It would be more legal if D6D could implement a""caducity date"" over the buyed rations. Or, in example, how the rations are affected by the environments inclemencies. I mean, if it's raining and you keep your rations on a backpack, it's obvious those rations won't be as much affected by such raining, or wind, or anything not normal. Although, if the character goes to a Plane of Fire ( like Vulkania ), I think the food rations gonna be affected by the ""overheat"" more often. So it means, the caducity date gonna be altered by such hard climate.
Oh, I'm aware. My Bard has that background. We're gonna see how much good it does in Hell.
I have a Rogue with it. Whenever he's feeling unappreciated by the rest of the party, he makes a point of bringing down a quail or something in a very obvious manner
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
To the original question, I guess what I'd say is that rations are the Specific that beats the General. You don't have to only eat rations, and if you can avoid it, you should, because they weigh twice as much as less shelf-stable food. You can say it's the packaging if you want but I think that'll result in players trying to remove or replace said packaging, and that's just a mess.
In other words, you usually need 1 pound of food, but with rations you need 2.
It would be more legal if D6D could implement a""caducity date"" over the buyed rations. Or, in example, how the rations are affected by the environments inclemencies. I mean, if it's raining and you keep your rations on a backpack, it's obvious those rations won't be as much affected by such raining, or wind, or anything not normal. Although, if the character goes to a Plane of Fire ( like Vulkania ), I think the food rations gonna be affected by the ""overheat"" more often. So it means, the caducity date gonna be altered by such hard climate.
I wouldn't bother with expiration in general, but I do enjoy situational expiration. A mummy's lair, for example, will cause food to spoil super quickly. That's in its stats! That's the kind of thing where, even if it doesn't end up making things harder for the players, it communicates a tone really well. It went over well at my table.
I'd have hot and cold places threaten your water (evaporation or freezing, respectively), wet places threaten your food (with mold!), and dusty places threaten both. Use sparingly unless you're doing a big survivalist sort of thing.
That can add more depth to players' pathfinding decisions. We could go straight to the dragon's cave, but we'd have to cross the swamp and risk our food going bad. That's potentially 2 levels of exhaustion by the time we reach the cave. Is that an acceptable risk? Maybe instead we should go around, through this area labeled "giant wasp city, population 700,000,000"?
What if there is no packaging and a day's worth of rations just weigh two pounds even though an adventurer can survive on one pound of food per day? Maybe rations represent three hearty meals. If a character came across a starving peasant or something and made the case that they could split a day's rations and both of them could survive on it, then sure I'll play along as DM.
I don't think we really need to reconcile the difference. A day's worth of rations just weighs two pounds.
I always assume that rations are hard biscuits intended to last for a long time, and therefore won't spoil unless immersed in dirty water, or are in a mummy lord's tomb. You could equally imagine them in stoppered bottles (jars of pickled fish etc.) or tins (don't tell me your world has artificers but none of them have invented tins).
My Bard has that background. We're gonna see how much good it does in Hell.
That escalated quickly.
I am now imagining a party based on the Channel 4 News team:
Ron Burgundy would be a wizard, or maybe a Pact of the Chain warlock. He has many leather-bound books and a familiar named Baxter. He's kind of a big deal
Veronica Corningstone is good at three things, and one of them is fighting. She's also a crusader with a noble cause though, so she would be a paladin
Brian Fantana would be a cologne-based Alchemist artificer
Brick Tamland would be a Tempest cleric with INT as his dump stat
Champ Kind would be a... monk, maybe? Seems to prefer unarmed combat
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
We just always assumed a ration and water a day was all someone needed.
We also assumed that a traveling character in a good area could passively find enough food for half a day. Leafy greens along the path and possibly small game.One character actively hunting during their walk can find enough food for a day. But at that point they are not watching for ambushes from bandits or monsters.
For a temperate environment in the summer.
20 road miles a day normal active walking. One ration and water a day.
Less for off road Less for forest. Less for hunting and gathering along the way. Less for bad weather. Less for watching for ambushes. Less for civilian/non adventurers. Less for no food or short rations.
In effect a ration is the fuel you need to go a specific distance. in a specific time.
You can make a nice chart for the whole thing or a mathematical formula but do you really want to get that detailed?
We also assumed that a traveling character in a good area could passively find enough food for half a day. Leafy greens along the path and possibly small game.One character actively hunting during their walk can find enough food for a day. But at that point they are not watching for ambushes from bandits or monsters.
Fairly reasonable but I would only allow it if somebody in the party had survival skill.
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"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
You need to eat 1 lb of food a day. If you sit in a prison cell and eat exactly 1 lb of food each day, you will die in three days from thirst.
One ration weighs 2 lbs, it consists of enough food and water to live for one day.
Note, there is a rule of 3 for survival, most people can survive about:
3 minutes without air
3 hours without shelter
3 days without water
3 weeks without food
Interesting idea. I had always tracked water separately from rations. I had kinda always assumed that 1 lb of rations was the bare minimum necessary to survive, but 2 lbs was enough to not be hungry all the time.
We also assumed that a traveling character in a good area could passively find enough food for half a day. Leafy greens along the path and possibly small game.One character actively hunting during their walk can find enough food for a day. But at that point they are not watching for ambushes from bandits or monsters.
Fairly reasonable but I would only allow it if somebody in the party had survival skill.
This is basically the 2-edged sword of rangers. It’s one of their big things they do, but they’re so good at it you just end up hand waving it, and it feels like they’re not actually doing anything.
Keep in mind how bad all of the wrights are - yes some are fairly accurate but others are way off because they integrate bulk and unwieldyness into weight. Rations may well be one of those. as for the idea that just anyone can find lento of food just walking thru the woods BS that is what the survival skill and the ranger abilities are for. As someone who actually did some survival camping (40 years ago) it isn’t easy and it is time consuming. That and you have to watch out for the carnivores and other omnivores in true wilderness situations - not the same as walking along the roadbed or railroad tracks guzzling blackberries in season.
I have felt for years that one of the major reasons most folks handwave it is because they have no idea what to do or how to describe it. Most folks are not graduates of a military “ snake eater” training program or a wild foods hunter. Even for those of us that have done it if you haven’t in a long while you forget a lot of stuff - I wouldn’t try survival camping again without a 6 month refresh course first in real life.
Honestly for rations I'd assume it boils down to the fact that adventurers lead a high intensity lifestyle. To use another example, the "eat 2000 calories a day" average is for a typical person; a quick search shows that some professional athletes will eat 3 times as many. You're packing extra because you're using more fuel that a typical individual.
I have felt for years that one of the major reasons most folks handwave it is because they have no idea what to do or how to describe it. Most folks are not graduates of a military “ snake eater” training program or a wild foods hunter. Even for those of us that have done it if you haven’t in a long while you forget a lot of stuff - I wouldn’t try survival camping again without a 6 month refresh course first in real life.
Yeah, but the players are just as ignorant, so would it matter? Besides, it doesn’t really need to be “described” so much as acknowledged in a meaningful way. That’d be enough for most tables I’m sure.
I have felt for years that one of the major reasons most folks handwave it is because they have no idea what to do or how to describe it. Most folks are not graduates of a military “ snake eater” training program or a wild foods hunter. Even for those of us that have done it if you haven’t in a long while you forget a lot of stuff - I wouldn’t try survival camping again without a 6 month refresh course first in real life.
I agree! While it's true that our version exists in a fantasy world where anything is possible, one still wants to have these things grounded in reality.
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It would be more legal if D6D could implement a""caducity date"" over the buyed rations. Or, in example, how the rations are affected by the environments inclemencies. I mean, if it's raining and you keep your rations on a backpack, it's obvious those rations won't be as much affected by such raining, or wind, or anything not normal. Although, if the character goes to a Plane of Fire ( like Vulkania ), I think the food rations gonna be affected by the ""overheat"" more often. So it means, the caducity date gonna be altered by such hard climate.
My Ready-to-rock&roll chars:
Dertinus Tristany // Amilcar Barca // Vicenç Sacrarius // Oriol Deulofeu // Grovtuk
I have a Rogue with it. Whenever he's feeling unappreciated by the rest of the party, he makes a point of bringing down a quail or something in a very obvious manner
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
That escalated quickly.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
Escalation implies upward movement. This is a Descent, if you catch my drift.
To the original question, I guess what I'd say is that rations are the Specific that beats the General. You don't have to only eat rations, and if you can avoid it, you should, because they weigh twice as much as less shelf-stable food. You can say it's the packaging if you want but I think that'll result in players trying to remove or replace said packaging, and that's just a mess.
In other words, you usually need 1 pound of food, but with rations you need 2.
I wouldn't bother with expiration in general, but I do enjoy situational expiration. A mummy's lair, for example, will cause food to spoil super quickly. That's in its stats! That's the kind of thing where, even if it doesn't end up making things harder for the players, it communicates a tone really well. It went over well at my table.
I'd have hot and cold places threaten your water (evaporation or freezing, respectively), wet places threaten your food (with mold!), and dusty places threaten both. Use sparingly unless you're doing a big survivalist sort of thing.
That can add more depth to players' pathfinding decisions. We could go straight to the dragon's cave, but we'd have to cross the swamp and risk our food going bad. That's potentially 2 levels of exhaustion by the time we reach the cave. Is that an acceptable risk? Maybe instead we should go around, through this area labeled "giant wasp city, population 700,000,000"?
What if there is no packaging and a day's worth of rations just weigh two pounds even though an adventurer can survive on one pound of food per day? Maybe rations represent three hearty meals. If a character came across a starving peasant or something and made the case that they could split a day's rations and both of them could survive on it, then sure I'll play along as DM.
I don't think we really need to reconcile the difference. A day's worth of rations just weighs two pounds.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
I always assume that rations are hard biscuits intended to last for a long time, and therefore won't spoil unless immersed in dirty water, or are in a mummy lord's tomb. You could equally imagine them in stoppered bottles (jars of pickled fish etc.) or tins (don't tell me your world has artificers but none of them have invented tins).
I am now imagining a party based on the Channel 4 News team:
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Don't wanna upset the rangers and druids
We just always assumed a ration and water a day was all someone needed.
We also assumed that a traveling character in a good area could passively find enough food for half a day. Leafy greens along the path and possibly small game.One character actively hunting during their walk can find enough food for a day. But at that point they are not watching for ambushes from bandits or monsters.
For a temperate environment in the summer.
20 road miles a day normal active walking.
One ration and water a day.
Less for off road
Less for forest.
Less for hunting and gathering along the way.
Less for bad weather.
Less for watching for ambushes.
Less for civilian/non adventurers.
Less for no food or short rations.
In effect a ration is the fuel you need to go a specific distance. in a specific time.
You can make a nice chart for the whole thing or a mathematical formula but do you really want to get that detailed?
Fairly reasonable but I would only allow it if somebody in the party had survival skill.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
You need to eat 1 lb of food a day. If you sit in a prison cell and eat exactly 1 lb of food each day, you will die in three days from thirst.
One ration weighs 2 lbs, it consists of enough food and water to live for one day.
Note, there is a rule of 3 for survival, most people can survive about:
Interesting idea. I had always tracked water separately from rations. I had kinda always assumed that 1 lb of rations was the bare minimum necessary to survive, but 2 lbs was enough to not be hungry all the time.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
This is basically the 2-edged sword of rangers. It’s one of their big things they do, but they’re so good at it you just end up hand waving it, and it feels like they’re not actually doing anything.
Keep in mind how bad all of the wrights are - yes some are fairly accurate but others are way off because they integrate bulk and unwieldyness into weight. Rations may well be one of those.
as for the idea that just anyone can find lento of food just walking thru the woods BS that is what the survival skill and the ranger abilities are for. As someone who actually did some survival camping (40 years ago) it isn’t easy and it is time consuming. That and you have to watch out for the carnivores and other omnivores in true wilderness situations - not the same as walking along the roadbed or railroad tracks guzzling blackberries in season.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
I have felt for years that one of the major reasons most folks handwave it is because they have no idea what to do or how to describe it. Most folks are not graduates of a military “ snake eater” training program or a wild foods hunter. Even for those of us that have done it if you haven’t in a long while you forget a lot of stuff - I wouldn’t try survival camping again without a 6 month refresh course first in real life.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
Honestly for rations I'd assume it boils down to the fact that adventurers lead a high intensity lifestyle. To use another example, the "eat 2000 calories a day" average is for a typical person; a quick search shows that some professional athletes will eat 3 times as many. You're packing extra because you're using more fuel that a typical individual.
Yeah, but the players are just as ignorant, so would it matter? Besides, it doesn’t really need to be “described” so much as acknowledged in a meaningful way. That’d be enough for most tables I’m sure.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
I agree! While it's true that our version exists in a fantasy world where anything is possible, one still wants to have these things grounded in reality.