Official Botany Thread

Development & Feedback Suggestions
1

I would like to talk to folks about the BOTANY skill.

BOTANY is the scientific study of plants, including their structure, properties, processes, growth, reproduction, metabolism, development, diseases, and ecological relationships.

We are considering differentiating this from HORTICULTURISM which will mean the ability to use the scientific knowledge lent by botany to grow, care for and manage plants.

I would like to brainstorm with folks potential ideas for how this should work.

Right now my idea is as follows:

We have a list of species (that can include anything from humans, animals, etc) and their PROPERTIES as a species. For example:

  • Domain
  • Kingdom
  • Division
  • Class
  • Order
  • Family
  • Genus
  • Species
  • Diet
  • Reproduction (Sexual, Asexual)
  • etc.

The botanist who discovers a new plant will start to work through this list in a machine that is meant for the study of species as a whole. This machine is also an inter-galatic database of species data. If you discover a new species type, you get to set the authority name, but then you or other people get to work on it to discover other aspects of its properties.

There can also be other aspects such as temporary global boosts to things like yield, growth rate, etc, that decay over time, making botanists key to the work in the colony. They help other people grow plants better.

Hydroponic trays and other plant habitats would be tied to this device, requesting the data and presenting it to the person who grows it. If certain things of a plant hasn’t been discovered, you will simply not be able to tend a plant; you don’t even know how it survives! However, once all properties are known, you can begin to tend to it.

I would love to hear more from folks on this. This is a system that would make discovery of plants exciting, while at the same time provide botanists things to do when no new plants are there to discover (give global boosts).

2

Keep in mind that botany would only be able to pass skill rolls for species in the Domain Eukarya and Kingdom Plantae. If a species is in another category and not known, botany simply is not applicable.

3

I really love all of these ideas!

It feels like plants can also have a variety of uses: food, medical, recreational drugs/alcohol. I’m not sure if these would be determined beforehand and then discovered, or what that process would be, but I do like the idea of trying to explore alien plants and find practical uses in various forms.

I also imagine some might be poisonous or cause sickness?

4

Upon rereading the post, what I’m suggesting might fall under horticulturism instead.

5

Please don’t shoot me for posting again.

It sounds like food might have residual items left after taking bites out. In keeping with the theme of the world not having that many resources, I wanted to suggest the idea of Composting!

Basically, reusing/gathering/mixing these organic materials to better enrich the soil for botany or horticulture skills.

I’m not actually sure how things are planned to be grown, but one idea was having a growing tray filled with soil that you could mix organic food matter with and depending on the ingredients in whatever is mixed, you can give bonuses to the plants (food, medicine, otherwise) that spring up from it.

6

Love this idea and i think it should definitely come into play!