One meal to end them all...

[AlanBruce]

Greetings! In an urban campaign I'm running, one of the PCs, a melee type with considreable Constitution, has accepted the King's Challenge, a legendary contest where a single patron attempts to eat several dishes- boar, pheasant, bread, potatoes with gravy, an entire pie, and as much ale as they can wash down.

Needless to say, it has taken two tables to accomodate all dishes.

The King managed to finish it all in 45 minutes, a record that has not been beat.

The PC wants to beat it and if he does, not only does he get the free meal (which would cost 50gp if he cannot beat the recod), but free room and board for a week.

I was wondering how to go about it mechanically. the PC is an illumian, not some monstrous race that eats entire sheep in one bite, but being a fighter type, his Con is decent. Does RAW have anything regarding this? Or should I have the PC make a Con check every minute or so?

Thank you very much in advance.

[Forrestfire]

There's no RAW for getting full or forcing yourself to eat, just that you have to eat to not starve.

Personally, I'd allow either Fortitude (overeating through your body taking it) or Will (because you're gonna win this, dammit, no matter what it takes) saves to win the contest.

On the note of the race and size of the character... Bear in mind that this woman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonya_Thomas) is an eating competition champion :smalleek:

[AlanBruce]

Thank you for the suggestions. They do make sense. One must have not only the body, buyt the mind to set themselves to overcome a challenge.

Looking at the PC, his Con is 14, but his Fortitide is +14 and +13 Will. He should be able to do it. the problem is figuring out the intervals between checks. Every round? Every minute? every 5 minutes?

And that skinny girl… that is impressive.

[Darrin]

I was wondering how to go about it mechanically. the PC is an illumian, not some monstrous race that eats entire sheep in one bite, but being a fighter type, his Con is decent. Does RAW have anything regarding this? Or should I have the PC make a Con check every minute or so?


I would try something like....

Five Courses:
1) Bread
2) Pheasant
3) Potatoes
4) Boar
5) Pie

For each course, determine the number of minutes by: (35 - Con roll) / 2. For an average human, this should take 60ish minutes. With a high Con modifier and good rolls, getting under 45 minutes is doable.

For the ale, use the Intoxication rules from A&EG. For the first hour, every drink after the first requires a Fort save (DC 10-13 depending on the strength of the ale). A failed save does 1d2 Wis/Dex damage, and if either stat reaches zero, it's nighty-night. To make things interesting, though, the liquid helps break down the carbs and provides more "space" (or less pauses) for the next course (because... reasons?). So maybe something like, during each course, ask the PC how many ales he wants to drink. Drinking 1 ale takes 1 minute, but reduces the number of minutes of the next course:

1 ale, reduce next course by 1d4 minutes
2 ales, reduce next course by 1d6 minutes
3 ales, reduce next course by 1d8 minutes

Rolling a "1" on the Fort save means tossing your cookies and automatically forfeiting the contest.

[Exegesis]

It's a combat. The food has hitpoints. Your mouth attacks the food. Then the food attacks your stomach's hit points.

The player should be terrified when the king draws out his adamantine chompers (http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/browse/processRequest.do?requestURI=processProductsCatalo g&categoryId=377320&sku=13659359&BP=10879&ms=search&source=Google&cm_mmc=Google-_-GooglePLA-_-Holidays%2FHalloween%2FHalloween+Deals+%26+Steals-_-White+Vampire+Fangs&cm_mmca1=OTC+PLAs&cm_mmca2=GooglePLAs&cm_mmca3=10879&cm_mmca4=FS49&cm_mmca5=Shopping&cm_mmca6=Holidays&cm_mmca11=13659359&cm_mmca12=White+Vampire+Fangs&gclid=CjwKEAiA2JqkBRDshIOY_9eMghkSJABvNd1Qp3OrUPgV wXxeGY6wmMl7CPwvkQCI6tqSIWeQ0jDOdxoC9uvw_wcB).

[Pyon]

Plot twist: PC wins challenge, but an enraged king sends assassins after him for beating his record. PC is kidnapped and executed by being force fed too much food.

[(Un)Inspired]

Have a fort save follow each course with a dc that increases by 1 for every round. Have the PC go up against an npc who has secretly swallowed a portable hole. The rest of the party works to expose the cheater while the PC competing struggles to keep eating.

[Kraken]

Heh, hilariously, the spell hoard gullet could make this challenge utterly trivial. Doesn't sound like it'll matter for this particular character, but I just thought it was amusing. :smallbiggrin:

[Exegesis]

Have a fort save follow each course with a dc that increases by 1 for every round. Have the PC go up against an npc who has secretly swallowed a portable hole. The rest of the party works to expose the cheater while the PC competing struggles to keep eating.

It's not normally cheating, though; all the rich people in this town do it. There's a special kind of pill they make that turns your stomach into an extraplanar portal for an hour or so.

Githyanki reflux!
Yes, but that's just one of risks.

[Mr.Cobalt]

Heh, hilariously, the spell hoard gullet could make this challenge utterly trivial. Doesn't sound like it'll matter for this particular character, but I just thought it was amusing. :smallbiggrin:

Suddenly I am reminded of a character I built with that spell on his list and the idea of challenging drunk taverngoers to "caltrop eating contests".

[(Un)Inspired]

Suddenly I am reminded of a character I built with that spell on his list and the idea of challenging drunk taverngoers to "caltrop eating contests".

Technically in D&D caltrops only effect people when they step on them so eating them is totally safe.

[TheIronGolem]

Try using Pathfinder's chase rules (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/other-rules/chases).

Obstacles could include things like "there's an extra surprise dish that was added this year" or "this pie tastes so gross that it's hard to make yourself finish it all".

Possible resolutions could include making Sleight of Hand checks to hide away bits of food so that it looks like you've eaten more than you have, covertly Prestidigitating the boiled vegetables to taste like cake, and good old Fort and Will saves to just power through the rough parts.

[AlanBruce]

The King, who created the King's Challenge, has been missing for sometime (one of the reasons the party is in the City).

The King's Challenge is still a City favorite and the Ilumian wanted to go for it (the player-'s other character is a pixie and…well, she would not be able to eat all that)

He started rather well, stuffing the bread rolls in his mouth and washing them down with tall glasses of ale.

Then came the pheasant, followed by a couple more glasses.

The pork…and more glasses.

The potatoes…and yet more glasses, since he nearly choked by swallowing an entire potato without chewing.

By this time, the tavern is cheering him on, not too different from a college party.

That's when the alcohol kicks in and he looks at the last remaining item on the table- the blue berry pie.

In his drunken dementia, he watches the pie stick a blueberry tongue out at him, call him a b**** and start laughing as the Illumian, having failed the last save, headbutts the pie and falls asleep on the crust, blowing blue berry bubbles.

Now the Illumian is drunk and passed out, but he has a new enemy- Pie.

[(Un)Inspired]

The King, who created the King's Challenge, has been missing for sometime (one of the reasons the party is in the City).

The King's Challenge is still a City favorite and the Ilumian wanted to go for it (the player-'s other character is a pixie and…well, she would not be able to eat all that)

He started rather well, stuffing the bread rolls in his mouth and washing them down with tall glasses of ale.

Then came the pheasant, followed by a couple more glasses.

The pork…and more glasses.

The potatoes…and yet more glasses, since he nearly choked by swallowing an entire potato without chewing.

By this time, the tavern is cheering him on, not too different from a college party.

That's when the alcohol kicks in and he looks at the last remaining item on the table- the blue berry pie.

In his drunken dementia, he watches the pie stick a blueberry tongue out at him, call him a b**** and start laughing as the Illumian, having failed the last save, headbutts the pie and falls asleep on the crust, blowing blue berry bubbles.

Now the Illumian is drunk and passed out, but he has a new enemy- Pie.

Is the king missing because he was eaten as part of last year's King's Challenge?

[Exegesis]

The assassin with a portable hole in their stomach ate him.

[(Un)Inspired]

The assassin with a portable hole in their stomach ate him.

So tragic, so common.

[AlanBruce]

Is the king missing because he was eaten as part of last year's King's Challenge?

A tempting plot twist, but not quite. The King is lost beyond the city, when he went to fight an ancient Linnorm and never returned.

So I guess he became meal, after all...