What do you eat/drink?

[justanobody]

In your D&D games is there any food made that the PCs or NPCs eat to help fill in the world with culture?

Have you made a recipe just for D&D that you have cooked in real life?

How much culinary information do you use in your games?

Do your PCs just eat bark, twigs, and berries?

 

[Wik]

I had a 2e character inspired by my diablo character at the time, named Duncan Rok. He wanted to run his own tavern, and his specialty meal (That he made for his fellow adventurers when it was his turn on KP) were spiced potatoes known as "Duncan's Rocks" - essentially, burned perogies.

I've played some chefs before, and one day I'll get to play my centaur cook/knight. I've been itching to play him since.... 2e. Wow.

When my players show up at inns, I sometimes try to introduce house specials, but they're mostly "period pieces" - things I'd imagine a medieval or pseudo-medieval inn would serve. I do break out of this every now and then, though.

In Dark Sun, I really get "culinary" with things. I imagine the average athasian eats a lot of sesame, and many dishes I imagine as being similar to thai food, without the noodles. Halva is a regular dish in my dark sun stories, as are various kabobs and ethiopian-style cuisine.

 

[justanobody]

So much curry eaten on Athas? Those potatoes sound an awful lot like Otik's Spiced Potatoes served at the Inn of the Last Home. I think the book actually has a recipe for them.

What type of period pieces meals? Rack of mutton kind of stuff, or has the Earl of Sandwich appeared in you games to create the newest sensation?

Here is another one, how about exotic foods not normally found locally? Speaking of curry means it would be exotic back in the day with older editions that listed spices and such by name even, so how about things like mangos for mango chutney, or jalapenos?

Seems like I haven't played a good cargo escort mission on a while for anything foodwise but mostly sutff that fairs well in the weather.

How does your Athasians make the noodles, and are they common food or expensive delicacies since they require so much water to make and cook?

 

[taliesin15]

I am a cook by profession and an amateur historian, so its a perfect blend for creating medieval-esque recipes in my game. I tend to emphasize dishes that sound strange to Americans but were common a long time ago. Gruel, for example, or beer soup or porridge--this was common fare for peasants in medieval cities. Coneys or rabbit was very common. So was Mutton; that and Eel are considered delicacies in every culture in the world just about except in the USA where they are generally, and wrong-headedly IMHO, disdained.

Don't forget libations. Remember that Lager is a recent invention. Ale was the kind of beer everyone made until a few centuries ago all the way back to the ancient Egyptians. Do keep in mind basics--to make beer you need access to grain. If you have easy access to apple or pear trees, Cider will be prevalent.

I've thought one good adventure premise might involve the supply of some key ingredient getting cut off--whether hops for beer, spices, or even the water supply.

 

[delericho]

As my PCs travel, I always try to throw in a couple of details about the region for colour purposes (not so many as to distract from the game, but enough to set the stage). This may be a few dominant sounds or smells, key fashion trends... or the food that is served in the taverns where they stay.

I generally go for a mix of real-world and fantasy meals. Oh, and everywhere has a local brew, be it a local mead or cider, Dwarven Gutbuster Ale, Elven Leafwine, Orcish bootleg spirits, or whatever. Some of it's nice, some filling but bland, some unpleasant.

I've never created a recipe. Indeed, some of the things I've described would probably be either impossible or extremely unpalatable. And I've never cooked for my group - we order in pizza or head out for food.

 

[delericho]

I've thought one good adventure premise might involve the supply of some key ingredient getting cut off--whether hops for beer, spices, or even the water supply.

Yeah. Threaten a PC's friends or family, and they may take the view that "they're just NPCs". Threaten their favourite drinking hole, though...

 

[justanobody]

I've never created a recipe. Indeed, some of the things I've described would probably be either impossible or extremely unpalatable.

Unpalatable eh? That sounds like some very interesting foods for game use.

 

[Zaruthustran]

Food is wonderful for establishing mood, and getting players to immerse themselves in a game or world. The few times I've made the effort to bring session-specific food, the results have been fantastic. I remember a seafaring Al Qadim campaign, where the first session began with a table of hummus, falafel, figs, and other mediterranean/arabic finger food. Really got the campaign off to a great start.

More recently, our DM began a session with a feast in a greek king's hall. He presented to we the players a selection of craft beers from Elysium Brewery: Golden Fleece Ale, Immortal IPA, The Wise ESB, and so on. We all cracked a beer, and after we'd taken a few pulls and roleplayed a bit of the feast, the DM announced that each type of beer had a buff effect associated with it, which lasted the rest of that chapter of the campaign. Very cool.

 

[Umbran]

How much culinary information do you use in your games?

When playing Paranoia, we go out of our way to make sure the players get an authentic Alpha Complex culinary experience. I'd give you the recipes for Bouncy Bubble Beverage, Wakey-Wakey, Hot Fun, and Cheeze Pleezer, but you aren't cleared for them, Friend Citizen.

By the way - cold spaghetti and chocolate sauce goes a long way when properly presented.

For a Deadlands mini-campaign we ran, my wife researched authentic gold-rush era foods, and we prepared an in-game dinner for one session.

 

[Rel]

The classic is the "Stinking Urchin" tavern with it's signiture beverage the Stinking Urchin. It's an pungent wine with an actual sea urchin in the bottom.

Any patron who can down the drink in one draught AND suck the innards out of the urchin, without puking, drinks as much as they like for free the rest of the night. The Fort Save for that was...considerable.

When my players first encountered this establishment, the Hobgoblin Fighter managed to keep his drink down and was roundly applauded by the rest of the patrons. Not to be outdone, the Kalashtar Psion bellied up to the bar and drank his own Stinking Urchin. He failed the save so spectacularly that I ruled that he did keep the drink down...and immediately passed out face first on the bar. They served drinks across his unconscious body for the rest of the night.

He awoke the next day with what I described to the player as "a sea urchin hangover in your mouth". The player told me that was plenty of description and he would appreciate if I wouldn't elaborate any further. It took the rest of the morning for the character to get the bits of urchin spine out of his cheek.