Dearest /tg/, While I've always enjoyed the 'aesthetic'

>>54235713
Its main uses were in preventing inflammation and fever, disinfecting wounds, and making contraception. There are some other niche concoctions out there, but those are the three pillars of effective herbalism.

I play Barbarians of Lemuria, so herbalists can be nearly miraculous with the right ingredients.

>>54235713
Herbalism worldwide has a good track record at brewing anestetics, recreational drugs, detoxifiying drugs and drugs meant to help the body recover from fatigue or support the body while it's weakened by an illness.

The other main use of herbalism was poison brewing.

>>54236007
You're forgetting that most poisons had utility in small doses. Nightshade for example is good for all sorts of things in really small amounts.

>>54235713
If you ask doctor, not really.
If you ask rural folks, it totally works.

> in YOUR current setting?
Character is datura addict, so yeah, herbalism totally works.

>>54235713
What do you think medicines were made?

>>54236061
>What do you think medicines were made?

I was under the impression modern medicines were made out of the isolated, beneficial, bio-chemical components of fungi, plants, microbes, etc.. That are refined, purified, and artificially synthesized to such a degree that they wouldn't or don't recognize their initial source material.

>>54235713
I know little to nothing about herbalism, or aromatherapy for that matter.

>>54236054
Actually, I think a doctor would have some respect for herbalism, even if he thinks a lot of it is nonsense. I'm pretty sure a lot of modern medicines are basically just the active ingredients of folk remedies concentrated.

>>54235713
In my setting, herbalism is going through a boom due to a combination of "the materials used in the superior magical alternatives ran out" and "the king has a boner for gardening so he subsidized the shit out of it".

>>54236619
Herbalism's like any old professional art: half the practitioners were empiricists working with limited knowledge, half the practitioners were hucksters or fools trading off pareidolia.

As natural philosophy takes hold in a society, the empiricists gradually bleed off to a subsequent field built on it, whether it's medicine from herbalism, astronomy from astrology, or so on. This leaves mostly the quacks and the misguided true believers, which gives a bad name to the entire original field. (Or in the case of herbalism in reality, also a few left in sub-specializations that were taboo like contraception through the mid-XXth or recreational drugs even now.) But in a fantasy setting this hasn't happened yet and it's more than fair to expect any random herbalist is the "willow bark tea for the wounded" type rather than the "uranium ore for the impotent" type.

>>54235713
One of our current treatments for malaria comes from Chinese traditional medicine. Specifically, doctors over a millenium ago realized that the Artemisia plant was effective at treating malaria. Turns out that it indeed produces compounds (now called Artemisinins) that weaken the membrane of the malaria parasite.

Nutrition wasn't well understood back in the day either, so many herbalists served as nutritionists. Often times people were turned back and prescribed lots of vegetables and fruits because they ate grains too much.

Because of these roles, herbalists were honored as doctors, a noble profession that required years of study. They were essentially scholars for the people, on equal footing and respect as ministers of the land.

>>54241396
Our previous go-to for malaria was a Peruvian native thing, too. There's plenty of wheat among all that rhino horn = boners chaff.

>>54235713
Modern pharmaceuticals are built on top of herbalism, so slightly less effective than that.

So can't really cure shit, but great at making you feel better while your body fixes itself.

>>54236041

>good for all sorts of things in extremely small amounts

FTFY

File: Snow White with the Red Hair Herbalist.jpg (177KB, 1280x720px) Image search: [Google]

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>>54235713
Actually? Well a number of anons have already pointed out that it's where a lot of modern pharmaceuticals came from, even if back then they didn't know the specifics.

In my current setting? Magic is probably better but depending on the herbalist's skill they can still make some potent stuff and it keeps longer in case you need it when there's no one around with magic.

File: The Guide to Herbs for RPGs, 5th Edition.pdf (389KB, 1x1px) Image search: [Google]

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I've actually been wanting to learn more about herbalism recently to be able to do more with integrating it into healing as part of my settings. Anyone who can hand out or point me towards some reference material? I'm particularly interested in Chinese traditional medicine, reading the history behind some dumping recipes is what got me started thinking on this subject.