So many ideas

None that I have published, but I have put together many worlds in gming experience, and I really like what you have done with Layonara Online, keep up the good work.

Numerous posts have been made in various other subjects for suggestions, and after reading a response from reventage. Perhaps I have been making posts in the wrong spots all this time. New to the world of layonara, I have a few ideas, most being from a druid perspective and also that of a planetouched perspective.

In woodcrafting, is it possible to include bone and bamboo into it for when you are devising a way to include wood-based armor, you could include bamboo in there for perhaps the karatur type armors.

Not really sure it is in there for tailoring, but padded or quilted armor. Silk would be a nice fabric to include, as that would require gathering silk worms, and it would give those that wear armor added protection vs arrows, probably lessening the dmg done by arrows by one.

Is it possible to have creatures, and this may be a big one, their remains to leave body parts that can be used by druids for the creation of poisons, which of course is also an inaccessible craft, and much needed boost to weapon damage that a lack of weapon choices faced by rping a druid. Maybe by including bamboo with woodcraft, bamboo would give the means to create a tool, and perhaps the apparatus (containers) in which to extract and store poisons. Also, a druid would not be interested in making glass, if bamboo was readily available, as it would also give containers that are fire proof and more resilient to damage. Without going full kara-tur, I did notice there is rice, but not rice paper or rice cakes.

Bamboo is probably the most valueable resource a druid could have access to in Layonara, as it could provide tools, but also weapons. Sharpen the end of one and you have a hollow spear, far nastier than any bronze tipped spear, a hollow staff that could also be used as a blow gun, can even be used for hollow shaft arrows.

I also have an idea for a new craft that could possibly be a craft accessible to rangers and druids. Domestic Crafting.
This would include animal husbandry for both rangers and druids. Where rangers would use live traps, the druid would lure animals.
For druids, at this would be more towards the original druid class, the creation of a grove. A sanctuary outside the urban sprawl of a town. A place for them to go and heal, to rest, to cultivate seedlings, in order to restore the woods that other characters chop down so they can craft their weapons.
It would be cool, druids being a collective and all, are the ones responsible for the creation of safe havens in which other players can have their characters rest, without monsters disturbing them as they rested or memorized new spells before continuing on their adventure. Outside the grove, glen, glade or what have you, its kill or be killed. Within, safe haven for all natures creatures, and killing a creature would not only destroy the sanctuary for all, but it would be disastrous for the druid that created it. Not only would the druid have to create another one, but it could be almost lethal.
This could be accomplished, by having trees felled by other characters, a druid would find seeds, and plant them in their grove. Then replant the seedling where the original tree was originally felled, or strengthen their existing grove.
A druids perspective on towns and cities, good for everyone else, not for druids.

Gold is good for the urban adventurer, but body parts would be better for not only a druid, but for the carnivore or more predatory of character races.

Suppose that is enough for now. Don not want to offer up all of my ideas at once.

So I was thinking. Natural resources that could be used by a druid for the purpose of making weapons, and so that pretty much everything remains the same. Then it came to me, with craft skills, you need gemcrafting tools, and gemcutting chisel. Instead of just gems, to be either ground to dust or to cut, why not also include gem or crystal shards.
The gems already exist, but instead of a hammer to forge a weapon. A druid could the gemcrafting tools to make weapons of crystal. With the craft Infusion as well, infusing a crystal shard with bulls strength, would make the shard useable as a weapon.
Diamond being the hardest gem known, it could be a raplacement of adamantite for a druid.
Other gems if varying hardness could also be substituted.
Ruby for iron
Emerald for silver(actually nickel)
Topaz for copper
Zircon for mithril

Or have druid through the craft enchantment and alchemy, grow a crystal for weapon, using the same system, that it takes to make a glass rod. The druid would still need to find the gem stones needed, grind them to dust and add them to the mix to grow the size of the weapon they want the crystal to be.

Remember, these are just ideas

[Leafgreen]

I'd forgotten about those as well.  I used bamboo quite often, it was wonderful for so many common and unique cnr items - especially eastern.  But then I did have differing table for different areas - an eastern weapon table would let you create differnent items than a western table, and having different recipe lists of items each table could create actually cut down on my lag.  That gave me rice paper, katanas, sai, etc - yet still limited them as a player could use the same weapon crafting skill but needed to use a different anvil only found in that part of the world.

Multiple animal drops was a pain until I figured it out, then I had different animals dropping stomachs, gut, meat, scent glands - you name it, brought a lot of diversity to the world.  If I remember right, the only tricky part was having each drop a meat that would transfer into 'animal meat', not sure.

Their is an excellent farming system on the vault, thought a bit tricky to use until you get the hang of it.  Basically you set an area as being 'farmable' (much like setting a pool as a point where you can fill a canteen).  You can make these bound to a character (buyable).  Purchase seeds, or get them from plants as another cnr plant drop, and you can then 'use' them on the land.  If you water and wait, it will sprout, grow, become harvestable, and die.  There were problems with the system that put me off though - players decided where on that plot of land to plant which made some very close together, and unwaterable so that they died. Still, a good basis for a system.

They are good systems, and worth a look depending how much stuff is already on the burners.

[Talan Va'lash]

I'm currently working on new craftable armors and weapons from more natural materials.  Bone stuff, silk cloth "armors" and padded armors, chitin armors etc.

You guys seem to have some good ideas about this type of thing.  If you'd like to contribute the best way to do that would be to outline some specific items.  What they're made from, their base item and what properties they would have.

A handfull of solid fleshed out ideas is much more helpfull and more likely to be used than a suggestion like "Things could be made out of bamboo."

-TV

[Dorganath]

A couple things...
  I know they were just suggestions, but emeralds are the rarest stone in Layonara.  Each raw mineral emerald can fetch tens of thousands of gold pieces.  No one will be making weapons out of them any time soon...or ever...if it's ever even possible.
  On the crafting of weapons by druids...druid weapons are restricted by oaths. Alternate materials are not so much the issue as the type of weapon.  And there's no reason I can think of for a druid to make weapons he or she has taken an oath to not use.
  Crystaline/mineral weapons have a habit of being brittle.  Even diamonds, while very hard, can cleave and shatter if properly struck.  That is, after all, how gems are "cut".  Crystaline structures do not always lend themselves to strength. 
  Then we can get into the properties of quartz, which have piezoelectric properties...meaning mechanical deformation produces electrical discharge, and vice versa.  But too much of either is a bad thing.
  Then again, this is a fantasy world with magic and creatures from other planes.  I suppose anything's possible. *shrugs*

[Leafgreen]

I do still have an excellent portrait pack, if you are interested.  Male/female orcs, gnomes, halflings, drow - a portrait for almost every class.  No anime though, sorry.  Size - 81 mb, rar.  2da for it as well if you really want it.

Also a loadscreen hak, 54 mb, rar.  100+ excellent loadscreens w/2da.  

Both made the old-fashioned way, meaning going through every portrait/loadscreen on the vault (yes, EVERY one), every portrait/loadscreen pack, tossing out ones missing tga files, tossing out anime, and then culling over and over to get a pak with a manageable size.

Vault size has been dropped to a max of 25 mb, but I can send via ftp or such if you would like them.
Is there a plan to edit the current loadscreen 2da to place the loadscreens into the proper categories?
Why not change the loadscreen hints as well?  All it requires is a tlk edit.

[Talan Va'lash]

Lets have one thread to discuss each topic.  Currently there are about 12 threads started called "something something ideas" and they all have a hodge podge of different things in them.

If anyone wishes to contribute ideas for more "natural" type items, please feel free to start a different thread in this category with a subject that describes what the thread is about.

-TV

Bamboo, I would say is one of the most versatile of materials that would be an asset for any druid or raanger. They would only need woodcraft and a flat blade.
You can make armor similar to splint, though held together with silk strands, rather than metal, easily repaired.
Weapons such blowguns, throwing quills, hollow point spears and arrows.
Drinking canisters, cooking containers, and storage containers.
Writing implements can be made, and brushes.
Young shoots can be eaten.
It even has a seed that can be used as a cooking oil.
Very versatile.

Another versatile plant that is missing.
Hemp
You guessed it.
In a previous post, I made concerning ships as places to live.
One could build a small ship ( a quest all its own ) out of materials found throughout Layonara.
Bamboo was used in the crafting of the rigging.
Hemp used to make rope, though again, bamboo strands, were also used to make rope.
Hemp is to the west as bamboo was to the east.
Both grow like a weed.

My personal thoughts when it comes to druids. Is that tools common to the average farmer, are pretty much the weapons of choice.
First off, to be used as a weapon. They were common implements. They were versatile and a druid need not carry it all the time. If lost or danaged beyond repair, a druid only needed to go to where local farmers could be found, and purchase one. Or, have a local village smithy make one.
Other weapons, would be, a bear claw mounted upon a rod or a staff. Animal teeth, tied with leather thong, on the blade of a wooden sword, fashioned from a found tree limb.
A druid I perceive, see the natural weapons of creatures around them, and use them themselves. Either in battle or for harvesting natures bounty within the wilderness.
It is true, that one sees a druid using a sickle, but then again, historically, they did not always have metal. They did have access to copper and silver, and silver alloyed with copper, made a blade stronger. But, they did not have access to iron until the Norfolk barbarians invaded the their homeland. The Norfolk did not have access to iron until they invaded the lands to the south.
Historically it was Islamic peoples that introduced iron to Spain, way back to when Spain was the center of commerce.
This is not meant to be a history lesson. Just that having studied the evolution of weapons and warfare, it helped me become a better DM, and make my worlds believable.
The work here, in Layonara, is great, and i can see how this world has evolved by player input. So, I just wish to contribute.
This world is fantasy, but I also see that the contributors have also included a bit of realism into as well. It makes the world that much more enjoyable.

Its like a good book, I have not been able to stop reading.

Until a druid gets to higher levels, or at least to where they can cast 5th level spells. Their melee and range capability has them at a real disadvantage compared to other classes. I think I would like to see them with a bit more of an edge, or at least give them a fighting chance that is compareable, though still  limited.
Without conflicting with game established game mechanics.
Is it possible, to have a flexible staff? In reality, this would be a flail, but with a smaller rod at the end. The particular staff was used by farmers to thrash grain, in order to seperate the grain from the chaff. The weaved platters, though not very durable, were not as strong as a wooden shield, but easily crafted, and were used to flip the chaff from the grain into the wind, and thus free the grain for grinding.
Other tools, that could be used as weapons, was a whip attached to the end of a rod. Thus, it is a bull whip. It allowed, the farmer a greater reach when controlling an ox while plowing the field for planting.
Its not really a whip, but a rod with a greater reach.
After thinking about weapons and how the game mechanics are limited. I have decided to think of ways around how weapons of a different sort can be used by other classes, especially the druid.

If not used, its fun for me to be creative.

Shield Spear - a pair of straight antlers from a gazelle (or even the horns of two unicorns, though would be made someone evil) and a small leather shield or buckler. The weapon can be thrown or used in both hands. It would be an exotic weapon, being two spears.
The metal buckler variety is from Indonesia, the leather shield type is found in Africa.

Most of the polearms of the middle ages were adapted for war, by local peasants.
The spade when flattened and rounded at the top, is your voulge. Add a billhook to its side and you have the bill-voulge.
Bardiche, was an executioners axe, with an elongated blade and shortened oaken shaft.
Lucerne Hammer, was a carpenters hammer attached to the end of a staff.
Naginata, was a chefs knife attached to the end of staff. then over the years the blade became longer for an extended reach and more blade for slashing.

Other more natural weapons.
Sharks teeth attached to a wooden sword with a leather thong, was not also a popular with the polynesians but also the with the meso-american indians.
Another is to take a wooden rod or staff, covering one end in tree sap, and covering the area with pieces of flint or obsidian. Very nasty, cosidering each time you hit an opponent, it would aggarvate the wound by leaving pieces of flint or obsidian in the wound.

The pelvic bone of some large animals was used when attached in various ways to either a thigh bone or sturdy hardwood rod, made into a useful axe, especially when the edge was strengthened by dipping it into molten metal. A metal such as copper, bronze or even silver.

Silk rope and a dart on the end is a simple weapon to construct. All the flexibility of a whip with the damage of a dart. Great for ignoring AC adjustment of an opponent using a shield.

The sectional rod and sectional staff, are both weapons adapted from traditonal flails, using bamboo.
Rods made from laquered paper, is another such natural weapon. Though initially were not made with laquer but with wood gum.

Tar bombs: paper cylinders inserted into a carved out bamboo container, where the walls are thinned, filled with tar, that had sulphur laden wicks, were lit and thrown at your opponent. Upon striking your opponent, the tar would splatter and the flame fromthe wick would ignite the tar (hopefully). Historically, it might have not always worked, but it certainly made attackers flee, having tar in their faces and everywhere else.(Orientals were crafty during their dynasties of war.)

One of the oldest weapons of warfare, would you believe, is mustard gas. It has been used, even before the middle ages. Though the delivery has changed and the ingredients, The initial ingredient was mustard seed powder very finely ground to near dust. It was used to blind the opponent in battle, either rendering your opponent easier to kill, or force them to retreat.

Pine tar and animal fat, or pine tar and fish oil, mixed with a little sulphur was used as your first examples of a molotov cocktail.

Almost everything created in the craft house with metals can be created using resources found in nature. In most cases, its the method of delivery. A druid would not rely on metal as it is rare to find so close to the surface. A druid relies on wood, bone and other natural materials.
Mushroom spores
Eggs drained and filled with poisonous fluids
Flint and obsidian blades
Stone or bone tools and weapons
Where a thief or ranger is concerned, as one pilfers from civilization and the other hunts. A druid is all about not being seen, and if seen, to make sure that the opponent regrets the encounter. A druid hunts for food and for aquiring new tools, and they would use everything from their kill. They do not kill for sport or profit.
If anything a druid is resourceful and learns from the land. Takes what is needed and leaves.