d100 - What Do Those Rations Consist of Anyway?

Adventurers often find themselves with loudly growling bellies. The clever ones make sure that they’ve brought along some Rations for this occasion, but we rarely really delve into what those portable foodstuffs might actually be. Other than vague acknowledgements nodding in the directions of Pemmican and Hard Tack, it seldom gets the detail it’s due.

Foodways can convey a lot about a Culture or Place, and it struck me that a bundle of provisions might sometimes come with a little something extra. Something that could serve as a potential problem-solving Tool or give those Rations a little extra utility behind munching or Monster bribing.

So here are a Hundred ideas to make those Meals more Meaningful. Most are representative of the “Standard” Ration variety, as Iron Rations might deserve separate ministrations. Until then, I’m sure some of these could be re-skinned with a focus on how they’re stored and the preservation methods used.

d100 - Fascinating Fruits or Bewitched Berries

Many of my Tables seem to revolve around Plants in some way, but I noticed that I didn’t have one devoted specifically to the potential Magical Effects of some of the Fruits or Berries of these. Since these are usually “Single-Use” Items they can definitely be an interesting Resource to plant in some of those Wildernesses (and maybe even some more atypical Dungeons!) As with most of these Tables, I often like to include Properties that might serve as specific Solutions for hereto Unknown Problems/Challenges. It’s awfully fun to see what Creative Applications the Players might come up with, but as always, feel free to season these to taste for your table.

I needed quite a bit of space in the entries for the effects, but should a Name be needed, I can see these being quite useful with my Magical Plant & Herb Generator, as well as my Fantasy Tree Generator. At some point in the future, I can even see these effects being combined with entries from other, related Tables in one of my Perchance Generators to cut down on the need to toss and tabulate those d10s so much.

Fruit with Magical Properties like this has a lot of folkloric resonance to me, but unfortunately, I couldn’t wait until another Fairy Tale Friday to publish this one!

d100 - Curious Quaffs & Local Libations

Recently inspired to finally polish off this Table off by a recent post from the I Cast Light Blog, I’ve often found myself needing some descriptors the rinse my palette after devoting adequate attention to the Foodways of a particular place. Even the venerable B2: Keep On The Borderlands has a Tavern, and provides us with prices for Ale, Small Beer, Wine, and Honey Mead should our Adventurers wish to kick back with a beverage after a frightful forray into the Caves.

What is drunk, in the pursuit of becoming drunk can speak volumes about a place, and should you need to provide a little more decoration for Carousing Events, Portable Potables as Treasure, or even some ways to make some Magical Potions more distinctive and a tad more memorable, I hope this Random Table can help.

d100 - Fantastical Fishes & Spectacular Seafood

Happy Friday! Here’s another table for sprucing some of the water-bound animals your players might encounter or seek out during their travels. Akin to my generator for Remarkable Birds, this kind of set dressing and these in-world “Common Names” can sometimes add a little bit of fun or interesting detail to the Wilderness Foraging, Catch-monger Stalls, or even the occasional Wave-Crawl. One column might also be useful for quick descriptors of seafood dishes the players might deign to dine upon.

I’ve also included a handy Perchance Generator below to speed up generation of these aquatic critters.