Other Archeology - A better passtime than Fishing

[Tanukimario]

Archeology​

Archeology would be an Activity the Player can do to gain some extra loot / cash, similar to fishing. Also like Fishing, Archeology would revolve around 1 core npc: the Archeologist.
It would work by using a shovel on Digging Spots versions on certain tiles. This yields one Fossil / Artifact depending on the Block and biome (loot table below) or some ores, bones, Blocks or other items as well causing the spot to disapear. Digging spots spawn rarely on these cetain tiles. All Fosils and Artifacts have the same chance of dropping, if one is dropped. Artifacts and Fossils can be turned into the Archeologist for Rewards or put on Display in Display Cases (15 glass + 20 wood + 2 Iron/Lead).

Spoiler: Valid tiles for digging Spots

Dirt
Grass (Pure/Jungle/Corupted/Crimson/Ash)
Stone
Sand (Pure/Corupted/Crimson)
Sandstone
Snow
Ice
Mud
Ebonstone
Crimstone
Pearlstone
Ash

Spoiler: Fossil/Relic Loot Tables

Forest (Dirt/Pure Grass):
Animal Skull
Skeletal Bird
Suspiciusly Old Egg
Root Fossil
Old Amber
Dormant Soul of Blight (HM-Exclusive)

Cavern (Stone):
Pure Diamond
Fossilised Bat
Lost Pickaxe
Natural Alloy
Ancient Cobalt (HM-Exclusive)

Desert (Sand/Sandstone):
Skeletal Scorpion
Claw Fossil
Skull Fossil
Desert Fossil Fossil
Sandy Ankh (HM-Exclusive)

Tundra (Snow/Ice):
Ötzi
Otherworldly Antler
Fossilied Wolf Jaw
Sail Fossil
Ancient Frost Core (HM-Exclusive)

Jungle (Mud/Jungle Grass):
Fossilised Frog
Ancient Covering
Worn Loincloth
Primordial Spores
Dry Bulb (HM-Exclusive)

Corruption (Ebonstone/Ebonsand/Corrupted Grass):
Fossilised Spine
Chipped Orb
Decaying Bacteria
Digging Maw
First Cursed Flame (HM-Exclusive)

Crimson (Crimstone/Crimsand/Crimson Grass):
Rotten Brain Clump
Everbeating Heart
Watching Rock
Bloodstone
Primeval Ichor (HM-Exclusive)

Hallow (Pearlstone/Pearlsand/Hallowed Grass):
Fragile Crystal Shard (HM-Exclusive)
Unbound Soul of Light (HM-Exclusive)
Shard of Discord (HM-Exclusive)
Chunk of Hallowed Ore (HM-Exclusive)
Primordial Light Crystal (Post-Plantera)

Hell (Ash/Ash Grass):
Unknown Voodoo Doll
Scorched Ash
Brimstone Rose Stone
Locked Core (HM-Exclusive)
Relic of Pwning (HM-Exclusive)

Obviously there should be more Fossils than these

Spoiler: Other Loot Tables

Having more Shovel Power will increase the Items obtained by the % of the power!

All Biomes:

2 Items will be dropped
9-22 Copper/Tin Ore
8-21 Iron/Lead Ore
8-20 Silver/Tungsten Ore
7-24 Gold/Platinum Ore

1-2 Items will be dropped
7-28 Cobalt/Paladium Ore (HM-Exclusive)
6-25 Mythril/Orichalcium Ore (HM-Exclusive)
6-29 Adamantite/Titanium Ore (HM-Exclusive)

0.05% chance
1 Amber mosquito

More money=higher Rarity
1-1000000 copper Coins

2 Items will Alway be dropped
24-57 Dirt
22-62 Stone
Other Biome-Specific Tiles

Desert Only:

31-69 Desert Fossil (PHM-Ores)

Jungle Only:

7-27 Chlorophite Ore (Post-Mech Exclusive) - (HM-Ores)

5% chance
1 Life Fruit

Corruption Only:

7-23 Demonite Ore (PHM-Ores)

Crimson Only:

7-23 Crimtane Ore (PHM-Ores)

Hallowed Only:

10% Chance
1 Gelatin Crystal (HM-Ores)

0.5% Chance
1 Rod Of Discord

Hell Only:

9-30 Hellstone (Post-Evilboss) - (PHM-Ores)

The Archeologist​

As formerly Mentioned, a huge part Archeology is the Archeologist Town NPC. He moves in while having at least 100 Desert Fossil in your inventory.
The Archeologist has a Shop as well as a "Donate" option which allows the player to Hand in a Fossil whenever you want (because hes cool unlike the angler). Donating Fossils will expand the Shop, or in case of repeats, give the player money.

Spoiler: Shop

Iron Shovel 10% Shovel Power - Always Sold - 2.5 gold
Fossil Shovel 25% Shovel Power - Donated 6 Fossils - 10 gold
Excavators Shovel 45% Shovel Power - Donated 12 Fossils - 20 gold
Excavator of Onyxia 70% Shovel Power - Donated 24 Fossils - 50 gold
Golden Shovel 100% Shovel Power - Donated 37 Fossils - 1.5 platinum

Spoiler: Quotes

When Talked to:
<Name of Dryad> might be old enough to personaly know my collection.
Im not Sure what to think about <name of Angler>. He is a dedicated colector like me but also a bratty litlle kid.
What my favorite Animal is? The Owl obviously.
Prismatic Shard you say? Dont you want a Sword?
Its been quite a while since finding something new myself. Maybe i should go outside.

When donationg Something:
Thanks! Should i tell you more about this? No? (new)
A <Fossil Name>, i see. Quite the Rare find! (new)
I already have this one in my collection, but im sure other collectors would buy it off me. (repeat)
Most People would probably sell repeats to the racoons. Thanks for giving it to me. (repeat)

Obviously there should be more Qoutes than this

Spoiler: Living Preferences

Loves: Dryad, Desert
Likes: Princess, Guide
Dislikes: Beach
Hates: Golfer

Spoiler: Names

Gunther
Blathers
Eugen
Gerald
Ludwig
Graham
Murphy

Obviously there should be more Names than this

---

Spoiler: References to other Media

Animal Crossing - Multiple Quotes + 1 Name
Stardew Valley - Some Fossils + 1 Quote + 1 Name
CalamityMod - Excavator of Onyxia + 2 Fossils
Pokemon - 5 Fossils

 

[Salty_]

You know that's a cool 46 unique item loot table, definitely enough to be on par with fishing for quest item variety but...

Spoiler: Harshness

what's the point?

Sure this would give you money, but money is quite easy to obtain through fishing, shimmer, boss refights, or good ol' money farms.

Part of why fishing works for some people (like me) is because it acts as a change of pace where you slow down a lot and just chill for awhile. It also can give you crates which can provide nice bonuses like giving out weapons, bombs, accessories, furniture, mounts, etc. from crates and the angler.

Archeology, as proposed, means you have to actively explore (potentially dangerous) areas looking for rare digging spots to get... money. Which you can also get through fishing, shimmering, farming, etc. And the digging spots are "rare" too, so you could just be unlucky when you go digging and find nothing. The extremely low chance to dig up valuables like Gelatin crystal and Life fruit are offset by those items being easily accessible in the same place you'd be digging for them, and the RoD drop is so low as to be non-existant.

You would need to give players something to be digging for that they can't get elsewhere, like how fishing has its exclusive items.; give them a reason to think about digging.

Maybe move the ancient cobalt and ancient shadow set from rare drops to digging drops in those biomes, that'd be neat. Also let any variety of gem be dug up in the underground/caverns, with an increasing chance the lower you go, as an alternative to scouring the lands trying to find gems/gem trees that you can do while you explore other areas.

And make some weapons or something that you can dig up, like a skele-mace dug up in the underground that serves as an upgrade to the mace/flaming mace.


Also 100 desert fossils cringe requirement let player craft wooden/iron shovel then if they have a unique digging drop in their inventory the archaeologist can spawn underground if there is an open house. Like a fusion between dye trader and angler.

 

[sunner]

This concept seems pretty complicated compared to most other NPCs in the game, but interesting idea nonetheless.

It's kinda weird the archaeologist loves desert and Dryad, since I'm pretty sure Dryad hates desert, but then again, Mechanic hates Underground but the Tinkerer loves her and the Underground...

Also gunther and blathers, nice reference I'd suggest maybe "Graham" or "Murphy" as other names? (trying to stick with the same name feel)

 

[Tanukimario]

This concept seems pretty complicated compared to most other NPCs in the game, but interesting idea nonetheless.

It's kinda weird the archaeologist loves desert and Dryad, since I'm pretty sure Dryad hates desert, but then again, Mechanic hates Underground but the Tinkerer loves her and the Underground...

Also gunther and blathers, nice reference I'd suggest maybe "Graham" or "Murphy" as other names? (trying to stick with the same name feel)

Yeah, i know its complicated but thants kinda in its nature
I like the names though so ill ad them (i dont get the references if they are any)

 

[Big Sammich]

I like this overall... but I agree that it doesn't seem to have a point. However, I think this is a very easy fix. Just allow players to put their fossils into display cases, so you can place them as decorative furniture. That's reason enough to go digging.

 

[Tanukimario]

I like this overall... but I agree that it doesn't seem to have a point. However, I think this is a very easy fix. Just allow players to put their fossils into display cases, so you can place them as decorative furniture. That's reason enough to go digging.

Great Idea!
Ill add it.

 

[Skialdi]

Love the concept. We are digging after all. Fossils are in the game as a thing. Why not?