Sustenance - Tracked or Handwaved

[Oryan77]

We keep up with food & water and then handwave encounters. The threat of dying of thirst or starvation is much more fun than dying from creatures. If a creature might have rations as loot, then we'll play out the combat...but if not, we move on to brunch.

 

[molonel]

At low levels, I track it.

At higher levels, when gold is more plentiful and clerics can cast spells to create it, I couldn't care less.

I'm not playing Shopkeep: The Accounting.

Unless it's important to the plot, I handwave it.

 

[diaglo]

Sustenance all the way!

I would not hesitate to kill off PCs due to starvation or thirst! Well, maybe I'd hesitate, but I'd do it anyway. . .

qfmft.

i make them track food and encumbrance.

and what they are carrying the food in.

i don't believe in suspension of disbelief for everyday stuff in this regard.

if they can't carry a weeks worth of food around because they are wearing armor and toting 20 weapons... um they are dead.

 

[Himoura]

generally at low levels we track it, but as soon as the cleric can cast food and water we don't bother. OR if we in the wilderness and we have somebody who has a high survival, we make him/her gather enough food for a few days .

Most of the time however at least 1 party member if not more has a ring of sustinence so they generally don't bother with eating and stand most watches with the others, ie 3 watches of 4 hours each so we all get the 8 hours needed and he just sleeps the 2.

 

[Lord Zardoz]

Largely handwaved except under unusual circumstances. The simple fact is that the prices for such items typically have a non-impact on the players.

If the situation calls for tracking food and water, I will do it, but otherwise, it is just book keeping that does not add to the enjoyment of the game.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[Steel_Wind]

Handwaved unless the circumstances are such that they are running out.

Then it's all about hunting and killing their own horses.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

I only tracked it once, and that was The Worlds Largest Dungeon. I wanted to see how far they would to before they resorted to eating something "unpalatable" like a fiendish dire weasel or something.

DS

 

[awayfarer]

I only tracked it once, and that was The Worlds Largest Dungeon. I wanted to see how far they would to before they resorted to eating something "unpalatable" like a fiendish dire weasel or something.

DS

I really enjoyed the hunting we did in the early days of our WLD game. Mostly we ate fairly mundane stuff like snakes and fish but I do recall having quite a bit of dried krenshar. I could swear we had some ethereal marauder meat at one point too. I actually enjoyed having to hunt for our food.

I plan on having my players keep track of their victuals in my upcoming Eberron game. I suspect it won't be a huge deal at first but I'd like to use some of the more out-of-the-way locations like Xen'drik later on. I don't feel like PC's should be treated as if they have access to a magic buffet.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

I'm running the Savage Tide adventure path fairly soon - there are adventures where the characters would plausibly face a shortage of supplies, and I'll be dealing with that, but I see no reason to assume that they can't supply themselves sufficiently well at all other times.

 

[hong]

I don't even track clothing, let alone food.

Shut up, you lot.