X. It's what's for dinner.

[jdrakeh]

Food -- it's a little thing, window dressing for most DMs, though I've found that actually serving up something (pun intended) other than Bog Standard ale and mutton (or bread, cheese, etc) can really liven up an otherwise boring meal scene (or a whole campaign).

Indeed, Dave Hargrave delved into this area with his Arduin Grimoire series, specifically by way of Dirty Dorg's (I think I spelled that right, though I'm working from memory). In this particular establishment, endangered, magical, fauna is the daily special. So how does that work, exactly?

Well, it isn't as if there are breeding pens full of domesticated dragons (or other magical creatures) on every farm. That is, owlbear ranches aren't exactly commonplace. Which means that somebody has to go hunt, kill, and clean big nasty monsters for establishments such as Dorg's. And let's not forget that this is probably illegal.

Illegal pays the bills. Or, more precisely, the more controlled a certain cuisine is, the more people will be willing to pay for it and, thus, the more Dorg will pay you to bring it back in time for dinner. If your morals are flexible (or absent) this can obviously lead to some very exciting (albeit tremendously dark) places.

So, what role has food played in your games?

 

[roguerouge]

I've played an orc punk bard who eats the brains of the more powerful bad guys that he defeats in melee, so as to consume their strength. Eating demon brains has had some fun flavor effects.

 

[XCorvis]

My players have an unhealthy fixation on bacon. It started with dire boar bacon, but virtually any unintelligent monster they meet is a candidate for jerky, bacon, or at least dinner. Last game they tried basilisk. No side effects... so far.

 

[QuaziquestGM]

Alabama fried cockatrice.
The establishment is also where you go to buy depetrification ointments.

 

[jdrakeh]

No side effects... so far.

This reminds me of The Havana Room, a neo-noir novel where food doubles as a drug and plays a fairly prominent role in the plot (as does the preparer of said food). Mmm. . . forbidden foods that double as an aphrodesiac and can kill if prepared incorrectly. Dinner. . . it's now an eXtreme sport.

 

[InVinoVeritas]

Food was the centerpoint of a Ravenloft campaign I once ran, which I called "A Matter of Taste."

On the Isle of Ghastria, bland is a way of life. Its master spends a dull existence overseeing a village more insipid and milquetoast than anything, devoid of all flavor or spice.

In the Halls of Misericordia, the world bursts with savor. Its mistress lives in luscious opulence, building a world so scrumptious around her that all yearn for just one delectable moment.

At the Cliffs of Degravo, acrimony rules over all. Its master nurses a noisome grudge, bitterly cursing his fate and looking for freedom from a foul existence.

This is a tale of political maneuvering, trade negotiations, and the vulnerability of sustenance. This is the story of how one's curse can be another's boon and yet a third's weapon.

It is simply a matter of taste.

Basically, the twin lords of Borca learn that food grown in Ghastria has no flavor. Ivana wants to grow a poison there that is otherwise too loathsome in flavor to be consumed. Ivan wants all the food he can get from there, as it is the only thing he's found that gets around his personal curse (everything tastes horrible). Neither one wants the other to have any success whatsoever. Finally, D'Polarno finds himself in a position of power, but what can he get out of the deal? Of course, the PCs find themselves stuck in the middle of this negotiation.

I spent lots of extra time and effort describing what everyone is eating, when, and how. A sandwich that one of the PCs carried turned out to be a pivotal item. One PC ended up picking through his meals for "threads" and other evidence of tampering. It took them from illusory meals in Scaena, to questionable meats in Verbrek, to the cocoa trade in Valachan. It was delicious!

 

[The Ubbergeek]

There was an old AD&D adventure named "Steak!". It's centered on a famous local restaurant, and it's.... secrets.

Always wanted to run it. Maybe I will update and run it one day. It was crunch lighter, much rping.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

Despite working in restaraunts for somethign liek 10 years I've never had a food-motiff game. It's always played a window-dressing sort of role for me.

Reading some of the ideas above I think I should change that.

 

[demiurge1138]

One of the first sessions of my long-running Eberron game - Dungeons and Dragnet: Sharn Freelance Police - included an homage to Sweeny Todd. A missing butler had last been seen around a savory pies shop, and skulking about the premises revealed large sacks with bloodstains, a really big meatgrinder, and the shop boy complaining about having to haul around "those disgusting things".

So, of course the PCs conclude cannibalism.

Violence ensues. The shop boy's been dragged into the kitchen, the owner's got a cleaver out, there's screaming to open one of the bags for god's sake!

Inside is a dire rat.

The proprietor was an excoriate from the dragonmarked house of Hospitality, and was using her mark of purify food and drink to clean up the meat from dire rats lurking down in the Cogs that she sent her stockboys to catch. The missing butler had turned out to just have eloped without telling anyone.

In order to make up for the mess, the Freelance Police agreed to do promotions for the pie shop - so long as the owner was more honest about where the meat came from. "Hi, I'm Joe Zor. You may know me as a freelance policeman. After a hard day's work bashing criminals over the head, I need a good, hearty meal. And nothing is heartier than a Mrs. Miggens' Rat Pie. R. A. T. That spells "quality"."

Demiurge out.

 

[The Lemon Merchant]

Up until now food hadn't played a role in my games at all, that's going to be changing.