Fearfrost
Sergeant
518 Posts
    
 | | 05/16/2006 11:25 PM |
| Do those of you who DM kepp track of food or water on a regular basis or do you assume that the PCs have enough for the adventure they are on? I was just wondering because my last group we pretty much ignored it unless it was an essential plot point (ie in the desert).
Would you be adverse to giving your players magic items to avoid food/water issues. I saw in the mini handbook a field provision box that could be used as a reward(or bought) for a party to allow them to avoid worring about food. would you allow such an item? | |
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Kiddoc
Underboss
1797 Posts
| | 05/16/2006 11:35 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Fearfrost
Do those of you who DM kepp track of food or water on a regular basis or do you assume that the PCs have enough for the adventure they are on? I was just wondering because my last group we pretty much ignored it unless it was an essential plot point (ie in the desert).
Would you be adverse to giving your players magic items to avoid food/water issues. I saw in the mini handbook a field provision box that could be used as a reward(or bought) for a party to allow them to avoid worring about food. would you allow such an item?
This is just a "personal" opinion. I feel that micromanagement of some things in the game is just uninteresting and unappealing to me. At the lower levels it can be really critical, but I trust my players to keep track of it. Still, I don't put heavy emphasis on it. I don't make sure their characters bathe, or use the bathroom, or clip their fingernails. Food is important, but not to the D&D mechanics for me except in very special circumstances.
There's a lot of fun to be had in the game. Managing dietary and basic hygeine concerns just isn't my cup of tea. I know some folks are big on it, but I don't give it more than a cursory treatment. | |
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Zenako
Commander
3468 Posts
| | 05/16/2006 11:37 PM |
| | Depending on the character level might keep track (low levels perhaps) but it is usually just assumed. Clerics can Create more than enough water via spell if needed, and that is what people really need to survive for a while. They can get by with little to no food for quite a while if truely needed. IF the characters are in a foreign environment and have limited supplies to start with, it might be fun to roleplay out a little while, but once they figure out what they can eat (if anything) then it becomes tedious. (kind of like worrying about passing that same food somewhere...) Yah it happens, but it is not necessary to know about it for the game. | |
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IanB
Commander
3112 Posts
| | 05/16/2006 11:39 PM |
| | Typically only if it is relevant to the theme of a given adventure - for an adventure where they have to cross the desert or something, I think making them worry about their food and water is appropriate, for example. | |
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scruffydude7
Underboss
1196 Posts
Rock Hill, SC
| | 05/16/2006 11:58 PM |
| Usually, I don't require my players to keep track of it. In most cases it is assumed that it is taken care of.
In the instance of an extensive dungeon crawl or long trip, I might make an exception, but only when it would be a serious problem that the players would have to deal with.
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Shoe
Sergeant
804 Posts
| | 05/17/2006 12:07 AM |
| I also don't track it.
I used to, once upon a time.
Then I shifted to some "cost-of-living" optional rule in one of the many books I have, where each PC could just choose how much they'd like to live it up, and deduct some amount each "month" for such expenses.
Then I decided it wasn't worth tracking. The fun part of the game is the interesting NPC interactions and action encounters, so now I don't even worry about it.
Basically - what kiddoc said, I agree with. He smart. S M R T smart! (and his psych degree is much more advanced than mine.) | |
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2004 D&D Miniatures Champion
Kiddoc
Underboss
1797 Posts
| | 05/17/2006 12:12 AM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Shoe
(and his psych degree is much more advanced than mine.)
Yes, my psych-fu is strong. But Shoe's DM-fu is stronger still. He has many, many moons (we won't say HOW many) of experience under his belt, I am but a novice. When we agree, you might be on to something. :P It's a pain in the butt. As a DM, there are often better things to spend time on. | |
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kestrel.ca
Underboss
1678 Posts
| | 05/17/2006 1:03 AM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Shoe
I also don't track it.
Then I shifted to some "cost-of-living" optional rule in one of the many books I have, where each PC could just choose how much they'd like to live it up, and deduct some amount each "month" for such expenses.
I don't track but have at times used the cost-of-living rule (from Living Greyhawk campaigns I think) but after they reach mid-levels, it's such a minor cost that it's not worth worrying about. | |
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Feathers
Underboss
1140 Posts
| | 05/17/2006 1:25 AM |
| I tend not to track it, but I regret not doing so whenever a player character decides to declare that he is hunting for food in a session. At that point, what is the point of hunting if everyone is magically nourished every day at no cost whatsoever to anyone.
Anytime my party ventures into a city, I have them pay a modest per diem to simulate the costs of room and board.
Otherwise, I don't deal with it or just have the ranger make a survival check. As a character, sometimes I have like a day or two's worth of rations, but never mark it off. Eh. Just legacy from the time when I first learned to play some 23 years ago when we cared about the minutae more than we do now. | |
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Bert the Troll
Commander
3858 Posts
Adelaide
| | 05/17/2006 1:54 AM |
| I use rations and the like when it might matter. Extended dungeon delves, desert crossings.
Early in low level campigns when I want to make every silver piece count like a hoard of treasure.
Most of the time, I assume mudane equipment like clothes, staples, brushes, etc are part of a adventurers/travelling kit.
If they are caught flat footed, or the like I'll use a random roll to determine how much food/water/supplies they have left.
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Thenameless
Warlord
9044 Posts
The Fortress of Solitude
| | 05/17/2006 2:54 AM |
| | Our DM generally does not keep track of food and water. The exception would be a situation that explicitly calls for it, such as being trapped in an area where these resources cannot be restocked. | |
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dagonet
Sergeant
442 Posts
| | 05/17/2006 2:55 AM |
| I actually went to the trouble of working up foraging rules for my homebrew--simple, elegant rules which cover pretty much every possible environment. And of course they rarely get used, except for (as has already been said) extended dungeon crawls, desert exploration, and "we're trapped in a dreamscape" adventures.
Having said that, I've had great fun in the past cursing characters' rations, so that they provide some minor penalty (usually to speed), and can only be gotten rid of by being eaten (which imposes a moderate, but temporary penalty). Or uncursed, but that's an ability very few PC's have, and no one wants to spend money to have someone uncurse their food. [:p] | |
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ilarue
Underboss
1259 Posts
| | 05/17/2006 9:27 AM |
| | If it doesn't count more then 10gp I usually don't care about it. Early on my PCs might not have tons of money, but after a couple of sessions they have more then enough to support their character's life styles. | |
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nyjastul69
Commander
2710 Posts
Rhode Island
| | 05/17/2006 9:35 AM |
| | I handle it the way most others have suggested. It only comes into play at early levels or in certain circumstances as noted by others above. | |
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notserious
Sneak
117 Posts
| | 05/17/2006 10:03 AM |
| | I have to admit, I am a mean, stingy DM who loves to humble his PC's every now and then - makes the heroic moments all the more grand, in my opinion. And, sometimes (but only sometimes), being brought low by the mundane is much more humbling than being the victim of a demon-prince smackdown. For that reason, I like having an idea of the PC's provisions. To avoid the bookkeeping headaches, I just ask PC's to decide what their "routine provisions" are and add that to the monthly upkeep cost and assume that is their usual encumberance load etc. then, I just figure out their situation if I realize it may be an issue (loss of packs, many more days w/o a pit stop, etc.) That way, I don't have to tip my hand about upcoming surprises by saying things like "so how much food are you packing for this short, innocuous trip?", or "how much rope are you bringin into the dungeon today?" But overall, I agree, making it a running concern gets old and bogged down real fast. | |
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FeranEldritchKnight
Sergeant
385 Posts
Kansas City, MO USA
| | 05/17/2006 10:19 AM |
| | It's more fun roleplaying NOT eating. I have a monk with the Vow of Poverty who doesn't need to eat or drink any longer. I love being invited to some dinner conversation, where I am promptly offered a meal. I just look sad and say "no thank you". This is when the NPC comedy relief points at me and talks about how weird I am. | |
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TemplarSaint
Sneak
157 Posts
| | 05/17/2006 11:41 PM |
| My group does not track food unless the terrain is particularly harsh or the adventure very long. We did get stuck in some nasty dreamscape once in which a magical spoon named Prudhomme became an item of great contention within the party (we were also kind of crazy at the time).
Oddly, my group is very concerned about hygiene. Whenever we get back to an inn after an adventure, at least half the group wants to grab a bath right away (and no, not together). One player even makes a ring of dice to represent a bath and places the minis in to show who's getting a bath at a given time. | |
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ickthegreat
Warrior
291 Posts
| | 05/17/2006 11:56 PM |
| | I do fore a couple of levels, then it just is not worth it. Espillay with magic from a cleric and cerntin magic items. | |
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kyrin
Commander
3152 Posts
| | 05/18/2006 12:45 AM |
| I usually just have them provision before heading away from civilization. But as others have pointed out, at mid-to-high levels it is such a miniscule expense that we usually stop worrying.
Oddly enough, I have had no less that TWO campaigns where the party thief was "disguised" as the party's cook. I remember one particular proclamation as we were provisioning. The "cook" came up with this huge list of supplies and said:
"This is the absolute minimum we have to take... if we want to eat well."
We had to pause the game for a laugh break.
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Dragon Snack
Warrior
285 Posts
| | 05/18/2006 1:15 AM |
| It's not the cost, it's the encumbrance...
I used to make my players keep track of it, but they rebelled (one player said his charcter was not eating - no game mechanics cover that...).
In my current campaign I left everything up to the players to decide and (of course) they declined to keep track of rations. That was at first level. Now one player has a Ranger cohort who forages for food and the party bought one of those Field Provision Boxes mentioned above.
So in an odd way, we apparently do keep track of rations. | |
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Malin Lug
Sergeant
742 Posts
| | 05/18/2006 12:12 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Dragon Snack
It's not the cost, it's the encumbrance...
I used to make my players keep track of it, but they rebelled (one player said his charcter was not eating - no game mechanics cover that...).
Actually there are rules on starvation in the DMG.
As the general community is saying... it is only important to keep track of when the situation could get critical. Once you have a high enough level cleric, it is rather pointless as long as said cleric uses a spell slot for "create food and water."
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Dragon Snack
Warrior
285 Posts
| | 05/18/2006 12:53 PM |
| You are correct, I remember now.
What he did was say his character only ate every 3 days, since the game mechanics don't cover not eating until then. "Growing discomfort" is not a game mechanic... | |
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Grim
Sergeant
482 Posts
| | 05/18/2006 3:29 PM |
| | we pretty much handwave this unless it is plot or environment specific. Where I do get involved is light sources if the party is underground for some time. | |
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zenthrus
Commander
4836 Posts
SLC, UT
| | 05/18/2006 3:45 PM |
| Light sources are MUCH more important than food. I'm pretty harsh about provision for the first two or three levels (money and encumbrance really matter at that point) OR in particularly harsh environments.
Aside from that...between Heward's Handy Havers and Rings of Sustenance food issues basically NEVER come up in my campaigns. Even at low levels it's more along the lines of...
DM: "What do you do before leaving?"
PC#1: "I buy two weeks supply of rations for the entire party."
PC#2: "I buy two weeks supply of rations for the entire party."
PC#3: "I gamble and fritter away my money in the red lantern district." | |
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Count Dooku
Commander
4636 Posts
New York
| | 05/18/2006 4:05 PM |
| quote:
I tend not to track it, but I regret not doing so whenever a player character decides to declare that he is hunting for food in a session. At that point, what is the point of hunting if everyone is magically nourished every day at no cost whatsoever to anyone.
The point is good role-playing.
Give them an exp point or two for using their skills.
As far as the nurishment part. Just assume they have hard tack and lamnas bread but the hunting is purly to have a better tasting meal.
I dont use water and food either unless they are in the desert or underground ect. | |
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