I'm an old school 2nd edition player for many years and over the last 2 years started getting back into D&D 5e (btw its amazing). I've taken on the role as the DM instead of player which I do enjoy a lot but still learning so much and how to run a successful table. I never did rations when I was a player (or ammo for arrows) but I'm thinking about making my party keep track of rations for a few reasons. I wanted to list those out but get feedback on others takes and tips on using vs not using rations.
Reason I like using them:
Makes it feel more involved for survival
Helps players use money they are sitting on for no reason
Requires them to think about things outside of combat and the next fight
Hopefully makes them need to find local settlements and venture into side quests
Reason I don't like using them:
I forget to track days in game
I forget to make them 'use' it
It doesn't feel like it costs a lot to buy - so does it really affect economy
If I'm not tracking player weight/they could buy '100' rations and be good?
Your 'against' arguments are a lot more convincing than your 'for' arguments. In general I only recommend tracking rations if the PCs are in a situation where running out is a legitimate concern -- generally multi-day treks through wilderness with risks of getting lost or being substantially delayed by weather.
IMO the easiest way to track rations is to force the party to use them whenever they take a long rest. They won't really be a drain on money unless your game involves a lot of travelling long distances, so e.g. if they need to travel for 2 months with a cart & horses to reach a quest location that becomes a significant cost in terms of gold.
When in towns and cities I rarely utilise rations. After all food nearby would be easy enough to come by. However, when out and about, definitely.
I agree that it forces players with just a common backpack to make some decisions on what to take vs what to leave for a longer journey, and survival checks can be unreliable for gathering food. However, the spell Goodberry basically eliminates any need to utilise rations or do survival checks to forage or hunt for food.
Totally agree that it gives another use for money that players sit on, but if you're doing that are you also deducting their daily lifestyle costs? I tend to rule it that if you are used to a comfortable lifestyle your character isn't going to be satisfied with basic rations and thus is going to go after more exotic. The lifestyle expenses often get overlooked when players are resting at inns and the like. So working in a desire for 'higher quality' or higher quantity in line with the player lifestyle expenses can aid this helping of players to use money.
Players thinking about things outside of combat - and this is just my experience - is going to heavily rely on their disposition. Some players just want hack and slash. They absolutely just want to get into combat and don't think about much else. Others will love the out of combat exploration, still more the survival-y aspect of tracking their components, money, weight, and rations. I don't think it gets a universal response from all players.
Finding local settlements or running into side quests is a really cool thought I'd not considered before. I'm actually planning a campaign that revolves largely around one city and one region as a contrast to the large expansive world exploration campaigns I'm currently running. It occurs following on from what you said that it could almost 'force' downtime. A DM almost has to build in time to restock ammo, restock rations, and the like. This then pushes the player characters in directions where they might encounter side quests they otherwise wouldn't...which I love as an idea.
Am totally with you on in game days - however - I am now using Owlbear Rodeo and Kanka.io as DM tools for both online and in person games. Owlbear has a great time and calendar plugin that makes it so much easier to keep track of days and hours passing. I highly recommend just finding a tool that works for you. It might be as simple as having a checklist on your DM screen.
Speaking of checklists, I have a checklist for Long and Short rests to ensure I remember to remind players of the following things: - Advance Time in notes - Random d100 roll for a random interuption or encounter during the rest - encounter on a 5, interuption on a 60-65. - If LR - Prepared casters, don't forget to reprep your spell lists - Does anyone want to attune, unattune, or identify magic items? - Anyone not taking a rest do you want to work on a project, explore, or keep watch? - If LR mark a ration off your character sheets (unless goodberry), or roll survival to see if you can forage enough food. - Let's check in - what abilities or spells have now worn off?
That little checklist really helped me. It can make things a bit robotic, but having seen how often prepared casters forget to reprep spell lists....it's been worth it I think.
See my point above about lifestyle costs. And don't forget the prices are a guide. If your player characters enter a settlement where the population are just living on the breadline - they're going to want to make a profit from the adventurers. If the settlement is the only settlement for days around, the population have the advantage of being the only choice - jack up the prices - think how expensive stuff can be in remote parts of alaska where goods must be flown in all the time. Don't alway utilise the guide prices in the books, fluctuate them. If the party are on good terms with the merchant perhaps they get a fair price...if not perhaps there is a greater profit margin. Is there a sales tax or out-of-towner's charge...loads of mechanics for really making the world's economy feel alive.
Personally, I can't ever really see the reason not to track weights and encumberances. 5e is such an easy system to begin with, weight is one of the few ways to give player characters meaningful choices. This is where something like the DDB character sheet really shines. It makes traking weight so very easy for player and DM.
My view is that rations are a really useful tool in providing challenge to the player characters - however I really wish that Goodberry was a slightly higher level spell and that rangers didn't have access to it as that spell effectively makes rations pointless if there is a druid, and given the survival competence of Rangers doubly useless.
well if you don't use rations you'd get very hungr- oh, i get it
Ahem, uh, I'd say it depends pretty heavily on what kind of game you're running. In a game with a lot of wilderness survival where finding opportunities to acquire rations may be an objective in itself, definitely track it. Maybe even make it more complex. In a game where rations would be easy to come by if you did track them and are functionally just a little number that they have to keep changing, your first "for" reason becomes irrelevant and there may be better ways to accomplish the next three.
There are probably some edge cases in there, but basically things like this are design decisions specific to your game.
session zero issue. suggest to the players that their characters will feel more alive if they think about food a plausible amount of the time. it helps if the dm describes where the sun is any time they're describing a new place (that isn't a cave). sun is always getting into the eyes of people who fail perception checks or warming your helmet from above or illuminating macguffins in failing orange light. you might occasionally tack on that the players can't remember the last time they ate, whether or not it's a good time to stop. sometimes the best time to mention a short rest is when there's no time to take one. or if the players aren't in a chase-scene hurry, then this might lead to what feels like too many short rests. but, so what? sometimes cozy-core d&d can really set the stage for those desperate all nighter fights where sanctuary is scarce and tensions are just that much higher.
and you shouldn't have to remind everyone to eat if they're in tune with their characters. a noble might complain about having no time for a hot meal or wish to hit up every fest hall, street vendor, and prosperous farmhouse. while a former noble might splurge on extra salt and spices in town so that every bland, hurried, lonely meal they have on the trail is just a little more grand. or maybe the veteran soldier snacks on rations every time she's not actively speaking and thereby must stock up regularly to avoid the irritation of running out. the world can feel really lived in when you let it and it doesn't require a 'everyone check off one ration' attitude. in fact, the whole thing could be narrative rather than tracked in burdens or coins. figure out your sweet spot. meals should be a shared experience, not a curse.
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unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: providefeedback!
I stick to using Lifestyle Expenses for times when characters are in a safe and supplied space. I have them track food, water, ammunition, and other consumables while the are on the road. It's a minor drain on their gold but let's characters with skills/spells/items that make foraging fun. I protect those abilities for characters that are into hunting vs eating dried tack.
For my table I run it as situational as to whether it matters if they are actively tracked or not.
When the party is traveling in explored, inhabited areas and environments they are native to or familiar with (effectively anywhere between Neverwinter and Baldurs Gate along the Trade Way) we don't bother. Those areas there are going to be enough small towns and villages, merchants, traders, other travelers, etc, for them to pick up some if they need to along the way. Plus they are all experienced travelers and adventurers, so all would know basics of hunting and trapping and foraging, plus they have a ranger, a druid and a cleric whose background is very specifically built around growing up and living self sufficiently in the wilds, so they'd have little problem living off the land if needed.
When we do start tracking and making it matter is when they go in to environs where they couldn't realistically be doing that, i.e. extended journeys in to the underdark, traveling through mountains or frozen wastelands, trips to other planes different enough from our own, or that wouldn't have those things at all for them to rely on. It adds a bit extra flavor of realism as well as differentness to their regular travels that makes those adventures that much more fun.
In every game I play I track things like that. Food daily costs and weight/space. For me as a player it makes things seem more 'real'.
My other players sometimes do not understand why i do it but they eventually start doing it themselves. I do not know why but they do.
Plus it forces me to cut down to just the necessities. I like running light and fast. Plus by hiding my things in several locations there is far less of a chance of me being robbed of everything all at once. I could die and have all I carry stolen. Later my party might be able to bring me back. I could then at least have a few things and some cash to restart with. Or I can leave some to a relative.(Me) I also change all my cash, except for a weeks worth, for gems. Small and easily portable.
It has NEVER slowed down the game. I also do not actively track things round by round arrow by arrow. I wait until after the battle then over estimate.
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Hello All,
I'm an old school 2nd edition player for many years and over the last 2 years started getting back into D&D 5e (btw its amazing). I've taken on the role as the DM instead of player which I do enjoy a lot but still learning so much and how to run a successful table. I never did rations when I was a player (or ammo for arrows) but I'm thinking about making my party keep track of rations for a few reasons. I wanted to list those out but get feedback on others takes and tips on using vs not using rations.
Reason I like using them:
Reason I don't like using them:
Your 'against' arguments are a lot more convincing than your 'for' arguments. In general I only recommend tracking rations if the PCs are in a situation where running out is a legitimate concern -- generally multi-day treks through wilderness with risks of getting lost or being substantially delayed by weather.
IMO the easiest way to track rations is to force the party to use them whenever they take a long rest. They won't really be a drain on money unless your game involves a lot of travelling long distances, so e.g. if they need to travel for 2 months with a cart & horses to reach a quest location that becomes a significant cost in terms of gold.
When in towns and cities I rarely utilise rations. After all food nearby would be easy enough to come by. However, when out and about, definitely.
I agree that it forces players with just a common backpack to make some decisions on what to take vs what to leave for a longer journey, and survival checks can be unreliable for gathering food. However, the spell Goodberry basically eliminates any need to utilise rations or do survival checks to forage or hunt for food.
Totally agree that it gives another use for money that players sit on, but if you're doing that are you also deducting their daily lifestyle costs? I tend to rule it that if you are used to a comfortable lifestyle your character isn't going to be satisfied with basic rations and thus is going to go after more exotic. The lifestyle expenses often get overlooked when players are resting at inns and the like. So working in a desire for 'higher quality' or higher quantity in line with the player lifestyle expenses can aid this helping of players to use money.
Players thinking about things outside of combat - and this is just my experience - is going to heavily rely on their disposition. Some players just want hack and slash. They absolutely just want to get into combat and don't think about much else. Others will love the out of combat exploration, still more the survival-y aspect of tracking their components, money, weight, and rations. I don't think it gets a universal response from all players.
Finding local settlements or running into side quests is a really cool thought I'd not considered before. I'm actually planning a campaign that revolves largely around one city and one region as a contrast to the large expansive world exploration campaigns I'm currently running. It occurs following on from what you said that it could almost 'force' downtime. A DM almost has to build in time to restock ammo, restock rations, and the like. This then pushes the player characters in directions where they might encounter side quests they otherwise wouldn't...which I love as an idea.
Am totally with you on in game days - however - I am now using Owlbear Rodeo and Kanka.io as DM tools for both online and in person games. Owlbear has a great time and calendar plugin that makes it so much easier to keep track of days and hours passing. I highly recommend just finding a tool that works for you. It might be as simple as having a checklist on your DM screen.
Speaking of checklists, I have a checklist for Long and Short rests to ensure I remember to remind players of the following things:
- Advance Time in notes
- Random d100 roll for a random interuption or encounter during the rest - encounter on a 5, interuption on a 60-65.
- If LR - Prepared casters, don't forget to reprep your spell lists
- Does anyone want to attune, unattune, or identify magic items?
- Anyone not taking a rest do you want to work on a project, explore, or keep watch?
- If LR mark a ration off your character sheets (unless goodberry), or roll survival to see if you can forage enough food.
- Let's check in - what abilities or spells have now worn off?
That little checklist really helped me. It can make things a bit robotic, but having seen how often prepared casters forget to reprep spell lists....it's been worth it I think.
See my point above about lifestyle costs. And don't forget the prices are a guide. If your player characters enter a settlement where the population are just living on the breadline - they're going to want to make a profit from the adventurers. If the settlement is the only settlement for days around, the population have the advantage of being the only choice - jack up the prices - think how expensive stuff can be in remote parts of alaska where goods must be flown in all the time. Don't alway utilise the guide prices in the books, fluctuate them. If the party are on good terms with the merchant perhaps they get a fair price...if not perhaps there is a greater profit margin. Is there a sales tax or out-of-towner's charge...loads of mechanics for really making the world's economy feel alive.
Personally, I can't ever really see the reason not to track weights and encumberances. 5e is such an easy system to begin with, weight is one of the few ways to give player characters meaningful choices. This is where something like the DDB character sheet really shines. It makes traking weight so very easy for player and DM.
My view is that rations are a really useful tool in providing challenge to the player characters - however I really wish that Goodberry was a slightly higher level spell and that rangers didn't have access to it as that spell effectively makes rations pointless if there is a druid, and given the survival competence of Rangers doubly useless.
DM session planning template - My version of maps for 'Lost Mine of Phandelver' - Send your party to The Circus - Other DM Resources - Maps, Tokens, Quests - 'Better' Player Character Injury Tables?
Actor, Writer, Director & Teacher by day - GM/DM in my off hours.
well if you don't use rations you'd get very hungr- oh, i get it
Ahem, uh, I'd say it depends pretty heavily on what kind of game you're running. In a game with a lot of wilderness survival where finding opportunities to acquire rations may be an objective in itself, definitely track it. Maybe even make it more complex. In a game where rations would be easy to come by if you did track them and are functionally just a little number that they have to keep changing, your first "for" reason becomes irrelevant and there may be better ways to accomplish the next three.
There are probably some edge cases in there, but basically things like this are design decisions specific to your game.
Medium humanoid (human), lawful neutral
session zero issue. suggest to the players that their characters will feel more alive if they think about food a plausible amount of the time. it helps if the dm describes where the sun is any time they're describing a new place (that isn't a cave). sun is always getting into the eyes of people who fail perception checks or warming your helmet from above or illuminating macguffins in failing orange light. you might occasionally tack on that the players can't remember the last time they ate, whether or not it's a good time to stop. sometimes the best time to mention a short rest is when there's no time to take one. or if the players aren't in a chase-scene hurry, then this might lead to what feels like too many short rests. but, so what? sometimes cozy-core d&d can really set the stage for those desperate all nighter fights where sanctuary is scarce and tensions are just that much higher.
and you shouldn't have to remind everyone to eat if they're in tune with their characters. a noble might complain about having no time for a hot meal or wish to hit up every fest hall, street vendor, and prosperous farmhouse. while a former noble might splurge on extra salt and spices in town so that every bland, hurried, lonely meal they have on the trail is just a little more grand. or maybe the veteran soldier snacks on rations every time she's not actively speaking and thereby must stock up regularly to avoid the irritation of running out. the world can feel really lived in when you let it and it doesn't require a 'everyone check off one ration' attitude. in fact, the whole thing could be narrative rather than tracked in burdens or coins. figure out your sweet spot. meals should be a shared experience, not a curse.
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
I stick to using Lifestyle Expenses for times when characters are in a safe and supplied space. I have them track food, water, ammunition, and other consumables while the are on the road. It's a minor drain on their gold but let's characters with skills/spells/items that make foraging fun. I protect those abilities for characters that are into hunting vs eating dried tack.
For my table I run it as situational as to whether it matters if they are actively tracked or not.
When the party is traveling in explored, inhabited areas and environments they are native to or familiar with (effectively anywhere between Neverwinter and Baldurs Gate along the Trade Way) we don't bother. Those areas there are going to be enough small towns and villages, merchants, traders, other travelers, etc, for them to pick up some if they need to along the way. Plus they are all experienced travelers and adventurers, so all would know basics of hunting and trapping and foraging, plus they have a ranger, a druid and a cleric whose background is very specifically built around growing up and living self sufficiently in the wilds, so they'd have little problem living off the land if needed.
When we do start tracking and making it matter is when they go in to environs where they couldn't realistically be doing that, i.e. extended journeys in to the underdark, traveling through mountains or frozen wastelands, trips to other planes different enough from our own, or that wouldn't have those things at all for them to rely on. It adds a bit extra flavor of realism as well as differentness to their regular travels that makes those adventures that much more fun.
In every game I play I track things like that. Food daily costs and weight/space. For me as a player it makes things seem more 'real'.
My other players sometimes do not understand why i do it but they eventually start doing it themselves. I do not know why but they do.
Plus it forces me to cut down to just the necessities. I like running light and fast. Plus by hiding my things in several locations there is far less of a chance of me being robbed of everything all at once. I could die and have all I carry stolen. Later my party might be able to bring me back. I could then at least have a few things and some cash to restart with. Or I can leave some to a relative.(Me)
I also change all my cash, except for a weeks worth, for gems. Small and easily portable.
It has NEVER slowed down the game. I also do not actively track things round by round arrow by arrow. I wait until after the battle then over estimate.