New Herb--nettles

[niltrias]

One thing I notice about starting up a newbie is that fishing, which seems to be a fair newb vocation, is impossible without access to string. Since flax can be quite hard to find, and even if found a newbie might have no idea what to do with it, and since wool requires finding sheep, getting the clothmaking skill, and then building a spinning wheel (lumberjacking and carpentry, iirc), how about a new herb, the nettle, that is very easy to spot, grows in the forest, and yeilds 1 plant fiber? They would still need foraging, but that is 1 skill instead of the 3 for wool, and the herb would be much easier to find than flax.

Any thoughts?

[btaylor]

You also need Animal Husbandry to shear the sheep and that sets you back another 600 LP.

Nettles is an interesting choice for a new plant fiber. I would recommend going with something else, just not sure what. If you 'were' to go with Nettles, you might need gloves to handle them without stinging yourself.

[niltrias]

Gloves makes sense, but on the other hand, I am trying to go down the tech tree. Gloves would require leathermaking and tailoring skills.
Besides, you can get rid of 90% of the sting factor of a nettle by beating it to crush the fine hairs that cause the stinging. You could also soak them in a tub, (back to difficult production chain) or, last and most simple:

You can take a rock and run it down the outside of the plant to scrape off the outer layer of skin. Heck, in a pinch, you could do it with your shirt. I wouldnt recommend wearing the shirt for a while, tho. You could take off one of your clogs and do it. Maybe even with a branch. Then, presto, one de-fanged nettle plant.

I was just trying to think of a wild-growing weed native to northern europe that provided good fiber. If someone else can think of a better one, I am not married to the nettle. It would be a way to
a) make it easier for newbs to fish, and
b) give newbs access to another trade material...namely, plant fibers for village banners. Not that this is a great trade material, but its better than nothing.

Edit: I dont have any personal experience with it, but according to this site
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmRP4g6bEoY&fmt=18
Cattails would work as well.

[Raephire]

Making it easier for noobs to fish? Spear Fishing, Or Fear Spishing!

[sabinati]

yes, some kind of common herb that yielded 1 plant fiber, and required no investment other than foraging (no per/exploration check) would be a great way to make fishing possible for noobs again.

[Jackard]

cant you just use like reeds or willows or something. or cattails yea

[niltrias]

cant you just use like reeds or willows or something. or cattails yea

Sure, reeds, willows, cattails, whichever. I just think there should be a common fiber-producing herb. I went with nettles because it doesnt always grow right next to water, which reeds and cattails do. I think it should be something you could find in the middle of the forest, is all.