Under Siege Update- How much does a commoner eat per day?

[Xath]

So in our campaign, we're in a situation in which we need to figure out a way to provide for 200000+ refugees involved in a siege. Quite possibly, this will become an issue in other cities around the world soon. And there just aren't enough Clerics with Create Food/Water to provide for all of the people. Any tips on how to cope? How does magic alter siege in your world?

 

[Crothian]

well, create food and water is the big one, but purify food and water will help as well.

 

[Darkness]

Well, wish can create a nonmagical item of up to 25,000 gp in value.

That's a pretty big loaf a bread:
[sblock]1 lb. bread = 4 cp
1 gp = 25 lbs.
25,000 gp = 625,000 lbs. (i.e., 312.5 tons)[/sblock] If you use it to create raw materials to make bread, you should get even more.

If you don't have access to even a single wish, quest for one.

Of course, with that many refugees, it's no exactly a long-term solution but it's still quite a bit.

 

[Teflon Billy]

Well, the sad truth of City Sieges is that that 20K number (barring magic) is going to drop a lot almost no matter what you do. 20K extra people crammed into close quarters are going to be an outbreak of disease waiting to happen.

Whatever food stores you have should be rationed (maybe down to half rations for non-physical labourers/Soldiers...possibly none for thoe who do not contribute to the effort)

This of course, will cause rioting, which will need to be put down, thinning the herd even more.

See about contacting smugglers on the outside. Can someone with a large flying carpet start ferrying in Loads of Supplies under cover of night?

Can someone just teleport out and get supplies every night?

Rats breed like crazy and a very nutritious. Start husbanding them instead of letting them run about and contaminating food. Rat Hutches/Pigeon Hutches/ and suchlike will serve you well.

If you can't manage to husband the rats properly (and it's not easy, given how easily they can chew through things) Impress your refugee children into service as Rat Catchers.

Other than that, I can't really say. the presence of high Level spellcasters on either side makes most of the questions surrounding a siege moot.

 

[Xath]

So far in this campaign, no one knows that Wish exists.

 

[AuraSeer]

With numbers that high, feeding everybody would require artifact-level magic. Magically creating food is hard because there just aren't enough spellcasters to go around. Stockpiling lots of wands of create food might make a small dent, as each 50 charges could feed a total of 750 people for a day, but it would be more cost-effective to stockpile actual food.

One short term solution is to set up a permanent teleportation circle from someplace that's not under siege, so food can be easily brought in. Set up an outgoing one too, so the refugees can escape. These will help the immediate crisis, but will lose their usefulness as other portions of the world fall under siege.

Gate could let some refugees escape to a peaceful Outer Plane. Unfortunately each casting only opens the gateway for a short time, and you may annoy the current residents of the destination plane.

The only long term solution I can think of is to break the siege. That's what you're good at anyway. Adventurer powers are made for quests and violence, not for disaster relief or humanitarian aid. Give the local rulers what assistance is immediately available to you, then set out on a quest to destroy the enemy forces. (Look for the focal point-- kill their leader, steal their sacred artifact, close the portal to their home plane, whatever.)

 

[Agback]

With numbers that high, feeding everybody would require artifact-level magic.

Use-per-day items used to be the way to go for cheap effects. An apron of 'Create Food x3 per day', or even a chef's hat of 'Heroes' Feast x3' per day' is worth investigating.

The only long term solution I can think of is to break the siege.

Yep. If there were an alternative to agriculture, there wouldn't be agriculture. These refugees need 300 tons of food and 200,000 gallons of water per day. Ten ship-loads of grain every day and an extra river would do the job, otherwise you're toast.

 

[Agback]

Well, wish can create a nonmagical item of up to 25,000 gp in value.

That's a pretty big loaf a bread:

Yep. With a bit of cheese or fish and some pickled cabbage, it'd be enough for two days. If you wished for wheat instead, you'd get perhaps enough for four days. How many XP have you got there, pard? And don't you think they might be better used to break the siege?

 

[Darkness]

[redundant things]

I already said that:

If you use it to create raw materials to make bread, you should get even more.

Of course, with that many refugees, it's no exactly a long-term solution

 

[Weyland]

When it comes to feeding people, most of the ideas have already been tossed around. I'd consider using the occasional weather controlling effect just to get some rain to collect in barrels and cisterns, too. Of course, that same rain may not help general conditions in the city, so it may be a tradeoff.

But as has been said, magic can render most of the traditional seige problems moot, and really speed the process of either defeating the opposing forces or evacuating most of the noncombatants. What's the power level of the characters, and how much spellpower do they have access to? That can really alter the strategies that they might use.