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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 6448277" data-attributes="member: 20323">Well, I see the final act of cooking as not taking up very much role playing time at all because the actually act of cooking isn't that interesting mechanically or narratively. I mean, rolling for who tends a better fire or who turns the pig the best seems trivial (why bother rolling?). Unless someone has an example or idea to prove otherwise?Thus, I see the meat of the action around the preparations.And, more generally, this is meant to be a side quest. The PCs are recruiting crew for their ship, and to secure the buccaneers they need to win this cook-off. There are also several other side quests happening concurrently, involving the ship, supplies, and recruiting other crew members.You zeroed in on what is giving me trouble. A lot of the act of cooking details seem trivial and not really adventure material, worth a single die roll before moving on. Putting a spin on it with sabotaging the other team's cuisine is just the sort of idea that can make it engaging.Part of what I'd like to do is have some measure of success as far as ingredient-combining goes. And while dice may play part of it, I'd prefer if they played a lesser part than actually challenging the players & role playing. So, that leaves me with the dilemma of how do I set up these parameters of success? What makes one cuisine *better* than another? And how do I translate that to the game?Rolling with some of the ideas we've tossed out there...Rare Ingredients - I might come up with a list of rare ingredients divided into categories according to the 5 tastes (salty, sweet, bitter, sour, and the 5th taste umami). Maybe the recipe could have a bunch of common ingredients determined by the chef, but what significantly boosts their chances of winning are the rare ingredients they find. I think 3 rare ingredients sounds right: two from two taste categories the chef decides, and one from the elusive 5th taste. For each rare ingredient they get, there'd be a significant boost to the cook's actual cooking check.Know The Judges - The PCs can meet the judges at some social function on the island, and in a comical scene try to figure out what sorts of flavors the judges like...without giving away that they're trying to get an inside scoop.Tending the Fire - Since this is a slow roast BBQ, one or more PCs are going to be tending the fire for several hours. During this time the buccaneers might try to send distractions so they can sabotage the PCs' cooking, or hungry predators might get attracted by the aroma.</blockquote>

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