Max number of days you can provision for?

[Greggy C]

I'm really not sure which direction you are trying to argue. I'm simply listing a constraint on the Original Post's primary question.

If you can't believe Gandalf carrying 500 lbs of loot, can you believe a heroic fighter wandering into the wilderness in full harness without horse and retainers and crawling into caves and caverns? If so, there is probably going to be a place where you will have to define what level of realism you desire.

not sure what a harness is, but full plate cavern crawling, sure I can go with that easily. I'm just putting a limit when its massively bulky or massively heavy, then its pretty hard to make a movie depicting that. I was just saying a vlog showing medieval arms and armor, backpack, provisions would be cool to set a rough ballpark. Probably someone already made one.

 

[aco175]

Fantasy is about suspending disbelief for enjoyment. I can easily suspend disbelief such that Gandalf can defeat a Balrog.
But if Gandalf carrying 5 weapons and 500lbs of loot, then I can't imagine that.

He had a bag of holding. And you would think that if he was 1 of the 5 mages in the realm he could have parleyed it to make more money- and buy a cleaner set of robes.

 

[Greggy C]

He had a bag of holding. And you would think that if he was 1 of the 5 mages in the realm he could have parleyed it to make more money- and buy a cleaner set of robes.

lol, it was a random example, and bags of holding are fine. As a DM I just don't want to look at my players character sheet and form a vision of

 

[aco175]

lol, it was a random example, and bags of holding are fine. As a DM I just don't want to look at my players character sheet and form a vision of

View attachment 151692

You get this since one cannot place a bag inside another bag.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Bravo to anyone willing to serve one's country. Most of my gaming group is Vets and I applaud them greatly. However once again we are extrapolating from an inexact model. Modern military has modern rations and modern containers. They also aren't treasure hunting in subterranean caves full of monsters.

Weight is weight. Yeah, MREs are far lighter and require no extra equipment, but PCs aren't humping a hundred rounds of belted 7.62 for the MG squad, a couple pounds of C-4, a LAAW or AT-4, and a half-dozen 40mm grenades for the grenadiers. Plus a Terry stick, or bolt cutters, or an entry shotgun. And let's not talk about twenty pounds of batteries.

All on top of your armor, weapon, ammo, frags, water, rations, and gear.

 

[Thunderfoot]

So... where to begin. Modern caloric intake is 2000 per day. So assuming water is not included, you are looking at dried salt meat, non-leavened or cracker bread (hardtack) and possibly nuts and natural cheese (historically cheese was unrefidgerated). So 1.5 pounds to 2 pounds is probably spot on.....
However, combat nutrition requires an approximate caloric intake of around 5000-8000 a day (no not a typo). So now we are talking 8 lbs of prepared food (remember not much in the way of preserved fruits and veggies).

So, now we go waaaaaay back to AD&D and the supplied areas in most modules to store provisions and then strike out to explore. So a small wagon of food and water stored in a nearby safe area would cover the party if they returned daily or even every other day. The problem is as modern humans we forget that the first military rations were issued by Napoleon thanks to the invention of canning. before that you got provisions - coffee, flour, salt, etc and you were required to forage, hunt, fish or raid or rely on a provisional kitchen (field mess).

My personal opinion is since this is a fantasy game, use the listed/suggested terms and just ignore the mess created by poor research. If you want to follow the rabbit, as a DM let/provide the players have safe houses/provisional supply trains. As players understand you need to spend money or starve. The best solution is cleric food spells and scrolls.

Military/Combat caloric intake numbers from my time in the US Army and years spent as a backpacker post service. Historical food information taken from several historical sources. Hope this helps.

 

[Thunderfoot]

Weight is weight. Yeah, MREs are far lighter and require no extra equipment, but PCs aren't humping a hundred rounds of belted 7.62 for the MG squad, a couple pounds of C-4, a LAAW or AT-4, and a half-dozen 40mm grenades for the grenadiers. Plus a Terry stick, or bolt cutters, or an entry shotgun. And let's not talk about twenty pounds of batteries.

All on top of your armor, weapon, ammo, frags, water, rations, and gear.

Of course arming coat, armor, and weapons, all strapped in by leather and held in wood and leather sheaths or frogs. Yeah I'd say our fantasy counterparts know about humping a ruck. lol

 

[éxypnos]

Lets say you are going on a long underground dungeon delve and so you prepare for the worst at the city mark, stocking up on salted meat, some bread, water.
Basic mundane provisions. No magic elfin wafers.

What would you say the max number of days you could provision for before you out of food and need to return to the surface (assuming you find nothing edible below).

When I say I'm looking at a cross between food going to go bad, max weight, max bulkiness for a single person to carry, no mounts, no wheelbarrows.

If using pemmican one can take as much as you can carry and it won't go bad. Also most nourishing by weight than anything else. 10 ounces of pemmican = ~3,000 calories. About the minimum your adventurer will need per day. 16 oz per pound. You need 1 gallon of water/day at 8.3 lbs per gallon. So take your carry capacity and plug into it the above data and you have your answer.

 

[Thunderfoot]

If using pemmican one can take as much as you can carry and it won't go bad. Also most nourishing by weight than anything else. 10 ounces of pemmican = ~3,000 calories. About the minimum your adventurer will need per day. 16 oz per pound. You need 1 gallon of water/day at 8.3 lbs per gallon. So take your carry capacity and plug into it the above data and you have your answer.

The problem with using Pemmican as a measurement. If you eat salted meat as your only meal for more than three days, your gut is going to let you know by a) horrible constipation b) irritable bowels c) intestinal cramping d) all of the above e) hypoxia of the intestines. The longer you go the more times you get to 'spin the wheel of pain' And 3000 calories is low for combat exertion. You'd have a better chance eating mystery lichens scraped off the cave wall after a week. lol

 

[éxypnos]

The problem with using Pemmican as a measurement. If you eat salted meat as your only meal for more than three days, your gut is going to let you know by a) horrible constipation b) irritable bowels c) intestinal cramping d) all of the above e) hypoxia of the intestines. The longer you go the more times you get to 'spin the wheel of pain' And 3000 calories is low for combat exertion. You'd have a better chance eating mystery lichens scraped off the cave wall after a week. lol

Pemmican is NOT salted meat. Not at ALL. People used it for at LEAST a year at a time. Indians and traders. It is today what is called a complete food. I'm afraid you lack useful data on this food. Pemmican - Wikipedia