How does the Playground handle sustenance?

[G.Cube]

I know there are a lot of different ways out there to make hunger and thirst a forgotton problem, and I have a hunch on what might be the most popular, but Im curious to know how the playgrounders handle aquiring sustenance.

[Emperor Tippy]

If nothing else just throw a Ring of Sustenance onto one of your normal rings for a measly 3,750 GP.

Elan's can just spend a PP per day (or a feat). Any creature with access to 2nd level Psionic powers can get the power Sustenance and be done with it.

Crystal Master 10can also remove the need to eat, drink, or sleep ever again.

Necropolitan's need never eat again.

Anything that makes you an Outsider eliminates the need. As does True Mind switching with a Shadesteel Golem.

[Story]

I just ignore it. It's too much working keeping track of and not a real issue part low levels.

[Snowbluff]

Polymorph any Object anything into something edible.


As does True Mind switching with a Shadesteel Golem.

What problems doesn't this solve? :smalltongue:

[Kazyan]

I sometimes use mid-OP tools but don't really understand to "play the game". My groups like Everlasting Rations or just buy rations conventionally.

[Trasilor]

The only time I ever bring it up is when the environment itself is the enemy

[stack]

Pretty much a non-issue after the earliest levels. A handy haversack, everlasting rations, whatever. Its just not worth worrying about once the weight becomes trivial (level 1 for a high strength PC). The cost is almost never significant, even with starting wealth unless you start your first adventure with no resupply for a long time.

[evisiron]

Last campaign I ran, literally every player bought a ring of sustenance!

Otherwise I tend to just role play it, make mention of empty stomachs and rumbling tummies when they go a while without food.

If they go extreme lengths, I'll warn them that if they don't eat soon their bodies will start to fail them. Each morning after that have them take a level appropriate fort save, first for fatigue, then when Fatigued, checks become whether they become exhausted.

After that, fort save with every Standard or Full Round action, fail the save and lose that action.

[qwertyu63]

Personally, buy a set of Everlasting rations (350 gp) and an Everful mug (200 gp) [both from the MiC, page 160]. Total cost 550 gp. Never buy food/water again.

[Spore]

We subsume this towards the rules for fatigue. An adventurer is a hardy bunch and they only eat once a day.

[Psyren]

We don't track them. There's really no point. Buy the starting kit for your class (includes rations) and move along.

Druids can ignore the problem as early as level 1.

[SinsI]

Custom magic item that casts Heroes' Feast 2 times a day solves all your sustenance problems with an added hitpoint/morale bonus.

[Diarmuid]

Anything that makes you an Outsider eliminates the need. As does True Mind switching with a Shadesteel Golem.


Does this apply to Native Outsiders as well? Is this documented anywhere?

[Emperor Tippy]

Does this apply to Native Outsiders as well? Is this documented anywhere?

Doesn't apply to Native Outsiders. Last line of the entry.
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm#outsiderType

[Talya]

I know there are a lot of different ways out there to make hunger and thirst a forgotton problem, and I have a hunch on what might be the most popular, but Im curious to know how the playgrounders handle aquiring sustenance.

Generally i keep my refrigerator well stocked by visiting a nearby grocery store. Of prime importance is ensuring there are both caffeinated beverages available for consumption at dawn, and alcohol-based libations available for consumption after finishing my daily employment tasks, but between these times, I like to keep a good supply of various sources of nutritional goodness.

[Kennisiou]

Surprisingly I've never needed magical gear for this. We've always been able to make survival checks to get the food and water we'd need.

[ArqArturo]

In the campaign I'm running, my players are trying to stop the Four Horsemen.

Guess which champion are they facing now :smallcool:. Ordinary hunger is not a problem in my games, because at least one of the players has ranks in survival or is a ranger/Druid.

[KillianHawkeye]

I usually throw a pizza in the oven, or a frozen TV dinner in the microwave. Sometimes I make a sandwich. Soft drinks, hard liquor, and Gatorade are a must, as well as some kind of chips for snacking.

Or wait, are we talking about our characters? Just buy trail rations at the beginning of the game. Those things never run out!

[ArqArturo]

I usually throw a pizza in the oven, or a frozen TV dinner in the microwave. Sometimes I make a sandwich. Soft drinks, hard liquor, and Gatorade are a must, as well as some kind of chips for snacking.

Or wait, are we talking about our characters? Just buy trail rations at the beginning of the game. Those things never run out!

I just bring a six pack of lager and Doritos and feel accomplished XD.

[KillianHawkeye]

I just bring a six pack of lager and Doritos and feel accomplished XD.

Unfortunately, beer and wine don't really do much for me. Although I will enjoy a nice Guinness from time to time.

[ArqArturo]

Unfortunately, beer and wine don't really do much for me. Although I will enjoy a nice Guinness from time to time.

I've sort of become a beer connoisseur ever since I was in the last stages of college, wine while great, it's still mystery to me. Strangely enough we usually drink booze after the game, mostly because while gaming, we're up our eyeballs in caffeine and cheese puffs (soda for most, coffee for me since I have about three years since I stopped drinking soda), or some heavier fare every once in a while.

I don't really miss the days of soda and ramen, but I do miss the time availability to play D&D. And not pay taxes, but that's another rant :smalltongue:.

[herrhauptmann]

Unfortunately, beer and wine don't really do much for me. Although I will enjoy a nice Guinness from time to time.

There are much better dark beers out on the market for not much more in price.
If in the USA, try Southern Tier's Pumking, (don't frost edge of glass in cinnamon+brown sugar, it's terrible and sticky) or Ommegang's Take the Black Stout.

[kabreras]

If you feed your DM right, your character never have to worry about hunger !

[KillianHawkeye]

There are much better dark beers out on the market for not much more in price.
If in the USA, try Southern Tier's Pumking, (don't frost edge of glass in cinnamon+brown sugar, it's terrible and sticky) or Ommegang's Take the Black Stout.

I've never heard of either of those. I don't really go to bars or pubs or specialized beer places. I just get what I can find at the grocery store or, sometimes, a liquor store.

[CRtwenty]

The only time I ever bring it up is when the environment itself is the enemy

This. I usually make a point at the beginning of each campaign to figure out what my party's usual method of getting food is. I then ignore it until they reach a point where that method no longer works. Spending a few SP each day at Inns while traveling the kingdom or hunting wild game with your survival skill is fine until you find yourself stranded in the Desert of Desolation.

[herrhauptmann]

I've never heard of either of those. I don't really go to bars or pubs or specialized beer places. I just get what I can find at the grocery store or, sometimes, a liquor store.

Both breweries are in New York I believe, so you might have a hard time finding them depending on your location.
Since you can buy beer at a grocery store, I KNOW you're not in Pennsylvania.

Try a 1:1 mix of lindemanns raspberry framboise, and woodchuck amber cider.
Both get wider distributions.

[Yukitsu]

I'm a foodie, so I just track it all. I'm also a tremendous Tolkien nerd, so being able to describe a stew in great detail is enjoyable to me.

[Adverb]

Custom magic item that casts Heroes' Feast 2 times a day solves all your sustenance problems with an added hitpoint/morale bonus.

This is a pretty expensive option, but there's nothing custom about it - the Horn of Plenty, in the MiC, does this once a day as a slotless for 12k.

Expensive for food, but for partywide immunity to fear and poison it's a good deal.

[Keneth]

Waterskin of quenching for water and at least one meal per day. Meal is usually subsumed in the cost of lodging, but if the group heads out of town for an extended period of time, they buy food in advance or use Survival to forage and hunt (it's a DC 10 Wis check without ranks and you can take 10).

[Brookshw]

Infrequently to never. It's boring and wastes valuable play time.

[vitkiraven]

Always, and I make sure that the players in the groups I DM know it before start of game. If they want to play a low strength character that can barely carry a staff along with a spell book, then it is up to them to figure out how to stay fed. I also take into account the types of food they eat. Subsisting on trail ration for long periods of time can be bad for your health. 2nd ed. had a rule for that. I also do grittier games though.
I mean, the human body needs a lot of water to survive, and clean water is a premium. Especially at 8 lbs. a gallon, and the cost for powdered water builds up over time.:smallbiggrin:

[Slipperychicken]

You know what's weird? For all of D&D's bizarre creatures and strange new worlds, there is hardly any description of exotic crops, fruits, or vegetables.


My groups honestly don't care (it's about as annoying as tracking encumbrance), except for when someone guilt-trips the players into having the PCs eat real food and sleep at inns once in a while instead of eating soggy ration-gruel in a tent. Then we usually give a brief description of the food before using it as a chance to develop in-character plans.

In terms of resources, we might stop in town and say "I spend 2 gold on rations". Even when we forget OOC, we figure that's something the characters would have done (since we aren't as acutely aware of our PCs' grumbling tummies as they are) and retcon it.

[Red Fel]

Easy method? Travel cloak. Get rations 3/day, cool water or hot tea, and a tent every night. Plus it grants endure elements. Plus it's waterproof. Plus, and I can't emphasize this enough, long cloaks make adventurers look up to 70% more awesome.

[ArqArturo]

You know what's weird? For all of D&D's bizarre creatures and strange new worlds, there is hardly any description of exotic crops, fruits, or vegetables.

I think in Eberron there are several descriptions of food from the Five Nations, including Goodberry Wine (It Nurtures AND Intoxicates at the same time :smallbiggrin:).

I usually try to incorporate that in my game, but my players kind of roll their eyes when I do... Maybe because I also like to describe the architecture :smallfrown:.

[vitkiraven]

Easy method? Travel cloak. Get rations 3/day, cool water or hot tea, and a tent every night. Plus it grants endure elements. Plus it's waterproof. Plus, and I can't emphasize this enough, long cloaks make adventurers look up to 70% more awesome.

Can't tell you how many times this item has been a priority for my characters to either acquire in game, or buy before game starts.

[vitkiraven]

You know what's weird? For all of D&D's bizarre creatures and strange new worlds, there is hardly any description of exotic crops, fruits, or vegetables.

Aurora's whole realms guide, second edition had some things, as did Goods and Gear from Kenzer. I think that Elminster's Ecologies and the Volo's guides from second edition had similar exotic stuff peppered into them too.

[Red Fel]

Can't tell you how many times this item has been a priority for my characters to either acquire in game, or buy before game starts.

There's a reason it's part of the Type II of Shax's Indispensable Haversack (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8235865), and stays around until Type IV.

[Talya]

If you're playing in an evil campaign, ensure at least one party member plays a gnome.

[Red Fel]

If you're playing in an evil campaign, ensure at least one party member plays a gnome.

We call our gnome Menchi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Excel_Saga_characters#Menchi).

[ArqArturo]

If you're playing in an evil campaign, ensure at least one party member plays a gnome.

There was a time when I started playing D&D that horses were emergency rations.

[lytokk]

I usually just make sure someone in the party makes a survival check every day to find food to eat, when out in the wilds that is. In town, I figure how many days they've been in town or how long they're going to be, and tell them to subtract 5sp a day for basic food and lodging. Most of the time, my adventurers are travellers so I haven't had to worry about any of them buying property yet.

In the case of a particularly high survival roll, I say they've got enough leftover deer or whatever is appropriate to dry for jerky, and then have another survival role, and then give them X amounts of trail rations depending on the check. Yes I realize it takes more than meat to sustain a person, but the high survival check pretty well ensures they were able to find enough of other things to make meal replacement nourishment.

[Terazul]

No game I've ever been in really payed attention to it too much, unless it was explicitly a "survival" style game. Otherwise, we're too busy building flying castles and whatnot to really consider that our characters wouldn't somehow feed themselves.

I do still have a tendency to pick up or tack on a Traveler's Cloak onto most characters; 1200 gp for a constant endure elements, never get wet from rain, trail rations 3/day, and two gallons of hot tea or cold water/day. Also turns into a one-person tent. It basically covers everything.

[Elderand]

Tracking food is a lot like tracking weight for me, it's book keeping that detract from the fun of the game.

I handle both the same way, it only comes up as a plot point.