Owl Bear Egg Frittata

γαστήρ – “gaster” the stomach

νόμος, - “nomos” laws

A gastronome is not a gnomish airship pilot but a scholar of the preparation, consumption and cultural significance of food. Several of my players (and me) are borderline if not outright gastronomes. Some may refer to the inclination by the more modern term, “foodie”, but I feel the spirit of the interest goes beyond just food in and of itself. “Foodie” has a pejorative tone, and also a connotation of gluttony or snobbery in regards to the consumption of food. We gastronomes are as interested in the cultivation, preparation, and social settings of food as in the act of eating.

What does this mean at the D&D table? We play “virtually” so we cannot actually share a snack or meal in person (although we do often show off an amazing variety of snacks, from freeze pops to giant Peruvian Inca corn.) We can however explore the gastronomic realm in game.  In Lasers & Loincloths we have hunted dinosaurs for a well-paying chef’s dreams of meat sculpture. One of the characters joined the party after being rescued from marinating in the stew pot of Ape-Men. Chili, tortillas, and ambitions to own a restaurant often drive The Last Pale Light in the West. In the 3LBB OD&D game we meticulously track food and water consumption while trapped in a dungeon, and thus have eaten all manner of things not really meant to be eaten.

Aside from food as motivation for player actions and fodder for adventures in game, I have created and adopted some mechanics for food and drink in D&D. From the widely used house rule of gaining 1d3 HP from a swig of strong drink, to a cooked meal increasing a character's healing rate while resting. We also have rules for what happens when you eat that which was not meant to be eaten in OD&D (hint: mutation charts)  I want to do more though; my players and I lap this stuff up. I do not use distinct skill systems in D&D, so a cooking or eating skill is not appropriate. I do like using experience point mechanics as a driver for the tone and intentions of a D&D game, and thus I will add the following to Lasers & Loincloths.

Cooking XP

Experience points are awarded for cooking and serving exemplary meals prepared with rare or precious ingredients.

To butcher or remove an ingredient requires a WIS check and sometimes a saving throw.

Ingredients are worth a number of d6 based on rarity or value.  For example, a bucket of screaming eels would be worth 1d6 (unless it they were caught during scream season in which they would be worth more) while the iridescent liver of a shoggoth from Ghooric Space would be worth 10d6. Total the roll to determine the ingredient number.

Adding mundane ingredients to a dish adds 1 to this number (common vegetables, spices , starches etc.)

Cooking Techniques are rated via a dice type that increases based on the difficulty of the technique.

Cooking Technique	Dice Value
Boiling	1
Grilling / Broiling	1d2
Frying / Sautéing	1d3
Baking / Roasting	1d4
Stewing/Simmering	1d6
Potting /Tandoor	1d8
Smoking	1d10
Engastration	1d20

Most cooking techniques require appropriate tools (frying pans, heat, clay pots etc.)

To determine the XP value of a dish, multiply the ingredient roll by the technique roll. In order to gain this XP, the cook must share the dish (and the XP) with at least one other person.