Herbalism

[Candy]

This sounds like a really cool idea - just a suggestion, perhaps adding certain herbs to food could add effects? I'm not sure which skill that'd fit into better. I happen to know that trefoil is described as both seasoning in the item description and a potentially harmful illegal substance in a quest.

Perhaps certain herbs on certain foods could boost health or stamina by a small amount for a while, or we could have some bad combinations that give you a message saying "this doesn't taste very good", or even have the ability to poison food (eating it takes health away).

[khoridor]

Most curative plants are also harmful. It's all a question of treatment, dose, etc.
Poisons would surely be a successful aspect of alchemy in the game. ...Although one could simply take a naturally deadly mushroom and use his cooking skills to hide the taste without neutralising the toxin.

What's amusing is that, in PS, the most troublesome part of poison making rarely applies, i.e., finding guinea pigs (and disposing of the bodies). Except for true death poisons, one can be his own tester.