Questions for those whose PCs actually EAT

[Dachimotsu]

A lot of groups don't even pay attention to hunger, and in those that do, the PCs do the bare minimum of eating, like only eating trail rations once every three days. How do your groups handle eating? Are there ways to encourage the players to seek out and eat different varieties of food?

[Tragak]

Are there ways to encourage the players to seek out and eat different varieties of food? Tell them that you want it to be an important part of the game. If they think it would be as fun for them as you think it would be for you, then they'll have their own ideas that will definitely work for them (whereas any ideas we have to offer might - or might not - work for them).

[Gritmonger]

That's a tough one - eating is mostly hand-waved if it's in the city. It might come up if people travel, but so far, most of the adventuring has been between meals. I'm running a very low level in-city campaign. So far there has been one foray to a local drinking establishment.

I'm thinking one of the ways to get people to think about this is to emphasis cultural differences in food, and either just let people know that the local food isn't their usual fare, or if you're feeling it, going so far as to have newcomers roll for, well, not agreeing with local food (Con save versus local water and delicacies).

Unless you have a character who is a chef, or has it as a profession, or have a hireling named "Cookie" I'm not sure how it would come up in normal play.

One way is to have a visitor from another plane who has particular tastes. The further away the better, as a person can tolerate food that isn't his childhood or adult usual fare for a while, but eventually it will disagree with them, or they will become homesick.

Having been through the actual practice of living on "rations" - a piece of fresh bread, or a single hot meal even if it was not much better than the packaged fare was a blessing, and you might put in fresh, hot meals as a way to gain Inspiration dice, if it really matters to you. A day with no hot food, no Inspiration dice, as the general mood is sour, and nobody is feeling very lucky or fortunate.

Edited to add: or you provide somebody in the party, one of the players, with a way to turn their inspiration die into a die for the rest of the party by using it to prepare a special meal. There are a lot of possibilities. And this might be overpowered, since there may be a magical meal that does the same thing, but in this case, it would have to be one player giving up their Inspiration die (which they might have gotten for roleplaying the chef/cook angle in the first place) to aid the rest of the party. It would change the perception of cooking and hot meals...

[Talakeal]

As a DM I generally hand waive living expenses while in a city, however I also hand wave any money the players want to make from their "day job".

While in the wilderness I tell them upfront how much money (and weight) they will need to purchase rations which cost money and, more importantly, count against their encumbrance limit. Again it is generally fairly abstract, like a weeks worth of rations cost 1 gold and weight 1 stone.

If the players don't have any rations they need to roll a survival check every day or suffer a small amount of damage. I usually describe what sort of food they end up finding on a success.

Now, when I am a player I generally do imagine what sort of food my character is eating and mention it if it is relevant to the plot, for example we are meeting over dinner to discuss something. I encourage my players do the same.

[Gritmonger]

If the players don't have any rations they need to roll a survival check every day or suffer a small amount of damage. I usually describe what sort of food they end up finding on a success.


Youch. I had a DM that was kind of punitive in this manner - I generally didn't start in with the damage until three days of no rations, as I can personally attest (and yes maybe realism isn't proper in RPG's) that I do not end up with a hitpoint of damage or two from fasting for a day. Maybe a penalty on Charisma checks and saves for being hangry, but I'm not so sure I'd go as far as damage until it had been at least a couple of days.

[Kid Jake]

You could go the Shadowrun route and let them purchase abstract Lifestyles with their gold that let them gain minor bonuses to Charisma based skills or just 'fit in' with a better class of people. The hardened mercenary that downs a pound of jerky and them collapses on the hard ground to sleep? Sure he's a badass, but he has a harder time relating to potential wealthy clients than the rogue that moisturizes before bed each night and practices wine tasting in his private tent.

[Forrestfire]

When I get the chance, I generally pay attention to food. My normal DMs waive it, so I just assume my characters have things on-hand. In one game I'm currently in, I had excess skill points to burn, so I dumped them into Craft (Food) and grabbed a masterwork kitchen, since the game takes place in one city and my character's house is where the party is crashing. So far, it's been fun to describe :smallbiggrin:

[Talakeal]

Youch. I had a DM that was kind of punitive in this manner - I generally didn't start in with the damage until three days of no rations, as I can personally attest (and yes maybe realism isn't proper in RPG's) that I do not end up with a hitpoint of damage or two from fasting for a day. Maybe a penalty on Charisma checks and saves for being hangry, but I'm not so sure I'd go as far as damage until it had been at least a couple of days.

Depends on the game. If it is something like D&D where people have a boatload of HP and it also represents luck / morale / fatigue etc. straight damage each day is fine. In a more realistic system I generally allow an endurance test of some sort with a slowly ramping difficulty to avoid taking actual damage.

[Ravens_cry]

Hmm, it depends on the campaign.
If you are trying to tell a story where day to day survival is important, yeah, track rations and stuff. If there is more important narrative fish to fry, just forget it. As an example of the former, I had an idea for a Stone Age campaign, and it would focus on the Hunters -slash- Warriors of the tribe, A successful Survival check would mean a combat encounter with some edible creature, and a better check creating more favourable circumstances, like more, larger animals, cover or separating an animal from the herd.
Most campaigns, the most I would do is make sure they had some and move on. Law of conservation of detail, and all that.

[jaydubs]

I'm a carrot over the stick kind of guy when trying to encourage players to roleplay. When I DM, that means:

-We don't track food or water unless it's a very unusual situation (aka shipwreck or similar).
-Whatever you order is basically free.
-Players order food and drink because they want to RP the situation (the character wants to have a night on the town, is especially hungry, etc.), or because I as the DM offer something peculiar and exciting (phoenix, troll, extraplanar beer, etc.).

But the basic idea is that food and drink don't exist except when it would be fun and/or interesting for food and drink to exist.

[oxybe]

Food can quickly become a non-issue. Early game in 3.5, for about 550gp, you can get the tag-team combo of an everfull mug and everlasting rations (magic item compendium, p.160).

The mug gives you basically a liter of fluids every day and the ration bag fills up to feed a medium creature every morning.

If you really want to supplement your magical ration diet with stew, steak, kebobs, etc... you can always go hunting or just bring a bit of meat (noting that it's likely to go stale since refrigeration doesn't exist... for the most part. A box with a metal plate that has chill metal permanencied on it somehow and partially filled with water can be a great icebox).

The main reason most groups don't track food/hunger is that you only really notice it when it matters, and if it does occur it's usually because the party is on an extended expedition in the wild, things have gone horribly south and a quick jaunt via teleportation to a familiar city is out of the question for whatever reason (below level 9, for example). Thankfully, rations are generally plentiful and thanks to extradimentional storage you can carry a surprising amount without being weighted down, and at higher level you can magically produce food.

[Dervag]

I'd say just plain not eating for more than, oh, twelve hours is going to be enough to justify a slight penalty, especially to tasks requiring concentration. It'd get a lot worse after a whole day of empty stomach.

If you're eating regular meals but having a poorly balanced diet, well, that is something people can actually do for a long time before the consequences catch up. It can take several days before a deficiency in nutrients or vitamins really stops someone.

[Gritmonger]

Depends on the game. If it is something like D&D where people have a boatload of HP and it also represents luck / morale / fatigue etc. straight damage each day is fine.

Not in my experience - as a first-level character, who had simply spent the morning moving through the woods.

No, I would not hit people up for a penalty for one day. One day is missing your meals. It's three days of no water that can kill you, or going several weeks without food...

I'm not sure if people on this board have been hungry.

Personally, I've been through some trauma that essentially put the kibosh on my appetite. I lost like fifty pounds over three months, eating roughly one protein bar a week when I could choke it down but drinking plenty of water.

I lived, and didn't really suffer from malnutrition or the equivalent of daily hit point loss.

[goto124]

So if you keep track of eating, you have to keep track of time too?

[BWR]

Mostly we just deduct money and say we've eaten, unless a big fancy meal is part of the scene. One GM I play under makes a point of listing what sort of meals and drink we get at any tavern or inn. It's a nice detail that adds to an otherwise rather dull game of 'kill things, take their stuff'

[Earthwalker]

As a GM I use the morning breakfast have a little character and provide a bit about the game world. As the adventurers are breaking fast in a modest inn on the coast the breakfast is warmed oats with bits of fish in it. An unusual taste but fillings.

In the center of the big city they only get offered warmed oats. If they want something tastier then they have to pay.

Out in the stocks in a small farming comunity the food is oddly better, ham and eggs to start the day.

Of course these are just examples. As the adventurers travel the world. They get to taste different things.

[Mr.Moron]

Food is largely "Flavor Text" in most of my games. It comes up and players look for stuff to eat, but it never really reaches mechanical or real monetary relevance. One of my players got in the habit of having his player drop tons of money on expensive wine, though that was in setting where they had lots of money and not too much relvant to his mechanics to spend it on.

The idea of a game where food, forgaging and managing supplies sounds really interesting. I'm not sure something D&D-ish would be the particularly best place to try it out though.

[Mr.Sandman]

Unless you have a character who is a chef, or has it as a profession, or have a hireling named "Cookie" I'm not sure how it would come up in normal play.


I'm sorry, now I just have the image of a furry blue monster trailing along behind the party, singing and carrying a tray of cookies, stuck in my head.

[obryn]

D&D isn't set up in such a way that worrying about provisions makes sense in most campaign scenarios beyond the first few levels. In addition to the vast amounts of wealth PCs gain, there's the easy availability of hunting, common low-level spells, cheap magic items, and even eating maybe-edible monsters down the road. (Do you really want to get into a discussion of how many days of rations that Dire Bear would provide?)

Basically, unless your campaign or specific scenario is set up in such a way to make hunger an immediate concern, it's not going to happen and IMO you shouldn't even bother.

So at this point, you're pretty much looking at other systems. If you want a game which takes a more mechanical approach, I'd look into Torchbearer, which makes it quite central.

[Grinner]

(Do you really want to get into a discussion of how many days of rations that Dire Bear would provide?)

~6400 1/2 lb burgers, assuming similar proportions to the brown bear.

[kaoskonfety]

If the players are minimizing their food expenses and interaction with eating things leads me to ask: why? I generally do not have issue on this front at my tables - characters generally have a "how do I get fed/ how classy am I" and similar non-mechanic background in their heads before play starts - some spend their spare game dollars on fine wine and old cheese, others on the new bow and silver tipped arrows. Neither is a bad choice, they are just adventuring fro different reasons (and often in the same party).

In most games you are playing some flavour of hero with notable disposable income, so money for good food is generally not a serious issue (yes there are exceptions, those are not called out so I assume they are not in play?)

I'd assume 2 groups of reasons - RolePlay and Meta-game

RP reasons, probably far from a complete list
- the paranoid who minimizes eating to avoid being poisoned
- plain rice and water ascetics
- I donate/sacrifice every spare cent to the poor/church/state/gods/sick grandmother
- Saving up for the awesome *thing* (perhaps gear, maybe early retirement, maybe that nice island in the Caribbean, maybe the membership fees/bribes for that ultra elite country club, whatever)


Metagaming/OOC
- winning - money is gear (in-game stuff), gear is effectiveness, effectiveness to win
- its boring and they don't want to think about it/ use game time on it

I love food and am a reasonable cook, my games are dinner parties and discussions on food are common in and out of character, this does not mean it interests everyone.


It sounds like you are looking to the RP end (seriously guys you just slew a dragon, tens of thousands of gold, silver and platinum, gems to swim in, priceless art and magical loot to make kings weep, STAY IN THE GOOD INN TONIGHT AND ORDER THE STEAK), without more info its hard to say the players motivations

If its meta gaming their copper currency to get the sword +1/wired reflexes/assault rifle a little bit earlier they are roleplaying the penny pincher trying the save up for the nice car - I'll eat the wet cardboard create food and water and get more bonuses earlier. Ask them if this is what they are doing - highlight the roleplay of turning down the 2 silver warm bed and roast pig for the copper piece barn and scavenged berries when you have 500 platinum on you pocket and fleas exist.

If its indifference to this detail there may not be much to do but move on from it, maybe the occasional throw away line on the smells from the kitchens.


Considerations if you feel this is behaviour you need to control and/or encourage roleplay:

Before looking at applying penalties mechanically
- there is no reason to assume all the "iron rations" in any given game are the same thing, this will vary by region, harvest, whats is on sale and similar, if the players are not interested in the details try no to worry too much.
- a potential employer will only meet at a high class restaurant/the dukes court/five star inn (on the employers tab of course), showcase the good life a bit, get them thinking about only eating dried nut and fruit mix/soy/magical slop when they can, with ease, buy the restaurant outright, or at least get a barrel of ale on the wagon to wash down their fruit and nut mix every so often (heck the employer is a brewer and gives them a years supply of ale as part payment)
- Social impact, as above but in general the good jobs go to the respectable groups who are seen in the better parts of town, no low lifes who can't/won't afford fresh bread and smell of wood smoke, blood and sweat - food has been a symbol of status in most cultures, cleanliness a bit more hit and miss but still generally a plus "the cost of doing business"
- in a "land of plenty, far from home" the usual fare just won't be available - maybe the locals have never preserved food, there has never been a need, killing animals is frowned on, eating their flesh a taboo - remove all food costs, its EVERYWHERE with new options everyday just by picking it from the trees
- Stick them in Mordor, the water is acrid, the natives eat rot, nothing grows, if when they get out they don't get a tall glass of water, an ale and some fresh food you are looking at some mildly dedicated 'we are not roleplayers/food is not relevant to my character'

if the above doesn't help... you may need to give up, or proceed to using the stick rather than the carrot options:

- Skipping meals with money in your pocket is generally HARD, I'm aware exceptions exist. Stop packing/planning for lunch, keep a $20 on you, see how long the $20 lasts (assuming you have some sort of casual access to buying food around lunchtime). You will find yourself rationallizing spending it fairly quickly come 2pm, or having to stomp down on that rationalizing daily.
- various systems willpower checks are not out of the question, penalties per meal missed, bonuses/autopass for RP reasons (sick grandma, oaths, religious fasting days, 'getting used to it')
- Soft penalties prior to "you take damage" from system mechanics, couple examples - reduced con save by 1 vs ingested poison if you haven't eaten in (period of time), Charisma penalty of 1 (irritable due to lack of food), reduced time to get exhausted from strenuous activity.
- Scurvy, Rickets, iodine deficiency and similar, some light reading will give a list of diet related ailments
- its high summer and the town isn't selling their "generic nourishing preserved food" (or it just isn't available here), that's getting cellared for winter, no its not for sale at any price, we cannot eat gold this winter, we made that mistake 3 years ago, people died. But there is lots of fresh... say, pineapple... sure pineapple, you mentioned gold?
- Famine - any food costs triple, food that will keep costs far more and the town will buy it off of you at a premium/trade larger amounts of perishables



~6400 1/2 lb burgers, assuming similar proportions to the brown bear.
These are hearty adventurers who just slew a Dire Bear, 1 lb patties at least. OM NOM NOM.

[Thrudd]

So if you keep track of eating, you have to keep track of time too?

Absolutely, it is essential. Keeping track of time is important for more than just food, but also just to keep track events in the world as a whole, the age of the characters, down time and healing time, weather and random encounter checks. It is of primary importance in simulating a believable and immersive world.

For food, the characters are expected to purchase rations for their expeditions. They don't need to specify exactly when and how they stop to eat during long travels, just mark down the food that is consumed each day. They can spend time hunting/foraging if they reduce their travel rate, and that is much easier if they have a ranger. I also deduct hp for going hungry and for extended forced marches, because I also treat hp as representing fatigue and exhaustion, among other things (which is why you lose some after a 1 minute battle, even though you weren't seriously wounded).
In town, living expenses covers food, you don't need to specify when you eat or use rations at that time.

[sakuuya]

Absolutely, it is essential. Keeping track if time is important for more than just food, but also just to keep track events in the world as a whole, the age of the characters, down time and healing time, weather and random encounter checks. It is of primary importance in simulating a believable and immersive world.

What about characters going to the bathroom? :smalltongue:

[Thrudd]

What about characters going to the bathroom? :smalltongue:

That is also of essential importance. A proper location must always be selected for characters to relieve themselves. Why do you think the Otyugh is such a dangerous creature? If you don't properly dispose of the character's poo, you're going to get a nasty visitor some night when everyone is trying to rest... ;)

[Feddlefew]

I've been considering implementing a "You ate a tasty meal!" moral bonus in my games. Just a +1 on any roll within the next 24 hours, nothing too fancy. It seemed to work pretty well in my test game and encouraged my players to not subsist on bread and cannibalism. Again.

[kaoskonfety]

There was a Cracked video about this bathroom thing, and I'm sure a few other sources - if your character is shown going to the bathroom (or any other "dead air" task - laundry, bathing, guard duty) something is about to happen - fight scene, overhear vital plot info, toilet monster, BEES!, you missing something at camp cause you are in the woods - something.

Do the PC's go to the bathroom, yes. But it only matters when it adds to the scene. But this has zero impact otherwise and gets glossed past.

Do the PC's eat? Yes, but only when food is an issue does it get discussed as an issue:
i.e: a D&D party will need to be buying food (wealth), carrying the food (weight), creating the food with magic (spell slots) or gathering it (survival skill). In Shadowrun you toss a few bucks a month at the problem and have a semi-stable lifestyle OR you can live out of a box and steal from trash cans OR go native in the wilds... You need to eat and it takes time and money or skill to get food.

Eating will be shown in the context of a feast at a politic discussion, a late night watch change, at the inn - its generally not "what the party is doing" action wise (social checks, exchanging tactical info, resting), but its there.

[obryn]

Now that I think of it, Ryuutama is another game which makes meals - and the quality thereof - a major focus.

Remember, this is the game that advises only a few characters need weapons so the others can buy the really important things - like musical instruments, nice hats, and waterproof bedrolls. :smallcool: It's a neat game.

[TheCountAlucard]

Food and eating can be a great source of fun and opportunity for roleplaying!

When the player characters go to the Demon City and discover that the local cuisine consists of finger-length rice grains that taste of bone marrow, and steaks cut from a chained, regenerating slug-demon, it showcases the alien nature of the realm of demons.

When one of the PCs is a monk who has sworn to abstain from eating meat, how he reacts when his unknowing host serves him vegetables cooked in animal fat says a lot about his character!

Having the satrap of Okeanos offer a player character an alcoholic drink made from fermented coconut milk and snake venom gives insight to the satrap's character.

When a martially-inclined PC decides he wants to bulk up, and a medically-inclined PC prescribes a diet for him to follow to make it easier, that's an interesting interaction.

The PCs puzzling out how best to prepare for a long voyage, including getting sources of fresh fruit and potable water, can be pretty darn evocative, especially when faced with adverse conditions.

That doesn't mean it needs to come up every game session, though; just like other fun sources of roleplaying opportunities, it's a seasoning that can spice up a meal, but can quickly become monotonous if served up at every meal.

[Beta Centauri]

A lot of groups don't even pay attention to hunger, and in those that do, the PCs do the bare minimum of eating, like only eating trail rations once every three days. My characters eat a normal, healthy adventuring diet. It just doesn't happen to get any screen time.


Are there ways to encourage the players to seek out and eat different varieties of food? Not unless they're already interested in doing that. Most games have a lot of other more interesting things for the players to spend their valuable free time interacting with.

[goto124]

I've been considering implementing a "You ate a tasty meal!" moral bonus in my games. Just a +1 on any roll within the next 24 hours, nothing too fancy. It seemed to work pretty well in my test game and encouraged my players to not subsist on bread and cannibalism. Again.

Cannibalism doesn't make tasty meals? :P

[Talakeal]

Youch. I had a DM that was kind of punitive in this manner - I generally didn't start in with the damage until three days of no rations, as I can personally attest (and yes maybe realism isn't proper in RPG's) that I do not end up with a hitpoint of damage or two from fasting for a day. Maybe a penalty on Charisma checks and saves for being hangry, but I'm not so sure I'd go as far as damage until it had been at least a couple of days.

True, not ultra realistic, just simple for ease of play. The official rules in the DMG look to be about the same except it is 1d6 damage every three days + fatigue (fortitude negates), which is a lot more book keeping and slightly redundant imo.

Keep in mind that adventurers typically lead very active lives though. I have heard your average Olympic athlete eats close to 10k calories a day, and in WW2 American soldiers got 5 or 6k calories a day in rations. You might be able to survive for several months if you are a fat sedentary guy, but that is not the norm for an adventurer imo.

Also, HP in D&D supposedly represents morale and fatigue as well as damage, and I certainly start to get grumpy and distracted if I go too long without eating, certainly less than a full day.

[Gritmonger]

True, not ultra realistic, just simple for ease of play. The official rules in the DMG look to be about the same except it is 1d6 damage every three days + fatigue (fortitude negates), which is a lot more book keeping and slightly redundant imo.

Keep in mind that adventurers typically lead very active lives though. I have heard your average Olympic athlete eats close to 10k calories a day, and in WW2 American soldiers got 5 or 6k calories a day in rations. You might be able to survive for several months if you are a fat sedentary guy, but that is not the norm for an adventurer imo.

Also, HP in D&D supposedly represents morale and fatigue as well as damage, and I certainly start to get grumpy and distracted if I go too long without eating, certainly less than a full day.

I could go into how some of my time was spent as an adventurer-equivalent in the army in the field, and even then my appetite was suppressed and I didn't fade after one day of no food - you eventually go off eating rations to the point where you'd rather go hungry than face another "Maple Butt-Cake" or "Tuna With Noodles"

Maybe in the new system disadvantage on Charisma skill checks for being hungry and grouchy, but not HP damage for a single day - that's just a bit too much like Minecraft in early release. Eat a pork-chop to get your health back sort of thing...

[goto124]

Reminder to self: Have Maple Butt-cake in next campaign.

[Gritmonger]

Reminder to self: Have Maple Butt-cake in next campaign.

It was actually "Maple Nut Cake" - but it was always so smashed beyond all recognition as cake that it looked more like a bolus, or worse... hence the name...

[Feddlefew]

Cannibalism doesn't make tasty meals? :P

Not raw it doesn't. :smalltongue:

[Dervag]

No, I would not hit people up for a penalty for one day. One day is missing your meals. It's three days of no water that can kill you, or going several weeks without food...

I'm not sure if people on this board have been hungry. Missing your meals for one day won't stop you from doing anything, but may make you do it less well- thus justifying, say, a -1 penalty.


Personally, I've been through some trauma that essentially put the kibosh on my appetite. I lost like fifty pounds over three months, eating roughly one protein bar a week when I could choke it down but drinking plenty of water.

I lived, and didn't really suffer from malnutrition or the equivalent of daily hit point loss.Losing fifty pounds means you were either heavily overweight before you started losing weight, or that you lost a lot of muscle mass. If you were in good condition before the trauma, you would have been a scarecrow afterwards. It almost has to have had a significant effect on your ability to perform demanding heavy labor (hiking, fighting a battle).

[gom jabbarwocky]

There are only three games I have ever participated in where food and eating was an aspect of roleplaying that actually got any deal of attention.

- A Mage game where one of the PCs' foci was cooking and brewing food or drink to generate effects.
- An Eclipse Phase game where one of the PCs' motivations was, no kidding, "+Haute Nosh." This was both hilarious and awesome.
- A cyberpunk game where the PCs were all living hand-to-mouth in the dystopian future. Where their next meal was coming from and what it was made out of was a significant problem (emphasized by me, the GM) as part of the setting. At one point a PC ended up resorting to eating what amounted to dog food for a week because they spent their food money on guns and ammo instead. This was also hilarious, but in a different way. At least they didn't go for the Soylent Green special.

In all of these cases, the only reason it came up was because the food, the act of eating, or the priority of food and eating informed some aspect of the characters. The mage believed that it was a key function of life, and thus their life magics revolved around it. The EP character lusted for the latest and greatest food because for him, it was the ultimate luxury, and shaped his view of other needs and wants by comparison. In the cyberpunk game, how you prioritize your needs in a world where food is expensive but violence is cheap is both a great motivator and establishes basic stuff about your character.

[kaoskonfety]

Most people I've met have never gone a day between meals aside from voluntarily, let alone suffered any degree of starvation. I personally went from 200lb at 5'11" - to 125lb in 3 months (bad employment situation, student loan expenses, too proud to foodbank yada-yada-yada). My food budget was about $10 a month, mostly knock off ramen, discount bread and vitamins. The occasional donation from friends and their families kept me in enough protein to not suffer serious ill effects.

At 200lb I will admit to having a light gut, I could spare 5-15 pounds, depending on who you ask. At 125 I was *very* lean, but not skeletal. People who knew me could see it, mostly in my face, most other just thought I was lanky naturally.

When you get low enough your body cannibalizes its own tissues, fat, muscle and eventually organ. I'm sure I lost a bit of muscle mass as well as fat, probably did some minor long term damage just due to the sudden loss. Is it of interest to simulate this in our games?

I was functional during this time - miles from happy, constantly hungry, but not bedridden. I tired easily and was moderately lethargic. But I was up and about, social and looking for employment. If my strength was impaired I didn't notice (I helped a couple people move in this timeframe for the promise of pizza and beer and have worked for a freight company - my lift was not impaired enough for me to notice - however my fatigue afterwards was significantly greater).

Do I feel any game system I've seem simulates this correctly with their deprivation rules? No. but you've got to be in a BAD way as a PC for these to apply anyway (a seriously down on its luck ShadowRunner in the big city, a D&D party stuck in Construct/illusion creature dungeon, horrific post apocalyptic future where the land is ash and the rain poison).

Back to the OP - I think I have to stick with/get in line with "encourage the roleplay you want to see on this end". If they do not bite at prompting its because it doesn't interest, if they are pointing at the mechanics and saying "this is how much I eat", well, that probably the extent of their interest. Forcing it will make them unhappy, which will not help.

[Ashtagon]

I'm thinking that PCs declare a standard of living, and pay a quantity each month based on that standard. Then, as long as the party are in an area where they can get supplies and accommodation to match that standard, they get the bonuses that relate to it. In the wild, they must use their carried supplies or forage.

Subsistence: Cumulative -1 per full week on Fort saves to resist disease, on d20 rolls based on Strength of Constitution, and on endurance rolls (e.g., holding breath, drowning distance running/swimming), up to a maximum of -4. This is the level of nutrition provided by the Survival skill. Survival checks made at +5 DC in areas of good natural food sources (deciduous forests and jungles, essentially) can count as standard nutrition. In areas of especially poor natural food sources (sand deserts, tundra), substantial penalties or even flat-out "impossible to forage" may apply.

Standard: One week of this will cure any penalties from subsistence level eating.

Good Food & Housing: +1 on Charisma-based checks when dealing with people who appreciate the value of soap. +1 on Fort saves to resist disease.

Excellent Food & Housing: +2 on Charisma-based checks when dealing with people who appreciate the value of soap. +2 on Fort saves to resist disease.

[Loxagn]

In my experience, the game is easily bogged down by keeping track of every little thing like weight/encumbrance/food/etc. The only cases in which I really pay attention to it are when it adds to the scene, or when it actually represents a significant challenge. Just as an example:

In a recent session of my game, the party was travelling through the mountains on the way to another location. They specifically chose the mountain path because one of the PCs was a yeti, and his hometown was on the way, so they figured why not visit. In celebration of a beloved member of the community coming back home, the locals through a lavish feast in the party's honor. Not strictly necessary, but it was fun to give the party a break from 'The Quest' for a change and show off a little bit of the yetis' culture through their food and traditions at parties.

An earlier session had the party staying at a five-star hotel on an employer's dime. For a group usually used to sleeping in tents, this was kind of a big deal. Food was described in detail, as were the amenities in the penthouse suite, where they were staying. Putting a bunch of country bumpkins in a situation like that was fun for all and it gave the PCs a taste of the high life. That and it was mildly hilarious imagining a fighter attempting to order 'fillit miggnan' whilst having no idea what it is.

Of course, in other situations it may be more in the interest of 'roleplay' to actually be concerned about food. In this example, we had a small group striking out towards a dungeon in a frozen arctic. Food (or lack thereof) was actually a legitimate concern in this case, as was the struggle to find shelter in a hostile environment.

really, it depends on the situation. If it makes the game more fun, then include it. If it doesn't meaningfully add anything to the game other than pointless bookkeeping... don't worry about it.

[D+1]

Most people don't play D&D to play Survivor, Naked and Afraid, or Man Vs Wild. If they did then there are lots of computer games these days that will provide a much more satisfying survival gameplay experiences like The Long Dark, Dying Light, or Don't Starve. Being tasked with the RPG equivalent of maintaining Food and Water health bars drives the great majority of players nuts.

I'd suggest that if you wanted to institute more of it in your game then you need to find a way to make it enjoyable to the players and to their characters benefit. Gain bonuses or special abilities if you eat certain foods and beverages, or for maintaining more than "standard" levels of satisfaction with their edibles. But, again, players typically don't sign on to play that. They mostly sign on to be Big Damn Heroes who kill things and take their stuff and you're lucky if that extends as low as tracking ammunition, much less tracking WHAT KIND of food their PC's are eating at every one of their 3 daily meals.

[Feddlefew]

Every group I've played with* has had one or two gourmands, so a significant part of mid-adventure downtime has always involved the party figuring out what they're going to eat. It just isn't rest time without that discussion. :smallfrown:


*During a campaign. We've ignored food and encumbrance during oneshots.

[GungHo]

I usually only do it as a plot device. I will dig into it if someone wants to be a gourmand. I did run a whole campaign, which I've spoken about previously, which was essentially an Iron Chef competition that had elements of the Amazing Race, where the party would go to exotic locales of the world and hunt for rare meats, spices, and other ingredients. It ended up being a rather high-stakes game, as some of the tasters were royalty, critical failures weren't always communicated, and the Chairman was also the High Executioner.

[valadil]

I'm not interested in simulating the experience of going to a restaurant. That's something I can do in real life. I don't want to spend game time on something so mundane. If the GM really wants to include this, just hit me with a time and gold tax every so often.

Despite that attitude I have actually worked meals in the system I'm writing. The game is based on spending a pool of points to make stuff happen. Points refresh after a night's sleep or a meal. The number of meals you can consume per day might be modifiable with advantages (most races could do "fast metabolism" to get an extra meal, but halflings will get a fifth meal slot if they buy "elevensies.").

[goto124]

I'm not interested in simulating the experience of going to a restaurant.

I would if there's dire bear and owlbear meat. And no waiting for the food to come either! :smalltongue:

I get your point though.

[HoarsHalberd]

I could go into how some of my time was spent as an adventurer-equivalent in the army in the field, and even then my appetite was suppressed and I didn't fade after one day of no food - you eventually go off eating rations to the point where you'd rather go hungry than face another "Maple Butt-Cake" or "Tuna With Noodles"

Maybe in the new system disadvantage on Charisma skill checks for being hungry and grouchy, but not HP damage for a single day - that's just a bit too much like Minecraft in early release. Eat a pork-chop to get your health back sort of thing...

Well don't forget most people don't rp HP as pure meat damage. When it's a mixture of luck, damage minimisation and meat, it makes sense. Your reaction time definitely suffers when you don't eat for a day, so rolling with the punches, or dodging the worst of a swing might be impeded. But I don't know by how much, you've definitely got the experience on me there. When I've had to fast, I've never had to do exercise at the same time.

[Blackhawk748]

Well i do a lot of weekend Larping and i can say that i eat more than i usually do while adventuring, and thats NERO where its all light touch.

As for if we do it. Ya, i have a Paladin right now who has two goats with him so he can make goat cheese as we adventure, the Sorcerer has Profession: Cook, and the other Paladin has Profession: Brewer, so food is a part of our game. Its usually just describing what we're eating and is generally hand waived when we are in town, we pay for food, we eat food, we move on.

[Tiri]

My DM usually tells us how long we've gone without food if we've been, say, stuck in a cave with no supplies for a significant amount of time. It helps us to roleplay eating ravenously once we escape. Once we had to eat raw crabs after escaping through an underground river from a cave with a blocked entrance and a large number of monsters in it. Then the fighter's player broke the suspension of disbelief when he refused to eat anything until a hot dog and some French fries appeared out of thin air on the beach.

[Arcades]

My group roleplays the needing to eat, even though we're actually a very light RP group.

We think it offers quite a bit of RP hints, like rations management, hunting sessions and things like "do we really want to eat in that shady tavern?". It also is something different from equipment on which PC are willing to spend gold on.

I actually can't remember a single time we had used penalty linked to hunger. All our characters are so paranoid they won't leave town without five days of rations, and we always have something or someone that can provide them through magic.
For example my changeling warshaper used a combination of prestidigitation ring+everfull mug(s)+ rations (and create food from the cleric) to keep the party happy and well fed.

Also, druid or cleric casting "purify food an water" daily is an excellent refrigerator.

[elliott20]

Torch Bearer (http://www.torchbearerrpg.com/) is a dungeon crawling game that actually does track stuff like this. It's basically a game built to be the ultimate "dungeon crawling" experience.

And a big part of that is tracking hunger and thirst. The way it works in this game, IIRC (so don't jump down my throat if I get it wrong), is that you have a hunger metric. And once you're past a certain point in hunger, every time skip forward will impose ANOTHER penalty on your actions until you're basically useless.

The game basically turns into a massive resource management game.