what are the standard rations for adventurers?

[hong]

1) Finders keepers.

2) It would be better to use these items to combat evil, rather than letting them rot in a dungeon.

3) He's already dead, he won't miss his stuff if we take it.

4) I need the gold to upgrade my weapons and armour.

5) I'm going to use these items for the greater glory of my deity.

....


Oh, you said standard RATIONS for adventurers, not standard RATIONALES for adventurers. Carry on.

 

[Kichwas]

Consider that in human history the search for better ways to preserve foods was one of the major triggers of European expansion.

If one group in your campaign world has a better ability to produce lasting rations it has a serious advantage over other groups both militarily and trade wise.

Groups that figure out how to dry foods, pickle them, or perserve them in spices will have much healthier rations.

If you decide the locale your game is set in has this ability, when the PCs travel elsewhere and are stuck to buying inferior rations (once their own supply runs out) you could impose disease checks and other assorted health penalties.

If you flip it around and give your locale inferior rations (such as medieval Europe's case), once the PCs find better sources they've locked onto a potential money train and you might consider applying benifits to disease and poison saves for those on the new foods to reflect this change in diet.

If you've got a large campaign world lined up - organizing trade routes for foods and spices can be fun as well as give you places to put the major port cities, shipping lanes, hotbeds of piracy, and so on.