d&d 3.5 survival problems

[karinrin55]

I've been working on a quest for my players and I have faild to find anything on the issue of no food or water ( it's a hunger games inspired tournament).
I think it is logical for players who don't eat or drink to be slowed down or something of that nature. Has anyone ever came across a rule (in any d20 game not d&d alone) that can help me?
Thanks in advance

[NoACWarrior]

I've been working on a quest for my players and I have faild to find anything on the issue of no food or water ( it's a hunger games inspired tournament).
I think it is logical for players who don't eat or drink to be slowed down or something of that nature. Has anyone ever came across a rule (in any d20 game not d&d alone) that can help me?
Thanks in advance

For DnD 3.5 you might not find much other than the terrain books and the DMG. For normal weather conditions the DMG / SRD states that characters need food and water to stay alive.


Starvation And Thirst
Characters might find themselves without food or water and with no means to obtain them. In normal climates, Medium characters need at least a gallon of fluids and about a pound of decent food per day to avoid starvation. (Small characters need half as much.) In very hot climates, characters need two or three times as much water to avoid dehydration.

A character can go without water for 1 day plus a number of hours equal to his Constitution score. After this time, the character must make a Constitution check each hour (DC 10, +1 for each previous check) or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage.

A character can go without food for 3 days, in growing discomfort. After this time, the character must make a Constitution check each day (DC 10, +1 for each previous check) or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage.

Characters who have taken nonlethal damage from lack of food or water are fatigued. Nonlethal damage from thirst or starvation cannot be recovered until the character gets food or water, as needed—not even magic that restores hit points heals this damage.

Thats the normal 3.5e rules for lack of food or water. It sucks for a survival based campaign because high level characters simply take the nonlethal damage until they can get some food, and then use the cure sticks to get to full. Also, it doesn't take long to eat food, it just takes a while to get it - using survival checks what not. Using said checks the players could simply tank the damage for a few days until they catch a deer (or track a deer for some time).

You could instead supplement the survival checks with in game role-play and use survival to tell the odds of success t the players to see what they want to do (rolling secretly for success).

[HammeredWharf]

Basing a campaign around survival is also problematic because D&D has plenty of ways to make food or make it completely irrelevant. Among other things, Create Food and Water, Feast of Heroes, Ring of Sustenance and Everlasting Rations are easy ways to solve any hunger issues your party may have, not to mention plane shifting to some forest plane and other things like that.

[Darrin]

I think it is logical for players who don't eat or drink to be slowed down or something of that nature. Has anyone ever came across a rule (in any d20 game not d&d alone) that can help me?


Sandstorm has some pretty detailed rules on dehydration. The book assumes a desert climate, but you can get dehydrated anywhere.

[karinrin55]

Basing a campaign around survival is also problematic because D&D has plenty of ways to make food or make it completely irrelevant. Among other things, Create Food and Water, Feast of Heroes, Ring of Sustenance and Everlasting Rations are easy ways to solve any hunger issues your party may have, not to mention plane shifting to some forest plane and other things like that.

The thing is that the group's cleric (me) isn't playing, so obtaining food by magical means isn't an option. Also all the PCs are low lvl (I knew clerics and other magical characters can summon food and water). I thought it through before I started planning the campaign :)