How I handle rations, is that Standard Rations (cheese wheel, jerky, trail mix, and such) spoil slowly (1-6 chance of spoiling after the first week, 2-6 after the second week, and so on; they are only good for about a month), and Iron Rations (canned and/or pickled food) dont spoil (but still has a 1-6 chance of being spoiled do to a defect with the container or process).
Quite often, when on a long voyage, the party would eat the Standard Rations first, hunt/forage for food afterwords, and eat the Iron Rations when there is no opportunity to hunt or gather (force-march, hiding from monsters, or whatever).
Adding pickled food (like bottled fruits) as a part of Iron Rations could help with some of the health concerns of normal army-styled rations.
I also dont see a moral issue with Iron Rations, as long as there is a good prospect of wealth. Once the party returns home with a dungeon-load of loot, everyone can easily piss it all away on good food & drink!
rations vs iron rations
Moderator: Falconer
I once left the rations up to my friend Bubba when we were going on a week-long trek across the desert. Whenever I asked him to make sure we would have enough water, he replied, "Don't worry. I've got enough water." I assumed he had come up with some unique way of using a magic item he'd been keeping hidden until now.
Towards the end of the second day of our travel, my own water supply had run out, so I asked him for some water. He tossed me a whetstone. I asked him what I was supposed to do with it. He mimicked the act of breaking it in half then drinking from it.
Yes, it's true: He actually thought whetstones contained a magical source of water. That's why he'd brought 100 of them with us.
Some years later, I encountered another person who thought the same thing. I was the DM, and I asked him if his character had thought to bring enough water. He replied, "No problem. I brought a whetstone!" and mimicked the act of breaking it open -- except he did it the way you'd open a bottle of Snapple, complete with the "pop!" and the "gulp gulp gulp gulp" and everything.
When it comes to rations, I'm pretty sure everyone I've ever played with has ended up eating their horses eventually....
Towards the end of the second day of our travel, my own water supply had run out, so I asked him for some water. He tossed me a whetstone. I asked him what I was supposed to do with it. He mimicked the act of breaking it in half then drinking from it.
Yes, it's true: He actually thought whetstones contained a magical source of water. That's why he'd brought 100 of them with us.
Some years later, I encountered another person who thought the same thing. I was the DM, and I asked him if his character had thought to bring enough water. He replied, "No problem. I brought a whetstone!" and mimicked the act of breaking it open -- except he did it the way you'd open a bottle of Snapple, complete with the "pop!" and the "gulp gulp gulp gulp" and everything.
When it comes to rations, I'm pretty sure everyone I've ever played with has ended up eating their horses eventually....
In Whatever, I Distrust.
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Confederate troops used to do it all the time, making a cornbread/redeye gravy combo that's not only edible, but not as likely to chip your teeth.Flambeaux wrote:Very few things are inedible after that treatment. Add Tabasco sauce and it's all good.Elfdart wrote:Hardtack isn't all that bad if (a) you smash it up and soak it in water or beer, then (b) fry it in bacon grease.
[i]What is a "grognard" anyway? Grog is half water and half rum, while nards are -well, we know what nards are. So a grognard is cheap, watered-down booze in a wrinkly nutsack.[/i]
Yup. Despite most of my relations being under occupation during that Unfortunate Unpleasantness, I, too, heard such tales growing up.Elfdart wrote:Confederate troops used to do it all the time, making a cornbread/redeye gravy combo that's not only edible, but not as likely to chip your teeth.Flambeaux wrote:Very few things are inedible after that treatment. Add Tabasco sauce and it's all good.Elfdart wrote:Hardtack isn't all that bad if (a) you smash it up and soak it in water or beer, then (b) fry it in bacon grease.
And I have it on good authority that Jarheads, too this day, do it with MREs. Most Navy vessels put their supply of Tabasco under lock and key when a detachment of Marines boards lest a year's supply for the ship disappear into whatever God-forsaken wasteland the Leathernecks deploy to.