thyradins, Lordarels, Vireons and such, but Antônios, Pedros, Joãos, etc Same applies to plants. No exotic species. We have Jequitibás, Jacarandás (shot out to Johannesburg, Guy, they are common here too haha), Araucárias and such. Suddenly the whole atmorphere feels like home. When they move, I intend to change what species they find and with which they interract.
Once played a MUD with an amazing Alchemy system. Key feature was that, for every ingredient, there would be one property of the ingredient that was fixed. Everything else was randomized based on the random seed of each player. It meant that you couldn't just go online and look up how to make the most damaging potion X because it was different for each person, and you had to actually experiment and keep your own notes as to what worked in what proportions. It was fantastic, and it meant players that really put in the time to master alchemy could produce amazing results. A version of this semi-random alchemy could be produced in a DnD setting with good bookeeping so that every playthrough gives different combinations of ingredients for different effects.
Newish to the channel and rpgs. Your videos are extremely helpful as I stumble through this great mode of storytelling. The bullet points are a great add
Ooh. Nice. As a gardener in RL - plants are a hobbyhorse of mine as GM :D... and a pet peeve as player, when glaring errors occour. (I just remember the 'swamp-cactus we had to find back then... \*shudders*)
I actually really like the name Orcslumber for a tree, I imagine them being like giant acacia trees, growing far apart and having wide branches with broad leaves allowing groups of orcs to set up camp underneath them so they have shade and rain protection without having to pitch tents
The titles/topic headers in the background, I find are very usefull! They help keep me more focused and interested in the explanations and examples without getting lost on the subject matter or forgetting what this certain point has to do with that certain point etc. Very helpful!
ABSOLUTELY keep doing this style of video. I watch them quite often, in order to prepare for my games. PLEASE keep the notes in the background, because it makes note taking SO much easier. It makes rewatching specific sections SO much easier.
And you know, one thing I've realized: I often get just as many great ideas from the comments as I do from the videos. Great work, Guy! Great feedback, everyone!
I particularly love this one. Played a samurai once that the other players came to knew, if they wanted to find him, look for flowers - because that's where he'd be. I once played a doctor in a gaslight game whom was filling in practical details in a medical text of the effects and doses of certain plants. I can even picture someone laughing at the party forager, pointing out that foraging isn't really the best way to produce wealth - until that forager has a lucky find and comes back with a few rare alchemical herbs worth a couple of thousand gold for a day's work. And yes. Thank you. I will never overlook the fruit salad.
As a fellow player who grew up in the garden, it's cool to hear about flowers in other parts of the world. Today, I'm more of a vegetable gardener, but I'm amazed by the beauty and variety of flowers and plants!
Boy did this video come out at an appropriate time. I am new to being a DM, and am currently creating an adventure set in a rain forest. Great points in this Guy. You will have certainly helped in bringing my world alive. Cheers!
First comment, and I LOVE those titles brought up, because it helps me remember bullet points myself for later employing this advice. It's just easier to remember 'Descriptive Value, Practical Value, Names, Immersion' when working on my descriptions and game building than to remember 'All that stuff he said about plants' Keep up the good work!
I'm DMing a game for my wife, a Cleric of Ehlonna (Nature Cleric) and this video is just what I needed to help make everything more immersive. Thank you. Also, the titles are good and very helpful...keep them.
Excellent video. I’ve always used the local flora as a storytelling tool in my own games, and rewarded players who paid attention to them. Valuable components, history (plant X is found only on the graves of elves, but why is it here?), clues (the grass by this spring looks sickly, and tiny crystals appear to have formed on the leaves where the spring water had splashed). I very much appreciate the titles in the background. They help to organize the viewer’s thoughts as the talking points are hit, they give a sense of anticipation (and therefore heightened attention), and by advancing what is highlighted allow you to set rhythm to your presentation. By all means, keep them.
There is also a real exisiting plant that would be pretty usefull fighting invisible enemys: burs, just throw a hand full in the general direction and a few will stick. to clothes, hair or fur. Had tons of them regularly sticking to my clothes when i was a kid. That's how they spread, they stick to the fur of animals walking by them. Since they are not dangerous or rare in the slightest bit the only real problem would be to prevent them from just sticking to each other when you throw them.
Some of the plants that exist in my world include Throttleweed, a ground vine that attacks animals and people by wrapping its tentacles around its prey and constricts, and Blackfrond; used as a recreational drug and also to reduce the victim's magic resistance.
What a coincidence that you made this when you did! I Had just thought of delving into my world's plants much more. Specifically an island with an invasive species of bioluminescent plant from a ways back that has been fully integrated into the island's society. It's used as decoration and lighting primarily, though over time it's formed somewhat of a symbiotic relationship with other local plants, and so also has an impact on food culture and construction materials. Thanks for giving your take on how they can be used to enhance the experience.
I like the bullet points in the background. They kind of help focus the narrative, rather than take away from it. As I'm running old school Gamma World, plants are almost always a threat, and the PCs are always trying to figure out ways to use plant that just tried to eat them. In GW, I use plants as a way to present a challenge that a "regular" monster wouldn't or couldn't be logically be used, and mutant plants are easier to use as one-offs.
In my campaign I introduced my players to Red Pine - rare tree, growing in high mountains. It's wood was protecting against local (existing only on this continent) kind of gheists. All citizens of this part od the world carry an amulet from that trees, also they make brilliant furniture out of this wood. PC where travelling with this wood from clearings in mountains to the elven city on the plains, where it was treated. I think not only plants, but all elements of environment can add something nice to the game.
These videos are very valuable. Few channels in this spirit go out of their way to make you a better world builder, and to be frank I hadn't thought about plants as a descriptive element beyond visuals. I'd love to hear about how we can get more mileage out of similar skills such as jeweler, which are very often considered useless in actual play.
I think I'm quite a fan of the background titles by the way. I find it helpful to be able to reference the general points being covered, I absorb the information better when it's categorized like that.
This may be incited purely due to the fact that I went with a group of biologists to a ravine last night to look for a specific type of frog, but I think this kind of mentality can be applied to small indigenous animals as well. The sounds they emit and the effects they have on the environment can be used to create ambiance, and their presence or abscence, expected or not, could be indicative of the health of the area or local success of the species which can lead to forensic clues concerning a plot hook of some kind. And of course, the astute mage or apothecary can also benefit from catching these small creatures for much needed material components for certain spells if applicable. Great video, Guy; highy insightful. Cheers 😊👍🏽
Amateur ethnobotanist here. Good video. I played a campaign while in university that highly featured plants as key plot elements. One was a symbiotic algae belonging to a god that our party was trying to stop. As the alchemist of the party, I spent a lot of time trying to come up with a potion to remove the algae from the bloodstream of infected individuals. There may have been a few fatalities before I got it right. Another was a narcotic nightshade used in esoteric rituals. When we finished the campaign and our characters became minor deities, I took this plant as one of my holy symbols.
Wonderful video. I recently had a flower serve as a clue to where a band of goblins was lairing. The partyost the goblins' trail but found petals of a flower where they had crossed the river. The Ranger was able to determine the flowers were not from the area and the aid of an herbalist determined where they were from. This led them to the fallen manor house of a foreign merchant family from the flower's natural home now growing wild in the ruins of the manor's gardens.
I think that’s a brilliant idea. It’s so good in fact, that I now want to run a fantasy campaign even though I’m in the middle of running Edge of the Empire. The little descriptions and tidbits of info make the world really jump to life, even from those couple of examples you provided. I’ll definitely be using plants in my next fantasy setting.
Never realy thought about it. I should describe and invent some plants for my forest. Thank you. I would love to see your GM skils in action or play by myself in your group
"As the adventuring party passed under the brush and thorny undergrowth, they particularly disregarded their prior foresight in the spores these plants petals produced, inhaling the fumes, roll a constitution check" *rolls a 2* "Your lungs fill with a sickly sweet fume, your lack of air becoming increasingly apparent to the rest of your group, you take... 12 points of damage from the miasmic spores" God I love botanical flavortexting, thanks
Too funny! Once again your web goblin seems to be reading my mind. I'm working on an adventure that takes place in a swamp. One of the areas is defined by an abundance of swamp cabbage, which the local good-aligned kobolds love as a tasty treat. Another area is a pond which IF the players maneuver around (and not easily) will bring them to a patch of flowers that operate as potions of healing. I haven't yet determined what kind of plants, but that's the basic idea. Many years back in Dragon Magazine there was a fantastic article detailing the uses (mostly medicinal) of various real world herbs like comfrey, cattail and more. As a gardener and herbalist, I adore planting various herbs, trees and other green stuff into my games. And yes, when I'm not the DM, I often play a druid.
I didn’t get super in depth but once I wanted to emphasize that the group was in the north so there’s a lot of maple, birch, pine and spruce. As they continued and got deeper into the woods the maples thinned out a lot, using birch to emphasize young regrowth for a large section of downed trees... “Meh, I usually just say trees” ...
Great video and content! AND I say keep the titles... Whether it's just catching/keeping up with the subject at hand, or it's going back to look at "that one part" again from or for future references and rewatches, the titles and bullet points are helpful along the way. Keep them simple of course, so we can readily read and quickly understand what you're getting at... but definitely a good idea. AND for the Plants... If you don't add some narrative and description to some of them, all you've got is a "woods"... You can primitively work with three kinds of "woods"... Light woods, moderate woods, and heavy or dense woods... BUT that's not so much fun... Sure, describing the various sprays of tiny white flowers showing through the varied colors of morning glory trumpets, is a bit more work... BUT it makes wandering through the otherwise plain old woods... at least mildly entertaining between encounters. If you want to build a little tension, there can always be briars, thistles, poisonous thorn-bushes and nettles, usually alongside some cleverly colorful and soothing flower or succulent... Nature is honestly just that mischievous IRL... Even some of the "dangerous" bushes can be impressively showy and fun, like the Pyrocanthus (or "fire bush" colloquially) with rusty red-orange leaves in the fall and brilliant orange yellow berries that make the thing appear as if it's made of fire... Don't get caught up in one, though... The thorns are incredible and agonizing... so long and thin, they're not only difficult to gauge by eye, but break off once they puncture the skin, festering a terrible sore that BURNS for days before you can extract it equitably... In treatment, since the end that breaks off is so thin, the body's natural moisture almost instantly renders it too soft to just pinch with fingernails or tweezers... SO you could take a knife and cut, but that's more damage than necessary, and no particular protection from infection... On your own, however, try not to bother the "affliction" and in a couple days, it will fester, producing a small "puss pocket" that can then easily be "lanced" or broken with a sharp pin, and squeezing or massaging like a zit will force the splinter out with the putrid goopy puss... of course... No, it's not pleasant in any stage. It's hard to believe, but lore has it that old-fashioned parents used to prize this friggin' thing for a source of "switches" used in disciplining their unruly children... From my perspective, it's a damn nice thing to be able to quickly recognize it and steer WELL clear! This is the kind of bush you won't make THAT mistake more than one time... in your life. Arizona (IRL) has a "jumping cactus" that's known to seek out the heat of its victims, curling limbs are even swatting at passers by... Oddly enough, the thing doesn't stop this kind of phenomenon even in death... dessicated fragments on the ground are known to move and tangle unwary pedestrians near hopelessly in thorns, especially in the dark. Based on a formative childhood around herbalists, myself, I've invented quite a variety of fantastical plants, fungus, molds, and lichen... and a few other oddly symbiotic creations... From weird and colorful flowers, sometimes showy and other times hidden away for a casual reward for the adventurous traveler... to the absolutely hideous and disgusting things that accent and compliment the more pleasant parts of the fantasy wooded landscape... I do try to base everything on some aspect of plants, molds, lichens, and what not of the "IRL" world, which is why I so enjoy sharing these tidbits above. Razor-weed isn't necessarily sharp by the edges of leaves or the rugged stems. BUT the thorns are short and very narrow even at the base. They're also just as green as the rest of the plant, making it a dubious prospect for even keenly sighted passers by to avoid getting "snagged" or cut. Worse yet (based on actual raspberry plants) this particular bushy plant, grows several stalks up and outward, where they bend over as they grown... Around two to three feet in length the stalks will touch ground, take root and branch upward and outward again. This cycle repeats throughout the "growing season" which can even be year round in tropical territories... building an ever growing and chaotic snarl of thorn encrusted loops. Late summer, a single short stalk grows from the center of the branched base, adding a seventh upward and considerably thicker, sturdier post, upon which brilliantly red to purple-ish flowers open and emanate a heavily sweet scent, not unlike heated molasses... Mid to late autumn, when most of the leaves (in temperate to sub-arctic regions) crisp and become hues of ruddy brown to golden fringed, the fruit resemble translucent blue gems... though great care should be taken in gathering as the thorns will absolutely render even the thickest of hide based armors, utterly useless. Mechanically, perception is steeply cost (to the uninitiated) to notice thorns, hide and leather offers 0-protection, and depending on the infliction of damage, D4 - 2D6 HP are a healthy recommended range/rate... "Infliction" is the umbrella term for that mechanical/narrative of how a PC might encounter damage/thorns... Grasping or casual contact is obviously lower on the general scale than... say... blindly running full-tilt through a thicket because the PC is more concerned about a tribe of angry orcs than exactly where his / her feet are pounding... so... judgment is crucial. High in the canopies of the densely forested northern peaks, when the late summer winds are just right, the Sliver-stars uncurl under every full moon, glistening in a thousand hues as far as the eye can see. A single flower is impressive up close, spreading a full two feet across it's petals, strangely iridescent and highly reflective, it faintly resembles the odor of lemons or limes (depending on who you ask). They're of a parasitic vine that networks from tree to tree in the tall standing forests, tying together the canopy overhead and providing transport to all the little creatures that live up there... and barely visible at all from only certain places on the ground. Some say the sap of the vine, when collected at the right time of year, can dull even the most wretched agony, but only the most adventurous dare climb into the mountains and then up those tallest of giant trees to find out. For the few who do, and the perchance to see the sliver-stars in bloom, it is truly a life changing experience... Enjoy... ;o)
Very interesting topic. I like it and never thought about it. I'm definitely going to add a little of this right now as I'm work on my session planning.
Love the video, your content continues to inspire and invigorate my love for roleplaying and worldbuilding. Totally stealing a bunch of the plant names and ideas you mentioned in the video. When it comes to plant monsters, I have a go-to monster combo that I like to try to work into every game I run at some point or another; I call it a "bog lantern." Take a shambling mound, and have it co-habitate an area with wil-o-wisps. The wisps are used to draw in prey, and subsequently feed on their suffering and agony as the shambling mound tears them apart. Typically, I have the players find out about them either from the local villagers, who try to warn them, telling them that "Bog lanterns might be pretty, but yer best off remaining in the dark than trying for their light," or by stumbling upon them as an ambush encounter. My last party just about lost their shit when, all of a sudden, the wisps illuminated the large, mossy mound, which proceeded to spring into action to try and eat them.... hehehe Also, if you like the idea but need a bit more deadliness for the encounter, I like to grant my shambling mounds the ability to engulf a medium or smaller creature that it has grappled, which can add a properly terrifying and tense moment as the party watches the fighter get pulled into the mass of vines and moss.
Love the titles. I often have players that want to use downtime to explore and collect plants (primarily alchemists). I have them roll nature checks and determine the value of what they find based off the result. I've also specified plants to be found to complete side quests. Many players enjoy this.
I used a wizard of Oz style field as a challenge in a one off game with the party rushing along in a caravan. It was a great part of the encounter and was the most talked about encounters from the game. So I agree with plants being a great aspect to add in
Bullet points are very helpful, Guy! Would love to see a video branching off from this on alchemy and chemistry in a magical setting, and how the two can contrast!
Thank you!!!! I’ve always wondered why the Ranger/Druide doesn’t have an herbalist book as an item he/she gets when they become that class. It just seemed like a no-brainer for your nature-tracker person to have knowledge and record about the plants in the area in which they roam. I am aware of the Nature and Medicine skills, but seems it should come as a default.
To be fair, not _all_ Rangers and Druids have to be master herbalists; though I agree it does seem like something that most would at least dabble in...
Yes both Flora & Fauna are absolutely necessary in D&D and most roleplaying games, in fact right now I am currently working on an Apocalyptic Wild West themed campaign for me and my friends and that is currently something I am trying to work on creating my own local Plants and Creatures that would fill this world. I am also taking inspiration from Fallout and Adventure Time for the world itself taking place 700 years after the world was consumed by a nuclear disaster, but more similar to Adventure time in that the world has evolved into a new world with humans, radiated (basically mutants), reptilians (lizardfolk), a race of intelligent invader like parasitic plants (like fallout's synths but aliens), and a whole plethora of monstrous races from a hellish underdark like realm that exists under the world while simultaneously existing in another realm. It is a fantastic idea and the world is gonna be more like an open world esc campaign to which my friends can screw around in as they wish finding crazy critters and loot dungeons, ruins, laboratories, etc. I am having trouble finding as much Source Material as possible without reskinning materials from games they know all about so they get a more wow factor rather than the "Oh ok that's pretty much like a deathclaw" kind of reaction. I would love to have a copy of that file of 100 plants to help me add more awesomeness to my game, if that is okay and all if not its kewl :3
Damn. Simulationist GM, or at least one that remembers the charm and usefulness of inbetween-adventuring downtime, is a GM I'd love to play with. Why? For one simple reason - I really like the Artificer class (especially some homebrew revised versions of the 5e UA), and half of its usefulness lies in crafting and their ability to turn resources into powerful stuff for the party.
13th Age has an interesting story description mechanic where the players can add elements to the story. So part of a rangers ability to speak with animals is the ability to find said animals. Same with druids and plants.
Another great video Guy, and I have started to add more plants to my campaign, I was doing this a bit but mainly for trees but you definitely made the case for more detail. You mentioned that someone once gave you excel list of plants. Is there a list like that available with biome types? Especially some DnD (or Fantasy) themed ones. I can name and identify about 100 types of trees...but flowers, and grasses and others...not so much
Made two oddball plants for my game. One is a hanging bell flower type plant that has pollen that can create calming effects and lethargy (basically sleepy and happy.) It grows on shore lines and can be made into an addictive drug. I have a small side story for the players finding a merfolk who's sleeping under one of these plants because there kind of addicted to it. another is a giant mushroom that tries to rain spores and slime over creatures that sleep under it. much like cortaceps (cant spell it) the fungus effects people's brains and causes them to wander around an area before rooting to the ground to grow a new mushroom, using the body as nutrients. never thought to use plants as a way to make money. i've been struggling to find alternative ways for people to make money rather than just finding treasure or looting dead people. I have a druid who should look into plants both for this reason and because i know she will be using some poisons.
This made me think about the grapple plant ("Harpagophytum" if you want the scientific name), "wood spider", or "devil's claw" as is it's most common name which based on how the fruit looks, with it's slender spiny hooks. grows in sandy soil, in a vine-like manner, and it's fruit can be used to make medicine that works wonders to ease the pain in joints and muscles. however, it's hard to digest and can easily cause gastric ulcers. One can forgo the risks of hurting their stomach by instead making a balm/salve to use on the are that is hurting, and that works but not quite as effective as consuming the fruit. I think a lot of people might forget that different plants not only grow in different climates, but the soil is more often than not affecting the plants more than people seem to understand... mind you, I only know a tiny bit from my grand parents, so my knowledge is limited. But I do know that the soil affect how water is retained, which in turn affects if the plant can get the right amount (plant's can drown. don't forget that), so you have to think about that too if you want to be realistic.
Such a good video! Thank you!^^ I have a race/species, where I use the name of flowers, as names for the females of that race. But i also had the women embroider "their" flower onto their clothes. Of course, they can be made more different by adding colours as a suffix. ^^ It's so much fun using plants in worlds, so this episode was a lot of fun for me to watch, thanks! Question, have you done a video on name creation? I'm curious, since I do name generators for all my species, and people seem surprised when I tell them about them. ^^
plants are one of those things where you gotta weigh how much familiar stuff you put in and how much you are willing to add or make up by yourself. It's true that adding all sorts of plants gives a lot of flavour to your soup, erhm I mean world, but at a certain point you have to make the logical ramifications that everything in our world that is made from certain products now has to be replaced by products made from your new fantastic plants and consider that these products now reflect your world. Coffee made from some sludgy mushroom might not be black but purple, tobacco in your world might create yellow, sulphurish smoke, hence it's name "drake's haze". The more you replace stuff the wider the effects of it. And that extends from flora to fauna, animals can also be added/replaced, which makes an even bigger impact on the world you play in. I remember an area my character was in that didn't have horses or mules but instead had big lizards, like dinosaurs, that they used for travel and as livestock. Stuff like that changes the entire environment, leather-based items may be replaced by scale-based products, in turn leather as a ressource may become more valueable. It gives you a lot to work with to distinguish your world, but it's also very straining to keep up with all the changes, it's nice to sometimes just have your players eat some applepie at an npc's house rather than jin'gori pie, made from the violet jin'gori berry named after Jin'gora, eigth emperess of Zri-t'kka, who on a journey from the western kingdoms brought over this berry that she enjoyed so much she integrated them into the environment of her domain. sometimes apple pie is just fine.
For my campaigns, I bought some herbal guides and laminated cards telling about plants, herbs, etc. and their uses, history. I did the same for gems and crystals. It actually helps in situations of scare magic, wild/low/dead magic areas, and even gives druids a more realistic purpose. Local healers and medicine men, and apothecaries become key in campaigns. It gives the DM a great way to suck the money out of characters and also can give them an income by giving them jobs and finding components for herbalists, healers, and wizards, protecting shipments... and even some nefarious reasons for love potions, poisons (to slayer a beast or weaken a villain), and such. Perhaps even a fuel source that could clean burning for working in mines. I would be interested if your friends notes and materials are available for people to see. Sounds like a great product possibility that can be made available for sale.
Hey Guy, I really enjoyed the video. The bullet points on the side were really helpful, I was wondering if you're at liberty to upload the Excel spreadsheet of the plants somewhere? Also, maybe you could add a resources page on your website, explaining how to create some things and maybe even synopses of your videos. But just a suggestion.
Firstly, the titles in the background are a nice addition. More importantly, though: would it be possible to have a look at that Excel file you mentionned? I was always very interested in adding more plants to my games, but I don't happen to be very knowledgeable on the subject. This document could prove very useful as a source of inspiration :)
Is there any chance that the creator of this Excel document would be willing to share their information with the wider public? As a fellow nature child, I would love a "DMs' Guide to Flora"! We have a selection of tomes on beasts & creatures, so a compedium that gives us DMs the same level of information on the plants, & fungi of the world we're exploring would be fantastic! Especially if you really want to push herbalism mechanics!
Clerics with nature proficiency. Some of the most efficient healers. Why spend a spell to stop bleeding, when you can staunch it with a particular moss?
i like the titels and love plants in rpg especialy because i like the exploration aspact presented by it, especialy when playing a alchemist like character
Guy, have you noticed that the text lines in the intro move at different paces? :D Not a big deal though, just noticed it. Probably caused by the animation curves automatically smoothing everything out.
Nice video! I've been working on an alchemy guide for one of my players and I've been meaning to populate a large list of foliage! Do you have that excel file with all the information, like you mentioned? That would be absolutely amazing to plug right in to my Alchemy file.
I also like to use not just the plants themselves, but the way they are prepared and whatnot to set the scenes. You can describe flower arrangements, and relay what each flower means, you can describe the way that herbs need to be dried and prepared (my players generally like this - especially the herbalist) and it gives the setting a bit of a "homey" feel.
Your part comes across an unique patch of flowers in the fields of grass and trees. The bushels have green in stalk and white in flower. Please make a roll to identify the plant. You are looking at the rare White dragon bush, its leaves make a healing potion so potent that it is truly heartbreaking... that or its the white jade bush which is poisonous. hmmm.... Delectable Tea or deadly poison.
I remember an adventure I ran years ago, where I gave a detail about a flower in an npc's hair. A clever player learned that the local villain had a crush on that woman ( who did not like the villain in return), so he used the same flower, along with some perfume and a forged letter, to lure the villain away from his minions. Subtle detail, but it became part of something cool.
The fact that the PC was an elf who specialized in potions and alchemy made for great background role-playing. Many bonus xp were awarded that game.
That's such an awesome idea!! Consider this stolen :D
I really like the titles on the side! They really help me keep track of what topic we're on, and I'm sure it will helpme jump to specific topics I'm looking for upon further rewatches!
Kaz Avian making a sort of "quote archive"? Neat
i'm writing a book. Nothing serious, just a hobby. I'm thoroughly in love with these types of videos
Another good one: Yarrow makes for a great poltice to pack wounds. Had a friend who tore up their knee on a biking accident, saw Yarrow growing nearby, crawled to it, and packed the leaves into the gash and after about fifteen minutes was able to make it back home.
I would have never thought of the importance of plants in my games until today. It's time to incorporate some in them into my campaigns.
My fave thing to do is 'the sacred tree' which can have cultural significance to the area or sometimes if a character spontaneously prays to it I might give them a small, short-term buff.
I really like the bullet points on the side. They make it much easier to remember what you're talking about, and they make it easier to find a specific part of the video again if we're looking for a specific quote.
You used them way back when How to Be A Great Player was on the Bacon Battalion channel, and I've missed them ever since.
The thing I love the most about them, is how their names can enhance your world and almost stablish a culture by themselves.
I'm my group, all names are local. There are no Thyradins, Lordarels, Vireons and such, but Antônios, Pedros, Joãos, etc
Same applies to plants. No exotic species. We have Jequitibás, Jacarandás (shot out to Johannesburg, Guy, they are common here too haha), Araucárias and such.
Suddenly the whole atmorphere feels like home.
When they move, I intend to change what species they find and with which they interract.
Hey, great video! It gave me many ideas.
Would you consider making a video on Alchemy?
Oh, and the bullet points / titles are a very helpful feature!
Just remember, the law of equivalent exchange must be observed when practicing alchemy...
OnlyShadowsRemain and human transmutation is forbidden for good reason
Once played a MUD with an amazing Alchemy system. Key feature was that, for every ingredient, there would be one property of the ingredient that was fixed. Everything else was randomized based on the random seed of each player. It meant that you couldn't just go online and look up how to make the most damaging potion X because it was different for each person, and you had to actually experiment and keep your own notes as to what worked in what proportions.
It was fantastic, and it meant players that really put in the time to master alchemy could produce amazing results. A version of this semi-random alchemy could be produced in a DnD setting with good bookeeping so that every playthrough gives different combinations of ingredients for different effects.
Newish to the channel and rpgs. Your videos are extremely helpful as I stumble through this great mode of storytelling. The bullet points are a great add
Ooh. Nice. As a gardener in RL - plants are a hobbyhorse of mine as GM :D... and a pet peeve as player, when glaring errors occour. (I just remember the 'swamp-cactus we had to find back then... \*shudders*)
I actually really like the name Orcslumber for a tree, I imagine them being like giant acacia trees, growing far apart and having wide branches with broad leaves allowing groups of orcs to set up camp underneath them so they have shade and rain protection without having to pitch tents
The titles/topic headers in the background, I find are very usefull! They help keep me more focused and interested in the explanations and examples without getting lost on the subject matter or forgetting what this certain point has to do with that certain point etc. Very helpful!
ABSOLUTELY keep doing this style of video. I watch them quite often, in order to prepare for my games. PLEASE keep the notes in the background, because it makes note taking SO much easier. It makes rewatching specific sections SO much easier.
And you know, one thing I've realized: I often get just as many great ideas from the comments as I do from the videos. Great work, Guy! Great feedback, everyone!
"Plawnts". Love you, Guy. Your videos have made me a better GM/Player.
I particularly love this one. Played a samurai once that the other players came to knew, if they wanted to find him, look for flowers - because that's where he'd be. I once played a doctor in a gaslight game whom was filling in practical details in a medical text of the effects and doses of certain plants. I can even picture someone laughing at the party forager, pointing out that foraging isn't really the best way to produce wealth - until that forager has a lucky find and comes back with a few rare alchemical herbs worth a couple of thousand gold for a day's work. And yes. Thank you. I will never overlook the fruit salad.
i love how dramatic your hand gestures always are
The titles help catorgize the information going to be said. I like them.
As a fellow player who grew up in the garden, it's cool to hear about flowers in other parts of the world.
Today, I'm more of a vegetable gardener, but I'm amazed by the beauty and variety of flowers and plants!
Boy did this video come out at an appropriate time. I am new to being a DM, and am currently creating an adventure set in a rain forest. Great points in this Guy. You will have certainly helped in bringing my world alive. Cheers!
First comment, and I LOVE those titles brought up, because it helps me remember bullet points myself for later employing this advice. It's just easier to remember 'Descriptive Value, Practical Value, Names, Immersion' when working on my descriptions and game building than to remember 'All that stuff he said about plants'
Keep up the good work!
I'm DMing a game for my wife, a Cleric of Ehlonna (Nature Cleric) and this video is just what I needed to help make everything more immersive. Thank you. Also, the titles are good and very helpful...keep them.
Excellent video. I’ve always used the local flora as a storytelling tool in my own games, and rewarded players who paid attention to them. Valuable components, history (plant X is found only on the graves of elves, but why is it here?), clues (the grass by this spring looks sickly, and tiny crystals appear to have formed on the leaves where the spring water had splashed).
I very much appreciate the titles in the background. They help to organize the viewer’s thoughts as the talking points are hit, they give a sense of anticipation (and therefore heightened attention), and by advancing what is highlighted allow you to set rhythm to your presentation. By all means, keep them.
There is also a real exisiting plant that would be pretty usefull fighting invisible enemys:
burs, just throw a hand full in the general direction and a few will stick. to clothes, hair or fur.
Had tons of them regularly sticking to my clothes when i was a kid.
That's how they spread, they stick to the fur of animals walking by them. Since they are not dangerous or rare in the slightest bit the only real problem would be to prevent them from just sticking to each other when you throw them.
Some of the plants that exist in my world include Throttleweed, a ground vine that attacks animals and people by wrapping its tentacles around its prey and constricts, and Blackfrond; used as a recreational drug and also to reduce the victim's magic resistance.
What a coincidence that you made this when you did! I Had just thought of delving into my world's plants much more. Specifically an island with an invasive species of bioluminescent plant from a ways back that has been fully integrated into the island's society. It's used as decoration and lighting primarily, though over time it's formed somewhat of a symbiotic relationship with other local plants, and so also has an impact on food culture and construction materials. Thanks for giving your take on how they can be used to enhance the experience.
Found this as I am preparing a campaign using the Pathfinder Playtest and one player is a leaf order druid. Excellent timing.
I like the bullet points in the background. They kind of help focus the narrative, rather than take away from it.
As I'm running old school Gamma World, plants are almost always a threat, and the PCs are always trying to figure out ways to use plant that just tried to eat them. In GW, I use plants as a way to present a challenge that a "regular" monster wouldn't or couldn't be logically be used, and mutant plants are easier to use as one-offs.
In my campaign I introduced my players to Red Pine - rare tree, growing in high mountains. It's wood was protecting against local (existing only on this continent) kind of gheists. All citizens of this part od the world carry an amulet from that trees, also they make brilliant furniture out of this wood. PC where travelling with this wood from clearings in mountains to the elven city on the plains, where it was treated. I think not only plants, but all elements of environment can add something nice to the game.
These videos are very valuable. Few channels in this spirit go out of their way to make you a better world builder, and to be frank I hadn't thought about plants as a descriptive element beyond visuals. I'd love to hear about how we can get more mileage out of similar skills such as jeweler, which are very often considered useless in actual play.
I think I'm quite a fan of the background titles by the way. I find it helpful to be able to reference the general points being covered, I absorb the information better when it's categorized like that.
This may be incited purely due to the fact that I went with a group of biologists to a ravine last night to look for a specific type of frog, but I think this kind of mentality can be applied to small indigenous animals as well. The sounds they emit and the effects they have on the environment can be used to create ambiance, and their presence or abscence, expected or not, could be indicative of the health of the area or local success of the species which can lead to forensic clues concerning a plot hook of some kind. And of course, the astute mage or apothecary can also benefit from catching these small creatures for much needed material components for certain spells if applicable. Great video, Guy; highy insightful. Cheers 😊👍🏽
Amateur ethnobotanist here. Good video. I played a campaign while in university that highly featured plants as key plot elements. One was a symbiotic algae belonging to a god that our party was trying to stop. As the alchemist of the party, I spent a lot of time trying to come up with a potion to remove the algae from the bloodstream of infected individuals. There may have been a few fatalities before I got it right. Another was a narcotic nightshade used in esoteric rituals. When we finished the campaign and our characters became minor deities, I took this plant as one of my holy symbols.
That escalated quickly. "When we finished the campaign and our characters became minor deities"
Wonderful video. I recently had a flower serve as a clue to where a band of goblins was lairing. The partyost the goblins' trail but found petals of a flower where they had crossed the river. The Ranger was able to determine the flowers were not from the area and the aid of an herbalist determined where they were from. This led them to the fallen manor house of a foreign merchant family from the flower's natural home now growing wild in the ruins of the manor's gardens.
I like the title points. I do take a lot of notes while watching your videos. It's very helpful!
Love the words on screen! Thanks for all the great content!
I think that’s a brilliant idea. It’s so good in fact, that I now want to run a fantasy campaign even though I’m in the middle of running Edge of the Empire. The little descriptions and tidbits of info make the world really jump to life, even from those couple of examples you provided. I’ll definitely be using plants in my next fantasy setting.
Plants and fungi once scared a party away from a dungeon. I should have gone easier on the description...
Never realy thought about it. I should describe and invent some plants for my forest. Thank you.
I would love to see your GM skils in action or play by myself in your group
The Bacon Battalion page [ruclips.net/channel/UCZDcjQrzOsHZqayu4TMCJMQ] may interest you. I particularly enjoy the Pathfinder games, myself.
I never really though of using plants in such a descriptive way ! as a first time DM this helps a lot, thank you :)
"As the adventuring party passed under the brush and thorny undergrowth, they particularly disregarded their prior foresight in the spores these plants petals produced, inhaling the fumes, roll a constitution check"
*rolls a 2*
"Your lungs fill with a sickly sweet fume, your lack of air becoming increasingly apparent to the rest of your group, you take... 12 points of damage from the miasmic spores"
God I love botanical flavortexting, thanks
Please make more vids like this! I found this really interesting. I must admit in my settings I have really overlooked alchemy and plants!
Love the notes on the screen! Please keep them!
Too funny! Once again your web goblin seems to be reading my mind.
I'm working on an adventure that takes place in a swamp. One of the areas is defined by an abundance of swamp cabbage, which the local good-aligned kobolds love as a tasty treat.
Another area is a pond which IF the players maneuver around (and not easily) will bring them to a patch of flowers that operate as potions of healing. I haven't yet determined what kind of plants, but that's the basic idea.
Many years back in Dragon Magazine there was a fantastic article detailing the uses (mostly medicinal) of various real world herbs like comfrey, cattail and more.
As a gardener and herbalist, I adore planting various herbs, trees and other green stuff into my games. And yes, when I'm not the DM, I often play a druid.
Great video!
And yes, please do continue with both the topics behind you, and the description box's time picker-thingy.
Could you please share that excel file with us, i would LOVE to have it.
Agreed! With permission of the author, I would LOVE to have a look, as I am very interested, but not very knowledgeable of plants.
I would love to look at it too! I agree! Plants are an amazing detail and the alchemy aspect is genius!
I found this on Reddit. It seems to be similar to what he is talking about. drive.google.com/file/d/0B7CIGCMCtoETVmhDNEZMbUVweTg/view
Hmm I dont like adopting the mechanical system, it does have a lot of cool ingredients and descriptions about them, which is what I want. Thanks!
You've inspired me to incorporate alchemy into my game... thanks.
Just found your channel yesterday (already subbed). This was AMAZING! *ideas bubbling*
I didn’t get super in depth but once I wanted to emphasize that the group was in the north so there’s a lot of maple, birch, pine and spruce. As they continued and got deeper into the woods the maples thinned out a lot, using birch to emphasize young regrowth for a large section of downed trees...
“Meh, I usually just say trees”
...
Great video and content!
AND I say keep the titles... Whether it's just catching/keeping up with the subject at hand, or it's going back to look at "that one part" again from or for future references and rewatches, the titles and bullet points are helpful along the way. Keep them simple of course, so we can readily read and quickly understand what you're getting at... but definitely a good idea.
AND for the Plants... If you don't add some narrative and description to some of them, all you've got is a "woods"... You can primitively work with three kinds of "woods"... Light woods, moderate woods, and heavy or dense woods... BUT that's not so much fun...
Sure, describing the various sprays of tiny white flowers showing through the varied colors of morning glory trumpets, is a bit more work... BUT it makes wandering through the otherwise plain old woods... at least mildly entertaining between encounters. If you want to build a little tension, there can always be briars, thistles, poisonous thorn-bushes and nettles, usually alongside some cleverly colorful and soothing flower or succulent... Nature is honestly just that mischievous IRL...
Even some of the "dangerous" bushes can be impressively showy and fun, like the Pyrocanthus (or "fire bush" colloquially) with rusty red-orange leaves in the fall and brilliant orange yellow berries that make the thing appear as if it's made of fire... Don't get caught up in one, though... The thorns are incredible and agonizing... so long and thin, they're not only difficult to gauge by eye, but break off once they puncture the skin, festering a terrible sore that BURNS for days before you can extract it equitably...
In treatment, since the end that breaks off is so thin, the body's natural moisture almost instantly renders it too soft to just pinch with fingernails or tweezers... SO you could take a knife and cut, but that's more damage than necessary, and no particular protection from infection... On your own, however, try not to bother the "affliction" and in a couple days, it will fester, producing a small "puss pocket" that can then easily be "lanced" or broken with a sharp pin, and squeezing or massaging like a zit will force the splinter out with the putrid goopy puss... of course... No, it's not pleasant in any stage. It's hard to believe, but lore has it that old-fashioned parents used to prize this friggin' thing for a source of "switches" used in disciplining their unruly children... From my perspective, it's a damn nice thing to be able to quickly recognize it and steer WELL clear! This is the kind of bush you won't make THAT mistake more than one time... in your life.
Arizona (IRL) has a "jumping cactus" that's known to seek out the heat of its victims, curling limbs are even swatting at passers by... Oddly enough, the thing doesn't stop this kind of phenomenon even in death... dessicated fragments on the ground are known to move and tangle unwary pedestrians near hopelessly in thorns, especially in the dark.
Based on a formative childhood around herbalists, myself, I've invented quite a variety of fantastical plants, fungus, molds, and lichen... and a few other oddly symbiotic creations... From weird and colorful flowers, sometimes showy and other times hidden away for a casual reward for the adventurous traveler... to the absolutely hideous and disgusting things that accent and compliment the more pleasant parts of the fantasy wooded landscape... I do try to base everything on some aspect of plants, molds, lichens, and what not of the "IRL" world, which is why I so enjoy sharing these tidbits above.
Razor-weed isn't necessarily sharp by the edges of leaves or the rugged stems. BUT the thorns are short and very narrow even at the base. They're also just as green as the rest of the plant, making it a dubious prospect for even keenly sighted passers by to avoid getting "snagged" or cut. Worse yet (based on actual raspberry plants) this particular bushy plant, grows several stalks up and outward, where they bend over as they grown... Around two to three feet in length the stalks will touch ground, take root and branch upward and outward again. This cycle repeats throughout the "growing season" which can even be year round in tropical territories... building an ever growing and chaotic snarl of thorn encrusted loops. Late summer, a single short stalk grows from the center of the branched base, adding a seventh upward and considerably thicker, sturdier post, upon which brilliantly red to purple-ish flowers open and emanate a heavily sweet scent, not unlike heated molasses... Mid to late autumn, when most of the leaves (in temperate to sub-arctic regions) crisp and become hues of ruddy brown to golden fringed, the fruit resemble translucent blue gems... though great care should be taken in gathering as the thorns will absolutely render even the thickest of hide based armors, utterly useless.
Mechanically, perception is steeply cost (to the uninitiated) to notice thorns, hide and leather offers 0-protection, and depending on the infliction of damage, D4 - 2D6 HP are a healthy recommended range/rate... "Infliction" is the umbrella term for that mechanical/narrative of how a PC might encounter damage/thorns... Grasping or casual contact is obviously lower on the general scale than... say... blindly running full-tilt through a thicket because the PC is more concerned about a tribe of angry orcs than exactly where his / her feet are pounding... so... judgment is crucial.
High in the canopies of the densely forested northern peaks, when the late summer winds are just right, the Sliver-stars uncurl under every full moon, glistening in a thousand hues as far as the eye can see. A single flower is impressive up close, spreading a full two feet across it's petals, strangely iridescent and highly reflective, it faintly resembles the odor of lemons or limes (depending on who you ask). They're of a parasitic vine that networks from tree to tree in the tall standing forests, tying together the canopy overhead and providing transport to all the little creatures that live up there... and barely visible at all from only certain places on the ground. Some say the sap of the vine, when collected at the right time of year, can dull even the most wretched agony, but only the most adventurous dare climb into the mountains and then up those tallest of giant trees to find out. For the few who do, and the perchance to see the sliver-stars in bloom, it is truly a life changing experience...
Enjoy... ;o)
Video was awesome! I have 2 druids and 2 alchemists(pretty much herbalists) in my group. Lots of plant love.
And much smoking giggle-weed?
Very interesting topic. I like it and never thought about it. I'm definitely going to add a little of this right now as I'm work on my session planning.
I love these sorts of ideas and doing videos about it. Great way to branch out.
I like the titles, I think it works well and is pretty clean I feel.
I love the drop down topic headings! very useful foor perusing your videos later!
Love the video, your content continues to inspire and invigorate my love for roleplaying and worldbuilding. Totally stealing a bunch of the plant names and ideas you mentioned in the video.
When it comes to plant monsters, I have a go-to monster combo that I like to try to work into every game I run at some point or another; I call it a "bog lantern." Take a shambling mound, and have it co-habitate an area with wil-o-wisps. The wisps are used to draw in prey, and subsequently feed on their suffering and agony as the shambling mound tears them apart.
Typically, I have the players find out about them either from the local villagers, who try to warn them, telling them that "Bog lanterns might be pretty, but yer best off remaining in the dark than trying for their light," or by stumbling upon them as an ambush encounter. My last party just about lost their shit when, all of a sudden, the wisps illuminated the large, mossy mound, which proceeded to spring into action to try and eat them.... hehehe
Also, if you like the idea but need a bit more deadliness for the encounter, I like to grant my shambling mounds the ability to engulf a medium or smaller creature that it has grappled, which can add a properly terrifying and tense moment as the party watches the fighter get pulled into the mass of vines and moss.
Great video - please continue
Love the titles.
I often have players that want to use downtime to explore and collect plants (primarily alchemists). I have them roll nature checks and determine the value of what they find based off the result. I've also specified plants to be found to complete side quests. Many players enjoy this.
Like this tip! I'm always looking for ways to make my world more immersive.
Not to be that guy, but I think almonds tend to contain cyanide, not arsenic, although the general point of refining them would be the same.
Damn it! Yes. Cyanide. You keep me in check! Please be that guy!
it is cyanide as arsenic is a mineral poison
I used a wizard of Oz style field as a challenge in a one off game with the party rushing along in a caravan. It was a great part of the encounter and was the most talked about encounters from the game. So I agree with plants being a great aspect to add in
Bullet points are very helpful, Guy! Would love to see a video branching off from this on alchemy and chemistry in a magical setting, and how the two can contrast!
I really like the style of video lately and it's given me some great ideas
Helped a lot. Thanks and keep up the good work
Excellent video, Guy. Keep the bullet points.
I really really really love y our vids man, thanks!
Thank you!!!! I’ve always wondered why the Ranger/Druide doesn’t have an herbalist book as an item he/she gets when they become that class. It just seemed like a no-brainer for your nature-tracker person to have knowledge and record about the plants in the area in which they roam.
I am aware of the Nature and Medicine skills, but seems it should come as a default.
To be fair, not _all_ Rangers and Druids have to be master herbalists; though I agree it does seem like something that most would at least dabble in...
Fantasy writer here. Good points
This was such a good video. I'm going to have to try and remember to implement some plants in my own campaign.
I loooooooooove plants! I will definitely incorporate some (a lot) into my world!
i'm getting elevated with some plants atm .... i could help but throw that out there.
Your content is amazing Guy... sorry if i Spelt your name wrong.
A particularly great video. Well done.
Yes both Flora & Fauna are absolutely necessary in D&D and most roleplaying games, in fact right now I am currently working on an Apocalyptic Wild West themed campaign for me and my friends and that is currently something I am trying to work on creating my own local Plants and Creatures that would fill this world. I am also taking inspiration from Fallout and Adventure Time for the world itself taking place 700 years after the world was consumed by a nuclear disaster, but more similar to Adventure time in that the world has evolved into a new world with humans, radiated (basically mutants), reptilians (lizardfolk), a race of intelligent invader like parasitic plants (like fallout's synths but aliens), and a whole plethora of monstrous races from a hellish underdark like realm that exists under the world while simultaneously existing in another realm. It is a fantastic idea and the world is gonna be more like an open world esc campaign to which my friends can screw around in as they wish finding crazy critters and loot dungeons, ruins, laboratories, etc. I am having trouble finding as much Source Material as possible without reskinning materials from games they know all about so they get a more wow factor rather than the "Oh ok that's pretty much like a deathclaw" kind of reaction. I would love to have a copy of that file of 100 plants to help me add more awesomeness to my game, if that is okay and all if not its kewl :3
Damn. Simulationist GM, or at least one that remembers the charm and usefulness of inbetween-adventuring downtime, is a GM I'd love to play with. Why? For one simple reason - I really like the Artificer class (especially some homebrew revised versions of the 5e UA), and half of its usefulness lies in crafting and their ability to turn resources into powerful stuff for the party.
13th Age has an interesting story description mechanic where the players can add elements to the story. So part of a rangers ability to speak with animals is the ability to find said animals. Same with druids and plants.
Love this channel
Another great video Guy, and I have started to add more plants to my campaign, I was doing this a bit but mainly for trees but you definitely made the case for more detail. You mentioned that someone once gave you excel list of plants. Is there a list like that available with biome types? Especially some DnD (or Fantasy) themed ones.
I can name and identify about 100 types of trees...but flowers, and grasses and others...not so much
realy good video.
And the titles works great.
Exactly what i needed for my druid campaign i am runing atm :D
Made two oddball plants for my game. One is a hanging bell flower type plant that has pollen that can create calming effects and lethargy (basically sleepy and happy.) It grows on shore lines and can be made into an addictive drug. I have a small side story for the players finding a merfolk who's sleeping under one of these plants because there kind of addicted to it.
another is a giant mushroom that tries to rain spores and slime over creatures that sleep under it. much like cortaceps (cant spell it) the fungus effects people's brains and causes them to wander around an area before rooting to the ground to grow a new mushroom, using the body as nutrients.
never thought to use plants as a way to make money. i've been struggling to find alternative ways for people to make money rather than just finding treasure or looting dead people. I have a druid who should look into plants both for this reason and because i know she will be using some poisons.
Thumbs up for that thumbnail 👍
This made me think about the grapple plant ("Harpagophytum" if you want the scientific name), "wood spider", or "devil's claw" as is it's most common name which based on how the fruit looks, with it's slender spiny hooks. grows in sandy soil, in a vine-like manner, and it's fruit can be used to make medicine that works wonders to ease the pain in joints and muscles. however, it's hard to digest and can easily cause gastric ulcers.
One can forgo the risks of hurting their stomach by instead making a balm/salve to use on the are that is hurting, and that works but not quite as effective as consuming the fruit.
I think a lot of people might forget that different plants not only grow in different climates, but the soil is more often than not affecting the plants more than people seem to understand... mind you, I only know a tiny bit from my grand parents, so my knowledge is limited. But I do know that the soil affect how water is retained, which in turn affects if the plant can get the right amount (plant's can drown. don't forget that), so you have to think about that too if you want to be realistic.
Such a good video! Thank you!^^
I have a race/species, where I use the name of flowers, as names for the females of that race. But i also had the women embroider "their" flower onto their clothes. Of course, they can be made more different by adding colours as a suffix. ^^ It's so much fun using plants in worlds, so this episode was a lot of fun for me to watch, thanks!
Question, have you done a video on name creation?
I'm curious, since I do name generators for all my species, and people seem surprised when I tell them about them. ^^
I liked the outfit, you looked quite dapper.
plants are one of those things where you gotta weigh how much familiar stuff you put in and how much you are willing to add or make up by yourself. It's true that adding all sorts of plants gives a lot of flavour to your soup, erhm I mean world, but at a certain point you have to make the logical ramifications that everything in our world that is made from certain products now has to be replaced by products made from your new fantastic plants and consider that these products now reflect your world.
Coffee made from some sludgy mushroom might not be black but purple, tobacco in your world might create yellow, sulphurish smoke, hence it's name "drake's haze". The more you replace stuff the wider the effects of it. And that extends from flora to fauna, animals can also be added/replaced, which makes an even bigger impact on the world you play in. I remember an area my character was in that didn't have horses or mules but instead had big lizards, like dinosaurs, that they used for travel and as livestock.
Stuff like that changes the entire environment, leather-based items may be replaced by scale-based products, in turn leather as a ressource may become more valueable. It gives you a lot to work with to distinguish your world, but it's also very straining to keep up with all the changes, it's nice to sometimes just have your players eat some applepie at an npc's house rather than jin'gori pie, made from the violet jin'gori berry named after Jin'gora, eigth emperess of Zri-t'kka, who on a journey from the western kingdoms brought over this berry that she enjoyed so much she integrated them into the environment of her domain.
sometimes apple pie is just fine.
For my campaigns, I bought some herbal guides and laminated cards telling about plants, herbs, etc. and their uses, history. I did the same for gems and crystals. It actually helps in situations of scare magic, wild/low/dead magic areas, and even gives druids a more realistic purpose. Local healers and medicine men, and apothecaries become key in campaigns. It gives the DM a great way to suck the money out of characters and also can give them an income by giving them jobs and finding components for herbalists, healers, and wizards, protecting shipments... and even some nefarious reasons for love potions, poisons (to slayer a beast or weaken a villain), and such. Perhaps even a fuel source that could clean burning for working in mines.
I would be interested if your friends notes and materials are available for people to see. Sounds like a great product possibility that can be made available for sale.
Nice. I have a botany app. I think I'll have to check it out.
Hey Guy, I really enjoyed the video. The bullet points on the side were really helpful, I was wondering if you're at liberty to upload the Excel spreadsheet of the plants somewhere? Also, maybe you could add a resources page on your website, explaining how to create some things and maybe even synopses of your videos. But just a suggestion.
Firstly, the titles in the background are a nice addition. More importantly, though: would it be possible to have a look at that Excel file you mentionned? I was always very interested in adding more plants to my games, but I don't happen to be very knowledgeable on the subject. This document could prove very useful as a source of inspiration :)
Also, I just found this guide, which could prove helpful for such endeavours: www.republicofnewhome.org/lair/games/herb5/herb5illo.html
love the titles
the mushrooms / spores in space part reminds me of the orks of warhammer 40k
Is there any chance that the creator of this Excel document would be willing to share their information with the wider public? As a fellow nature child, I would love a "DMs' Guide to Flora"! We have a selection of tomes on beasts & creatures, so a compedium that gives us DMs the same level of information on the plants, & fungi of the world we're exploring would be fantastic! Especially if you really want to push herbalism mechanics!
Clerics with nature proficiency.
Some of the most efficient healers.
Why spend a spell to stop bleeding, when you can staunch it with a particular moss?
i like the titels and love plants in rpg especialy because i like the exploration aspact presented by it, especialy when playing a alchemist like character
Yes love it
Please do pirates
Guy, have you noticed that the text lines in the intro move at different paces? :D Not a big deal though, just noticed it.
Probably caused by the animation curves automatically smoothing everything out.
I really like the index.
I'm playing Tomb of Annihilation. Around 25% of what we've murdered up until chapter 3 is plant matter.
Hey!!! We are not "plant murderes", we are "vegetarians"!
Nice video! I've been working on an alchemy guide for one of my players and I've been meaning to populate a large list of foliage!
Do you have that excel file with all the information, like you mentioned? That would be absolutely amazing to plug right in to my Alchemy file.
I also like to use not just the plants themselves, but the way they are prepared and whatnot to set the scenes. You can describe flower arrangements, and relay what each flower means, you can describe the way that herbs need to be dried and prepared (my players generally like this - especially the herbalist) and it gives the setting a bit of a "homey" feel.
Your part comes across an unique patch of flowers in the fields of grass and trees. The bushels have green in stalk and white in flower. Please make a roll to identify the plant. You are looking at the rare White dragon bush, its leaves make a healing potion so potent that it is truly heartbreaking... that or its the white jade bush which is poisonous. hmmm.... Delectable Tea or deadly poison.
Titles work well!