Textile Work in the Wilderness

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Lexx416
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Joined: Wed Sep 06, 2017 6:14 pm

Textile Work in the Wilderness

Post by Lexx416 »

I've been kind of vocal about this lately, but clothing, containers, and armor seems to be the most tricky thing to deal with when it comes to Bushcraft and Wilderness survival on the game, and it's kind of a bummer! I want to say, out the gate, that I don't think this should be a way to produce cloth that can be used in normal tailoring and weaving. I like that the game is designed in kind of a communal way, and while I think isolationism should be a valid playstyle, it should also come at a cost.

That being said, I've been trying to do some research on primitive/bushcraft techniques for making clothing. It's been a bit of a dig, but I think that it should be possible to make primitive clothing out in the wilderness, without having to rely on the amenities available in town.

I think this should start with a new quality adjective, to help differentiate bushcraft made clothing, containers, and armor that otherwise would overlap with normal tailored items. I think that anything with this adjective should be flagged as unsellable/of no value to the market (and personally, I think markets should even refuse to consign them but that might be an unpopular take) to encourage people to rely on proper tailors and weavers for their goods. I'm not 100% sure what the adjective should be, but some of the ideas I had been tossing around in my head are "primitive", "rough", or "unrefined".

Secondly, I think this should require a new built structure called a Bushcraft Loom that requires a new ability (it could, perhaps, be a "bundled" ability called Primitive Textiles, that gives you access to primitive weaving AND leatherworking - I don't know enough about primitive leather making to know how much overlap there might be, but I imagine there's a fair bit), with a requisite of 100 skill points in Bushcraft - this is to discourage folks that are just wanting a cheap alternative to tailored goods, without being too harsh or punitive on the would-be-bushcrafter (and without getting folks hopes up that they can make clothing right out the gate - I imagine it'd be disappointing to drop a point in bushcraft, grab this ability, and be unable to process fibers to make into cordage for this). I've included what I think would be reasonable for a bushcraft loom's recipe below:

Bushcraft Loom
Information on the bushcraft loom recipe (build):

A simple, primitive loom consisting of 4 stakes driven into the ground, opposite a thick dowel lashed between 2 other stakes driven into the ground with a second dowel next to them. This simple device can be used to weave wicker and cordage into primitive, but useful, goods.

Skill(s) required: Bushcraft (100)
The following additional components are required to craft this item:
- hand-woven cordage (x2)
- a stake (x6)
- a thick dowel (x2)
Tools required:
- something to pound with, like a hammer
Steps: 40
Required abilities: Primitive Textiles

I think that bushcraft looms should take durability damage, similar to how certain tools take durability damage on usage, and be unable to be repaired. I think in addition to that, PCs should be able to only build 1 at a time in the world, that they should only be buildable in rooms with the correct environs (dirt or maybe sand, for the stakes to be driven into the ground), and that they should get eaten by the janitor.


In addition to bushcraft looms, it would be useful to have a recipe for a bone needle as well (whether it's incorporated into an ability, or just available as a bushcrafted item). I don't know that we'd need a needle for fabric, given how a bushcraft loom would work, but just in case I wanted to include it (and it would be necessary for leatherworking).. I would suggest it be made with the KNAP command, and have a recipe similar to the one below:

Primitive Needle
Information on the primitive needle recipe (knap):

A primitive needle made from (material).
It is a tiny item, mainly made of (material).

Skill(s) required: Bushcraft (100)
Crafted from: bone tiny
Steps: 10
Tools required:
- something to carve with



Which would require us to be able to knap small and large bones into bone shards. Could possibly also be a use for antlers, as well. The carving tool would be in addition to a knapping tool.

With a Loom, you're able to make a primitive mat which will act as the "base component" for textile goods (in an idea world, we'd also be able to drop them on the ground and sit on them for a fun lil RP Prop, for those of us that aren't Primalists :)), either from cordage or from wicker. Given how much less refined a primitive loom is compared to a properly made one, I don't think it should be able to be used to produce normal cloth.

Primitive Mat
This could either be two recipes (a wicker mat and a cloth mat), or it could be one item with different material types - I don't know enough about how the code for crafting works to know the limitations

Information on the primitive woven mat (weave):

A primitive (material) mat, useful for a place to sit or to be made into something.
It is a small item, mainly made of (material).

Skill(s) required: Bushcraft(XXX*)
The following additional components are required to craft this item:
-hand-woven cordage or wicker (x4)**
- hand-woven cordage (x2)
Tools required:
- a primitive loom to weave the cordage into a mat
Steps: 40
Required abilities: Primitive Textiles

*The skill level should be the same as the ability.
**This recipe requires a separate instance of hand-woven cordage that can't be replaced with wicker, because of how these types of looms work. Essentially, you string cordage between the sets of stakes, and you weave more cordage or you weave wicker between them. In real life, that cordage would become PART of the mat itself.

This is where things may get a bit more complicated - the reality is that these kinds of mats would make "clothing" by more or less being attached to one another into crude forms that are sort of shaped like clothes, but I think the best way to move forward would be to use the same "trace", "cut", "sew" method that tailoring uses, allowing for a knife to replace scissors, using the bone needle from above, and cordage in place of thread. If "bone carving" becomes a "knap" craft, we could also get "bone toggles" out of the aforementioned bone shards to replace buttons and possibly even buckles (could be two items: "small toggle" from "bone shards" and and "large toggle" from small bones).

I don't think that ALL tailored items should be represented, but I think it'd be reasonable for these items to be able to be made from barkcloth or thornleaf mats:

breeches
cap
cape
chest-wrap
cloak
dress
loincloth
mittens
pants
poncho
loose shirt
skirt
tote
tunic

The general idea is that these clothing items take more steps to make because of the rudimentary tools and tedious work, and take a bit more material as well - a poncho that takes 1 cloth and 3 thread to make with tailoring should take 2 mats and 4 or 5 thread.

I think wicker should have more limitations, and like likely be reserved mostly for containers (a back basket that uses cordage as straps, a wicker quiver, a pouch, etc.) and I think it would also be reasonable as some armor pieces as well (probably mostly neck, chest, and legs, I'm not sure how well wicker armor would work for other spots) that are similar to padded cloth.
"You hear the Woses, the Wild Men of the Woods... Remnants of an older time they be, living few and secretly, wild and wary as beasts."
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