D&D 5E Military food in dnd
- Thread starter abe ray
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Tony Vargas
Legend
Iron Rations!
At higher levels, meteorite rations, mithral rations, and adamantine rations.
In more primitive societies, bronze or stone rations.
At higher levels, meteorite rations, mithral rations, and adamantine rations.
In more primitive societies, bronze or stone rations.
abe ray
Explorer
Lol! Seriously though, what foodstuffs would the military of the various races create/use during campaigns?
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Tony Vargas
Legend
More nearly serious answer: it depends on what you have in mind for the setting. A more realistic medieval army might mostly 'forage' (steal food from the folks they're conquering as they go, serious supply lines were, IIRC, a Napoleonic thing? (history buffs can correct me on those). A fantasy army might have fantastic foodstuffs like Tolkien's lembas or magic items that produce food and water (D&D has had a few of those over the editions - Decanter of Endless Water, Murlund's Spoon). An evil humanoid army might kill and eat their foes as they go. Spellcasters can create food. In a sufficiently fantatic world, where little things like the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics aren't even rumored, an army could use weird/impossible closed-loop provisioning strategies, like mounts that give birth every night, after which you butcher and eat them, sharing the food with their young who grow to full size by morning, and off you ride.
edit: specific D&D races? Well, in one edition, Dwarves made 'stonemeal biscuits' that were a day's worth of food in a compact package if you could bear to chew them. Elves, of course, would get the traditional tasty cakes from Tolkien. Gnomes might have magic mushrooms that grow instantly but only nourish gnomes (giving anyone else hallucinations). I could see an Eberron setting having canned goods and huge, intimidating-looking seige engines that are really just carrying the tons of canned goods it takes to feed an army. FR, IDK, I could imagine common infantry men griping about having to use Rings of Sustenance for weeks on end. More normal humans, I'm betting, would forage, because we're supposed to be all resourceful and adaptable.
Orcs would eat whichever of the above ran the slowest at mealtime.
edit: specific D&D races? Well, in one edition, Dwarves made 'stonemeal biscuits' that were a day's worth of food in a compact package if you could bear to chew them. Elves, of course, would get the traditional tasty cakes from Tolkien. Gnomes might have magic mushrooms that grow instantly but only nourish gnomes (giving anyone else hallucinations). I could see an Eberron setting having canned goods and huge, intimidating-looking seige engines that are really just carrying the tons of canned goods it takes to feed an army. FR, IDK, I could imagine common infantry men griping about having to use Rings of Sustenance for weeks on end. More normal humans, I'm betting, would forage, because we're supposed to be all resourceful and adaptable.
Orcs would eat whichever of the above ran the slowest at mealtime.
Last edited:
Savage Wombat
Hero
Ages and ages ago there was a whole Dragon magazine article about provisioning an army - namely, that no-one could afford to feed an army by buying iron rations for everyone. So yeah, you provisioned armies by looting the countryside and foraging as best as possible, for the most part.
Otherwise, you need one fifth level cleric for every thirty soldiers (counting himself). If you're lucky enough to have access to druids or others that can cast goodberry you can get by with a first level one for the same ratio, or slightly higher at higher levels. You didn't really think you brought the priests along to tend to the wounded, did you?
Otherwise, you need one fifth level cleric for every thirty soldiers (counting himself). If you're lucky enough to have access to druids or others that can cast goodberry you can get by with a first level one for the same ratio, or slightly higher at higher levels. You didn't really think you brought the priests along to tend to the wounded, did you?
Don't ask what it would be for DND, ask what it was in medieval times.
http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/army/medieval_logistics.htm
This is a good look at medieval logistics during a campaign.
http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/army/medieval_logistics.htm
This is a good look at medieval logistics during a campaign.
doctorbadwolf
Heretic of The Seventh Circle
Does the army have magic users? What kind?
BoldItalic
First Post
Flat ones. Because an army marches on its stomach, so the food gets a bit trodden on.
Depends on how 'fantastic' your world is. Historically, armies that were on the march relied on a combination of hunting, gathering, and (in more settled regions) the "kindness" of the locals. Maintaining good supply lines were really important because none of those methods are really good enough to support a large army for long, and long-term storage of food was more or less limited to salted and dried meats. The concept of "iron rations" is relatively new, and not really used in the same way as DnD tends to assume.
But for most DnD settings, I think the logistics of warfare would be *very* different from history due to the presence of magic and various monsters. Castle walls started losing out to canon fire, so I have a feeling a world with mages throwing fireballs around would result in castle construction looking very different (maybe a focus on large moats). And what king wouldn't love to have his beast master release half-trained monstrosities on his enemies, given the chance? With basic historical elements of fantasy that we all take for granted in question, it stands to reason that simple things like feeding an army would probably end up a rather trivial affair; either large armies are too vulnerable to magic and thus not used, or the ability to conjure up some food as needed results in even larger armies than in history (or armies with a much lower percentage of support staff).
But for most DnD settings, I think the logistics of warfare would be *very* different from history due to the presence of magic and various monsters. Castle walls started losing out to canon fire, so I have a feeling a world with mages throwing fireballs around would result in castle construction looking very different (maybe a focus on large moats). And what king wouldn't love to have his beast master release half-trained monstrosities on his enemies, given the chance? With basic historical elements of fantasy that we all take for granted in question, it stands to reason that simple things like feeding an army would probably end up a rather trivial affair; either large armies are too vulnerable to magic and thus not used, or the ability to conjure up some food as needed results in even larger armies than in history (or armies with a much lower percentage of support staff).
Jester David
Hero
Grains, beans, nuts, and tubers mostly. These store easily and last a long time when dried. Pickled vegetables would also be common, as would dried and salted meat. Anything that travels and doesn't go off quickly.
They'd also start with livestock, which would slowly be slaughtered as the army progressed. Plus whatever they could forage from the land (or "requisition" from farms and ranches they pass by).
They'd also start with livestock, which would slowly be slaughtered as the army progressed. Plus whatever they could forage from the land (or "requisition" from farms and ranches they pass by).
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