New Outdoor Items and Uses

[Kiyaani]

This is going to cover suggestions for several categories – Cooking general Outdoorsy stuff which doesn’t have its own section so I’m putting it here.

Cooking:

So, I don't cook (usually) in-character. Most of my characters have never cooked. But I've started playing more outdoorsy types lately and I noticed there's a lack of nuts in this game.

I'm sure there are places that sell nuts to eat, but not necessarily to cook with. Nuts have been vital to cooking for many cultures for hundreds if not thousands of years and we already have a ton of marvelous trees to get them from. Mind you, these are all just from trees we currently have in-game, but here's what I propose:

Walnuts – can be eaten raw, pickled or ground for use in coffee and walnut cake – this would require ground coffee be sold in stores or coffee trees to be added instead of just being in the pastry shops as a beverage.

Acorns – can be ground and soaked in water to make acorn-meal which can then be baked into bread as an alternative to wheat so you don’t need to till the soil. They can also be used for making noodles or as a coffee substitute.

Hickory nuts – can be eaten plain, but are sometimes bitter

Pine nuts – these are typically used as a cooking additive much like onions or mushrooms would be, but can be eaten raw.

Beechnuts/Mast – the nuts by themselves are bitter, but edible. Leaves of beech trees can also be used in salads but they would need to be forageable.

Chestnuts – you can roast them as per the holiday song, over an open fire ;) It can be used as a coffee substitute, stuffing for poultry or vegetables (which we already have mechanics for). It’s a very versatile nut.

Outdoorsyness:

Ok, enough with the nuts. These are just general things I'd like added to make outdoor life easier.:

Mortar and Pestle: I would like to see the option to use stones to grind herbs and nuts instead of having to purchase a mortar and pestle. Often a large flat stone would be used as a table and then a smaller stone could be used to grind. Even if just a few rooms scattered through the wilderness had flat boulders to use for such a purpose that would be great.

Drums: I know that most instruments take a lot of skill and precision to make, but… a basic drum should be feasible with a hollowed out log and some leather or even just leather bound to a wooden hoop with a stick to beat it with. You would need a few components for this – carved drumsticks from small branches, a shell carved from a log, tanned leather, and rope or leather strips.

Tent: It’s been suggested before, but it doesn't have to be anything grand. A few large sticks and a pelt (has to be from something big like a bear or bison) or a treated blanket to keep the rain off your head.

Rope: I know we've had it before for an event, but it would be nice to be able to make it or use it from things found in the wild. Possible uses could be climbing assistance (person with high climb skill goes up, lowers rope and it lowers the climbing requirement of the person following), binding/capturing hostages, crafting material, lassoing etc.

Raft: Nothing huge, not something to transport anything heavy, but sometimes you do need to get someone or something across a body of water and there’s not always a way to do that. This would be several large branches strapped together to put a pack on to keep it dry or to use as a flotation device if you’re with someone who can’t swim, but not big enough to actually ride safely.

Canoe: Carved from a felled tree that isn't split into logs yet – this can be used to fish in deep water or to travel across rivers/lakes in safety.

Paddle: To go with the canoe of course!

Hot Stone: Basically just a large flat stone that can be set over a fire to grill food on. Less disposable than skewers.

Roasting Spit: Similar concept but using three large branches. Split the ends of two of them and plant them in the ground, then hang a skinned carcass directly from the third using our fancy new rope and roast it. Again, more permanent than skewers and with the added bonus of not having to butcher the meat beforehand.

Sinew as a lashing material: We can use leather strips to attach knapped items to wooden hafts, but we can't use sinew currently and it should be possible.

I’m sure I’ll think of more later, and I realize a lot of this may take extensive coding so I’m not expecting anything turned out anytime soon, but I just wanted to throw this stuff out there.

[Kent]

This is going to cover suggestions for several categories – Cooking general Outdoorsy stuff which doesn’t have its own section so I’m putting it here.

Cooking:

So, I don't cook (usually) in-character. Most of my characters have never cooked. But I've started playing more outdoorsy types lately and I noticed there's a lack of nuts in this game.

Probably not as far away as you think.


But seriously, good suggestions.