No, this is only half in joke. :lol:
Rangers are the -one- class that is bent almost entirely towards desert survival. Why not push it a step further?
In real life, people have been able to prolong their lives by as much as several weeks, while stranded out in the desert and the sea. By recycling and reusing their old water, they have been able to stretch their hopeless, bleak fortunes and have been able to live long enough to be rescued.
Why, one shouldn't need to live at an oasis to survive on the desert.
So anyway, at its basest level, it involves the collecting and then drinking of urine.
QuoteClearly the kinds of "need" that have caused people to tap their own stream is far more varied than our popular image would suggest. In fact, even among those who drink their urine, avoiding death from dehydration is not always the motive. For example, in a diversity of harsh climates, both very hot and very cold, people have historically turned to urine drinking to recoup not only moisture, but also other nutrients that the body depends on for vital functioning (such as salt, magnesium, calcium, potassium, vitamin C, and various B vitamins). And so basic is this behavior that the body will sometimes signal a distinct craving for substances rich in that nutrient. (Meaning that in some circumstances your pee might taste rather yummy.)
Okay, so here it goes:
:arrow: It can only be used so many times before ones stamina and health-points take a hit -- atleast until pure water can be obtained. One cannot remain a completely self-sufficent source of their own water for ever.
:arrow: It will ward off dehydration, but it won't drive off thirst completely.
:arrow: It -may- require some sort of contraption to filter through all the salt, to make it more thirst quenching, unless the ranger has been careful in what he chooses to eat. (This might figure in with the skill-checks).
(Seeing as urine is already pre-filtered blood, containing 95% water, 2.5% urea and 2.5% minerals, I don't see how this should be required unless one had a large amount of salt coursing through their veins. Has anyone see that movie Water-world? Knowtice how Kevin Cosner uses some sort of crank operated device onboard his raft to filter away the salt from his "water").
:arrow: It -may- prolong the effects of spice.
QuoteInhabitants of the Kamchitka Peninsula, in Northeastern Siberia, traditionally drank the urine of individuals who had ingested the psychedelic mushroom amanita muscaria. It is believed to be the only hallucinogenic substance that does not alter it's chemical structure upon being passed through the human body. Only well-to-do individuals could afford to purchase and consume the potent fungus. But they generously shared the prized intoxicant with poorer friends and relations by letting them drink bowls of their drug-laced urine. These individuals then shared their urine, and so on, and so on -- ensuring that everyone shared in the high. The intoxicant would also drink his own urine, thus keeping his high going for a few days at a time, without any additional expense.
:arrow: In the same way, it -may- worsen the effects of poison.
QuoteIn a similar but more deadly vein, arsenic and other toxins can become harmfully concentrated in the urine. In fact, urine drinkers with arsenic creeping into their diet (either through environmental contamination or intentional poisoning) will soon find themselves on a much faster track toward illness and death if they reingest this same arsenic through drinking their own urine.
:arrow: It -may- be used on wounds and bandages, as an antiseptic. Also as a clothing detergent.
QuoteThus it was that the indigenous Siberians used their own urine for washing and bathing, native Alaskans used urine as an antiseptic for wounds, and in India and East Africa, tradition-minded people washed (and still do wash) themselves in cow urine (which can be more sterile than some water supplies).
:arrow: It may be
undrinkable if certain foods are eaten and/or at low skill levels.
QuoteCertainly garlic, asparagus, and certain other foods (beans and peanuts, animal flesh, dairy products, eggs) can give the pee a strongly unpleasant taste and aroma.
:arrow: At low skill levels, it may
sicken a person.
QuoteThe problem here is that a diet high in salt leads in turn to urine output that is high in salt. And slurping down urine that is high in salt leads to diarrhea.
So there you have it. It certainly wouldn't -
replace- water, no way -- a man going into the desert without a few waterskins on hand would certainly have a death-wish. But it would instead prolong a water-supply.
Oh, and it would definately a culturally accepted source of water for tribals. Commoners might have to be a bit more discreet, though.
Also, it shouldn't be a skill one sees popping up onto their skill-list until late into their careers as ranger-survivalists.
Okay, the more I think about it the more I realize just how valid a skill it would be. Really, a skill. And it could mean the difference between life and death.
There are uses such as bladder control, like how much water you can carry, and how well you are able to time and control its' release, and how clean and thirst quenching you can make it. And which part of the stream might contain poisons, or bad minerals (like salt) that you'd rather not guzzle down.
I'm truely convinced that this would make a -completely- valid skill. And not just be there to usurp Vivaduans, either, heh.
Oh, and I hear that the British Upperclass once used it as a sort of mouth-wash. :shock: :o :lol:
Skilled ranger survivalists know where to find water so they don't need to drink their piss.
I don't think they'd go out unprepared and not bring water in the first place.
Hmmn, I'm just doing wee a bit more brainstorming here, while I wait for supper:
:arrow: There should be a -long- delay while this skill is preformed. Perhaps between five and ten minutes IRL (fewer as the skill goes up into higher levels) to add tension and drama (!), while the character dehydrates. This would also prevent the skill from being abused, and used too much.
:arrow: The colour would range from "a deep orange liquid", to a "yellow liquid", to a "pale yellow liquid", to a "clear liquid", according to the characters level of thirst/dehydration or as the skill goes up.
:arrow: The collected urine would go to rot, if it isn't recycled soon enough -- rendered useless and undrinkable, to prevent characters from stock-piling and hoarding it. :shock:
Are you suggesting urine be made an item you can fill into waterskins..and whatnot? I somehow, just don't see that happening.
Means we'd need a command to urinate.
Also, for a skill that only skilled rangers would eventually get, everyone has to randomly cut into their playtime to take a piss?
I don't think people wanna rp urinating that much.
Quote from: "Spud"Are you suggesting urine be made an item you can fill into waterskins..and whatnot? I somehow, just don't see that happening.
Means we'd need a command to urinate.
Also, for a skill that only skilled rangers would eventually get, everyone has to randomly cut into their playtime to take a piss?
I don't think people wanna rp urinating that much.
Nah, -this- would be the command, right here. I don't think we'd need any other command. Besides, unless it's very critical to the character, or in some way important, Roleplaying things like pissing or crapping is both unnecessary and pointless.
A novellist wouldn't mention that one of his characters happens to be a homosexual unless he actually decides to put that certain character into a scene which involves that character humping another guy. If it doesn't affect the story, whats the point in even bringing it up? It would seem a bit extraneous in my mind.
So, on that same vein, why should everyone and their brother RP their character taking a shit -- unless that shit is a severely life-changing event in itself? It's not really RP if he's crapping just for the sake of crapping. That's not character growth, or any means of progression into that role at all -- that's taking a crap. It's not important to show that he's taking a crap unless he has some severely debilitating crap at that. Or he's shitting steel, or she's shitting (pardon, ladies), something nasty and bloody because she's just been jabbed by an evil 'rinth elf with a tainted knife. Do you get my point?
Moving on after that huge derail, I have a few more idea's to throw around.
:arrow: If the container is too small, there will be over-pour. If the character is wearing gloves those gloves will be given the "smelly" adjective, and will require cleaning solution, or soap, to remove the nasty stench (and stigma).
:arrow: The water-container that's used will also be made smelly.
:arrow: If the urine rots while in the container, then that container may be ruined, and require salvaging -- otherwise, useless.
:arrow: Walking around with the stench of urine on you might perhaps attract animals of the carnivorous type more easily, and maybe from a longer distance than normally.
Suggestion:
skill survival
For rangers and possibly a subclass or two, survival is an abstract representation of food/water management, proper shading, wearing bug-nets, and all-around wilderness savvy. High survival lowers the hunger/thirst drain while outside by a bit (though still leaving it significantly higher than the hunger/thirst drain in settled areas.) Leet maxxed survival might do something really hot, like lower the stamina movement cost outside by 1.
As long as people realize this would be as fantacy was using the Way. Drinking one's bodily fluids for rehidration is like drinking salt-water... it just doesn't help.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urine_therapy
http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/aug2000/966885196.Bc.r.html
HOWEVER:
As far as dehydration goes:
http://rasmus79.blogspot.com/2005/10/drink-urine-or-seawater.html
I did watch a science show once though, where they were testing to see how well Urine could be cleansed of salts, and after many hours of boiling and purifying (evaporation, then catching the condensation as it cools) - they managed to get it to a drinkable state with very little salt left in it.
Quote from: "My 2 sids"As long as people realize this would be as fantacy was using the Way. Drinking one's bodily fluids for rehidration is like drinking salt-water... it just doesn't help.
I -don't- think this would have been asmuch an issue in ancient times as it is now. After all, there were no salty fast-foods, there were no cheese-burgers and deep-fried "freedom" fries. See, the salt content in the urine only depends on the amount of salt you ingest. I thought I had that quoted out in my first post.
Besides, there was this fairly well known religious leader who talks very vaguely from drinking from ones own wells', or cisterns, "so that one may never feel thirst again", and is said to have instructed his followers in this practice. I sure as hell know that it wasn't prayer.
There was once this "dude" also went on a -
DRY- religious fast that lasted fourty days. I sure as hell know he didn't entirely abstain from liquids, as not a -soul- on earth could live more than a week or two without water in a dry, temperate climate and not begin to feel some immense pain. I'm pretty confident in knowing precisely what he did in order to survive FOURTY DAYS without water. Well let me just inform you that we're never without water, and it doesn't take a very resourceful person to realize this when they're half-way to dying from dehydration. It's base survival.
BTW, this "dude" was Jesus, just incase you were all wondering.
Moved this to Code Discussion, where it belongs, even if it's a half-joke, heh. Remember: Submissions is for something else entirelly, and not proposed code.
Personally having not read any of the posts at all, all I can say is those bullets make this all totally legit.
Me and my partner were talking about this yesterday.
Urine is uretha, water, and salt. THe longer it stays in your body, the more uretha is extracted. If you hold your piss until you simply can't anymore, it generally comes out clear, or, just water with a hint of salt.
If you were dying of thirst, you could drink cleansed piss and be alright.
QuoteCritics of urine therapy note that there are no scientific studies which validate urine therapy. Urea, an ingredient in urine, may have some medical value, but urea is already an ingredient in some contemporary medicines. In recent times, the Port-a-John corporation of Utica, Michigan, USA has developed a filter to collect medically significant proteins from users of their chemical toilets. Some pharmaceuticals contain ingredients extracted from human or animal urine.
WHOA! Careful what medicines you take! You might be eating an encapsulation of your Grannies old urine!
Thank you for that link. :wink: :lol: :o
Quote from: "Guest"I -don't- think this would have been asmuch an issue in ancient times as it is now. After all, there were no salty fast-foods, there were no cheese-burgers and deep-fried "freedom" fries. See, the salt content in the urine only depends on the amount of salt you ingest. I thought I had that quoted out in my first post.
Actual solute content in urine varies with the amount of water you have ingested. Besides, salt has been used heavily in foods for quite some time. Remember that salt is a preservative, and salting meat was a common way of storing it. Besides that, any human, even in the modern era, who constantly eats fast food and is in a situation where they might be forced to conserve water is in serious trouble from the start.
Hell, any human who constantly eats fast food is in serious trouble anyway. Go to a good restaurant or cook at home you lazy bastard.
QuoteHell, any human who constantly eats fast food is in serious trouble anyway. Go to a good restaurant or cook at home you lazy bastard.
Pfft, you think I can't make concious choices of what I choose to eat? I'm not stupid about what I choose to put in my "temple", you know.
And enough with the flaming -- I'm just trying to encourage a decent discussion here.
On the subject of salt though:
A ranger who forages his own food will not have to ingest a lot of salt, will not require his fresh food -to- be salted, and will be pretty f*cking careful about how much salt he puts on his tongue.
>You give the sallow-faced, yellowed-toothed man 50 coins.
>The sallow-faced, yellowed-toothed man hands you a tattered waterskin.
>The sallow-faced, yellow-toothed man gives you a tattered waterskin.
>With a blank expression, the sallow-faced, yellowed-toothed man says to you in Northern-accented sirihish:
"Drink up it fast friend. You don't want it evaporating on you, now."
>You take a sip from the tattered waterskin
This clear liquid tastes fine, but has a strangely bitter, vaguely salty after-taste.
You are very thirsty.
>The sallow-faced, yellowed-toothed man flashes a broad smile at you, showing off a set of impressively yellowed teeth.
This would be sooooo cool to have. DIE NEWBIE! :twisted:
-'SidianSoul
We don't pee because we want to, or just because we feel like it. We pee because we have to.
Animals have to urinate to dispose useless, and potentially harmful chemicals from their system, mainly nitrogen. Most of these chems are poison unless diluted with large quantities of water. Since just dumping diluted nitrogen would get any organism dehydrated, it's first combined into ammonia, and then urea. As far as it comes to humans, evolution has found it effective enough to dump urea with water. No additional packing has been needed. Simply put - we pee compactly packed nitrogen. There is a more sophisticated form to pack nitrogen. I cannot remember what it's called, but sharks have that. In that form. The compoud is so unreactive, that sharks don't pee. Ammonium is stored inside their flesh instead. I don't know why nature developed this, but it did. That is why shark's meat tastes like piss. It practically IS piss. Some desert mice are also adapted well enough to have no need to pee. Their urea is exposed with shit, instead.
If we plan to get H2O back to our system, we MUST get rid of the nitrogen first, not to mention other chems, too. Drinking piss could give us a couple of hours more to live, but I bet we would start smelling like it, and eyeballs would start turning yellow. Eww.