The Pen is Mightier than the Stomach (Expansion Suggestions)

[evawin]

What good is a full stomach if a man's soul is owed to a devil?! To satiate a man's need for poetic justice, here's a list of improvements and features that would be nice to see by release, if not Sooner.

-Pencil

How it works:

Who knew a piece of wood with poisonous dust could be useful? With your pencil, you can perform a host of possible actions.

Pencil Uses:

-Writing on Paper (Editable messages; maybe with each edit, the page gets grittier and grittier)

-Writing on the Map (See below for more)

-Drawing Funny Faces (Nothing says "I love you Pig" like graphite across the face)

-Pricking Things (THE MIGHTIEST WEAPON EVER CONCEIVED! )

To craft this deadly tool, all you need is a stick and a flint-stone.

Why use it:

As Samuel Coleridge once said, "Pencils are awesome." *

*He never said that.

-Map Legend

How it works:

A set of random images, or "keys", that can be toggled on and off. When toggled on, you may drag one of the images and lay it over target location. You can use generic keys more than once and special keys only once.

Generic Keys:

-Rabbit

-Trap

-Bee

-Pig

-Pig King

-Hound/Hell Hound

-Spider

Special keys:

-Blue Star

-Red Star

-Gold Star

-Green Star

-Temple

-Farm

These keys can be further customized by clicking on their title in the Legend. With this, you can label your Blue Star "Former Camp" and label your rabbits "Death Gorgers" if you so desired.

However, this may be too much to start the game with. After all, what demon gives you more than a map to chart your disaster? So, to come across this marvelous little facet of your map, you need a pencil and a few research points (just like you need those research points to shave your beard, tie your shoes, and breath).

Why use it:

This enables keeping track of possible future elements. Good rabbit hunting spots, setting way-points through dangerous country, and drawing stick figure pigs defeating hounds in homage to their brave sacrifice.

-Paper (Expanded Use)

How it works:

Paper?! Huh! Yeah! What is it good for?! Absolutely...well, for some stuff.

With your new-found pencil, you might be able to record your innermost thoughts on simple paper. Now, whether those thoughts include how smelly the Pigs were today over yesterday or the mumbling of an eldritch spell, that paper is now put to good use. A list of pre-determined words or phrases would shape the meaning of the paper.

Re-reading old entries might give faith back that if you survived now, you can survive the future. And time flies when you're writing down, making those lonely nights by the campfire more bearable. Shoving a note into a bottle might appear on some other poor adventurer's shore, giving even more hope or a special effect.

Of course, carrying around twenty individual pieces of personalized papers would be unwieldy, so why not wrap it together? But what should we call this collection of dead plants inscribed with the minerals of the earth? Hmmm; I know! We'll call it a "book"! With any number of pages and some rope, you can bind up to a certain cap of these pages for easy access, carrying space, and your own posterity.

Why use it:

So, why go hungry when you can go hungry while writing your will? Or a letter, for that matter. Maybe you enjoy sending messages to friends or the voices in your head. Either way, all you need is a standard piece of paper and a good ol' pencil to get started. Simple and easy, but very fulfilling. With a flick of the wrist, you'll be well on your way to a host of activities that add a greater depth to your survival.

The possibility of sending out messages to other players via bottles also knits together a greater degree of community, even if you might not know who the writer of this mysterious note is.

And books! Who doesn't like books? From "Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies" to "Don't Starve: 101 Ways to Starve", books provide the little details that shape the imagination.