So while I was playing some animal crossing and hunting for those damn last fossils for my museum, I thought of a in-game mechanic where players would be able to collect different kind of fossils in the game and collect or carry them to camp.
The fossils would be in 3 sizes and 3 types. Small, Medium and Large.
Small fossils: would have Tier 1 fossils. Can be found at gathering spots.
Medium Fossils: would have Tier 1 (small amount) and Tier 2 (high amount) of Fossils. Can be found at mining spots.
Large Fossils: Would have Tier 2 (small amount) and Tier 3 (high amount) fossils. Can be found at mining spots.
Sizes would also indicate if the fossils would be able to be gathered normally, mined or carried (like an Egg from the egg quests).
The types would indicate what kind of fossil it would be. The main theme was to be earth, water and sky. Name placeholders for the fossil materials would be Ammonite (Water), Trilobite (Earth), and Amber (Sky) Fossil Icon. (Already have some icon ideas on how to show them in-game)
When the hunter has the quest finished, the HUD changes and it reveals a better detailed type of fossil info. From there on players are able to store the unrefined fossils at an NPC the Ancient Draceologist (MH Paleontologist). When talking to the4 NPC players can either sell, or transfer them into some other type of usable item to use for melding or crafting unique weapon and armors. But the main reason to talk to the NPC is to start a mini game to reveal the hidden fossils in the stone.
The mini game I had in mind would have been similar to the gemstone digging game I knew in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. Hunter would have to use tools and right decisions to guess where to peck on the stone in order to reveal the fossil. Upon cleaning up the fossil players are now able to donate the fossil to the in-game museum or place certain fossils into the players home.
An additional ideas was that in order to obtain higher tier fossils players would have to do a certain quest series. Same as to unlock tools to help cleaning the fossils.
Perhaps making some specific skills dedicated to this mechanic, like "Fossilator Lv1/2/3" - increased chance to find better fossils and collectable items at X certain spots.
Early visual concept artwork of the mechanic.
Improved commissioned version from JonahTheNarkarkos (@JavalinaJonah)