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D&D 5E Does anyone actually track rations?
- Thread starter discosoc
- Start date
The Human Target
Adventurer
Only when it would make the scenario more interesting.
Which is rarely.
Which is rarely.
Meh. I feel like it's less like a gritty struggle for survival and more one of a laundry list of problems that the party has to deal with. Also, it depends on how the party deals with the NPCs; they're an available buffer to avoid a really bad situation.
Foraging and survival may be great flavorwise for certain campaigns, but I think having a game or character end by starving to death would ruin an official Wizard's campaign for a lot of people. As such, it's probably better to err on the side of making sustenance a manageable resource, as opposed to a desperate problem.
FormerlyHemlock
Hero
Oh, and in my new Out of the Abyss campaign on off-weeks, there are some cool rules for foraging in Chapter Two and I plan to make my (newly-escaped, nearly-naked) PCs track how many pounds of food and water they have (applying PHB exhaustion rules for lack of either) until such time as it becomes clear that they've mastered it (Goodberry FTW). At that point they can assume that they have plenty of food and water themselves, but can commence applying the same constraints against their enemies, e.g. destroying supplies so their drow slavers have to stop to look for new water sources, losing time.
MechaPilot
Explorer
I usually don't track rations. I generally assume that PCs forage for food as they go, and that they aren't using their rations while they can forage.
I also usually don't track ordinary ammunition.
However, the PCs will sometimes be in situations where they cannot forage, and I will require the tracking of food and water.
I also usually don't track ordinary ammunition.
However, the PCs will sometimes be in situations where they cannot forage, and I will require the tracking of food and water.
Totally depends on the type of adventure. The Temple of Elemental Evil was mostly free of this, until they hit the Elemental Nodes. Realizing that they may not have access to food & water, they brought 3 weeks worth (each). It then got tight when they freed a dozen prisoners (who also needed food).
Right now they're exploring the Yatil Mountains. It's mid-fall, and they don't know how long it will take them. They spent an hour of the session going over everything they would need: mounts, pack mules, tents, cold weather gear, rations, water, and even a pair of 10' poles. It even came up, as during an avalanche, one of the PCs risked his life to protect the mules and their gear.
Right now they're exploring the Yatil Mountains. It's mid-fall, and they don't know how long it will take them. They spent an hour of the session going over everything they would need: mounts, pack mules, tents, cold weather gear, rations, water, and even a pair of 10' poles. It even came up, as during an avalanche, one of the PCs risked his life to protect the mules and their gear.
AaronOfBarbaria
Adventurer
What is and isn't tracked in my campaigns depends upon the campaign specifics, namely the characters involved and their equipment.
I generally track encumbrance. In fact, I designed a sheet to help the party track encumbrance that takes the total encumbrance each character can contribute (their maximum encumbrance - their armor, weapons, and worn magical gear) so that the majority of the party inventory can be housed on a single sheet, including containers and their capacities. There has not yet been a time when a party was actually worried about reaching their encumbrance limit, but because that limit can be seen and is accounted for by a single player, there is no confusion as to what can and cannot be carried off by the party.
We generally don't track lighting supplies because one or two characters in each party generally have the light cantrip, or the whole party has darkvision.
Likewise, food and water are only tracked if the party doesn't include a character that covers the needs by some non-tracked means (spells, background feature, or what have you).
I also loosely track the cleanliness of the party. Assuming that they get dirtier and dirtier right up until they spend at least a night in a place that provides access to fresh clothes and a bath. I don't request the players actually specify any hygienic activities, just consider people reacting a bit less favorably too them unless they've remembered to live like "normal" people and rest in a house or at an inn rather than sleeping in the wilderness all the time.
I generally track encumbrance. In fact, I designed a sheet to help the party track encumbrance that takes the total encumbrance each character can contribute (their maximum encumbrance - their armor, weapons, and worn magical gear) so that the majority of the party inventory can be housed on a single sheet, including containers and their capacities. There has not yet been a time when a party was actually worried about reaching their encumbrance limit, but because that limit can be seen and is accounted for by a single player, there is no confusion as to what can and cannot be carried off by the party.
We generally don't track lighting supplies because one or two characters in each party generally have the light cantrip, or the whole party has darkvision.
Likewise, food and water are only tracked if the party doesn't include a character that covers the needs by some non-tracked means (spells, background feature, or what have you).
I also loosely track the cleanliness of the party. Assuming that they get dirtier and dirtier right up until they spend at least a night in a place that provides access to fresh clothes and a bath. I don't request the players actually specify any hygienic activities, just consider people reacting a bit less favorably too them unless they've remembered to live like "normal" people and rest in a house or at an inn rather than sleeping in the wilderness all the time.
