Iron Chef!! - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Iron Chef!!

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
paulstrait
Jun 10, 2009 21:19:40 Looking for feedback -- has anyone run a session like this? or can anyone help me brainstorm other kinds of scenarios that will have a similar dynamic?

***
Background
***

In a 3.5 campaign I ran several years ago, I had a fairly unique session that sticks in my memory as one of my favorite nights of gaming ever. I want to create a similar session for my 4E -- not necessarily the same scenario, but some kind of scenario that engenders the same role-playing and story-telling experience.

The day this session took place, I had a whole night of typical encounters and puzzles and the like planned. I had a roommate who had just decided to giving dnd a try. This roommate was in love with the food network, and his favorite television show was 'Iron Chef.'

A few hours before the game, I had the following conversation with my roomate:

Roommate: So, what kind of food do our characters eat?

Me: uh... well... the clerics cast 'create food and water' as needed

Roommate: Yeah, but what do they create?

Me: I guess I never really thought about it...

Roommate: Do the clerics get to pick the food they create at all, or do they get whatever their deity is serving?

Me: I dunno -- we always have just treated it like rations?

Roommate: Those are lame deities if the best they can do is rations...

This conversation lead me to develop the following scenario. I didn't know if it would be a five minute diversion or a two hour one-- I was just going to see how it went, and gauge player interest.

***
The scenario
***

As the party was travelling, they ran into a tattooed monk from Kara-Tur (FR's asia). He explained that his order's most sacred charge was to protect the ancient art of gourmet cooking. Further, the order put on an annual cooking competition, and the winner received a tattoo (which had the end game effect of granting a neat 1/day power). But the monk had been separated from his order by a recent portal, and the day was almost over, and it was critical that he host his competition before the sun set.

The competition involved a secret ingredient, which I randomly chose, and was between the two clerics of the party. After giving them the secret ingredient, they had 15 minutes to design their menu. They then cast create food and water, and described several courses involving the secret ingredient. Then, the rest of the party discussed the dishes, judging them based on how appetizing they sounded, how original they sounded, and whether themes from the religion of the cleric were incorporated in the dishes.

The whole ordeal took around 2 hours without a single die roll, and my players described as one of their favorite role-playing / storytelling experiences. It was unique because the vast majority of our gaming is traditional with a fair bit of combat and the like. Has anyone else had success with scenarios like this in their campaigns?
#2
TregMallin
Jun 14, 2009 15:12:08 That sounds pretty fun, actually.

Fighter: I feel that the saltiness of the salty part really... er.... compliments the sweetness of the sweet part. Very well done.

Sarcastic wizard: it looked very good on the plate, but... (chews)... now that I have chewed it some more I must admit: I really regret having put it in my mouth. Mmph.
#3
tiwaztyrsfist
Jun 15, 2009 12:07:15 It depends on how well you worship and tithe.

If, like most adventureres, your reverance is limited to paying the minimum value for Raise dead, the you get loaves of Rye Bread and plain water.

If, however, you give generously to the church and pray regularly, they the spell creates big plates of bacon and chocolate milkshakes.
#4
raumz
Jun 16, 2009 4:04:02 Well. A while back a part of the adventure was dealing with the owner of a small tavern which happened to be a higher ranking member of the cult the PCs were trying to infiltrate. So they took the owner to the back, interrogated him and wound up killing him. They then set to work looting the place. I had not planned for this so I listed off some stuff you would expect to find in an inn. Ale, bread, some spices, some meats (raw and smoked) some vegetables and fruits ect. So the group took all of the stuff they could carry and headed back to the cabin they were staying in. After they got back and I said the sun had gone down one of them said he lit a fire and went through the food stuffs they had acquired to see what there was to use.
After going over the list he put together a decent meal using spices, meats, breads and veggies. I had him roll a cooking check to see if he burnt the stuff. The check passed and I was fairly impressed by this so I said due to the good meal they had they healed 50% more over night than they would have otherwise.
This caused a shift in the way the party viewed eating. When they are out on the road or traveling we still say they eat "rations" or bread and water. But when they are at their cabin they try to come up with good meal ideas from the food they have. One of them even took a few levels in cooking. One of them even started putting together a cook book in game.
I think this has added a neat new thing to our sessions with out getting tedious like most people might think it would. If the group doesn't feel like thinking up a creative meal then they go back to having jerky or bread and water.
This has also made it easier for me to come up with the contents of a bandit camp or a dungeon filled with marauders. Instead of it being a pile of loot some of the wealth goes into foods.
One time when the party killed off a small school of necromancers I had them find a small sack filled with spices. By the sack was a note reading how it had been delivered from a distant land and it was a fine blend of cooking spices that was sure to impress anyone. The funny part is the party seemed to care more about that one thing than all of the scrolls and potions they found in the entire building.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 paulstrait Jun 10, 2009 21:19:40	Looking for feedback -- has anyone run a session like this? or can anyone help me brainstorm other kinds of scenarios that will have a similar dynamic? * Background * In a 3.5 campaign I ran several years ago, I had a fairly unique session that sticks in my memory as one of my favorite nights of gaming ever. I want to create a similar session for my 4E -- not necessarily the same scenario, but some kind of scenario that engenders the same role-playing and story-telling experience. The day this session took place, I had a whole night of typical encounters and puzzles and the like planned. I had a roommate who had just decided to giving dnd a try. This roommate was in love with the food network, and his favorite television show was 'Iron Chef.' A few hours before the game, I had the following conversation with my roomate: Roommate: So, what kind of food do our characters eat? Me: uh... well... the clerics cast 'create food and water' as needed Roommate: Yeah, but what do they create? Me: I guess I never really thought about it... Roommate: Do the clerics get to pick the food they create at all, or do they get whatever their deity is serving? Me: I dunno -- we always have just treated it like rations? Roommate: Those are lame deities if the best they can do is rations... This conversation lead me to develop the following scenario. I didn't know if it would be a five minute diversion or a two hour one-- I was just going to see how it went, and gauge player interest. * The scenario * As the party was travelling, they ran into a tattooed monk from Kara-Tur (FR's asia). He explained that his order's most sacred charge was to protect the ancient art of gourmet cooking. Further, the order put on an annual cooking competition, and the winner received a tattoo (which had the end game effect of granting a neat 1/day power). But the monk had been separated from his order by a recent portal, and the day was almost over, and it was critical that he host his competition before the sun set. The competition involved a secret ingredient, which I randomly chose, and was between the two clerics of the party. After giving them the secret ingredient, they had 15 minutes to design their menu. They then cast create food and water, and described several courses involving the secret ingredient. Then, the rest of the party discussed the dishes, judging them based on how appetizing they sounded, how original they sounded, and whether themes from the religion of the cleric were incorporated in the dishes. The whole ordeal took around 2 hours without a single die roll, and my players described as one of their favorite role-playing / storytelling experiences. It was unique because the vast majority of our gaming is traditional with a fair bit of combat and the like. Has anyone else had success with scenarios like this in their campaigns?
#2 TregMallin Jun 14, 2009 15:12:08	That sounds pretty fun, actually. Fighter: I feel that the saltiness of the salty part really... er.... compliments the sweetness of the sweet part. Very well done. Sarcastic wizard: it looked very good on the plate, but... (chews)... now that I have chewed it some more I must admit: I really regret having put it in my mouth. Mmph.
#3 tiwaztyrsfist Jun 15, 2009 12:07:15	It depends on how well you worship and tithe. If, like most adventureres, your reverance is limited to paying the minimum value for Raise dead, the you get loaves of Rye Bread and plain water. If, however, you give generously to the church and pray regularly, they the spell creates big plates of bacon and chocolate milkshakes.
#4 raumz Jun 16, 2009 4:04:02	Well. A while back a part of the adventure was dealing with the owner of a small tavern which happened to be a higher ranking member of the cult the PCs were trying to infiltrate. So they took the owner to the back, interrogated him and wound up killing him. They then set to work looting the place. I had not planned for this so I listed off some stuff you would expect to find in an inn. Ale, bread, some spices, some meats (raw and smoked) some vegetables and fruits ect. So the group took all of the stuff they could carry and headed back to the cabin they were staying in. After they got back and I said the sun had gone down one of them said he lit a fire and went through the food stuffs they had acquired to see what there was to use. After going over the list he put together a decent meal using spices, meats, breads and veggies. I had him roll a cooking check to see if he burnt the stuff. The check passed and I was fairly impressed by this so I said due to the good meal they had they healed 50% more over night than they would have otherwise. This caused a shift in the way the party viewed eating. When they are out on the road or traveling we still say they eat "rations" or bread and water. But when they are at their cabin they try to come up with good meal ideas from the food they have. One of them even took a few levels in cooking. One of them even started putting together a cook book in game. I think this has added a neat new thing to our sessions with out getting tedious like most people might think it would. If the group doesn't feel like thinking up a creative meal then they go back to having jerky or bread and water. This has also made it easier for me to come up with the contents of a bandit camp or a dungeon filled with marauders. Instead of it being a pile of loot some of the wealth goes into foods. One time when the party killed off a small school of necromancers I had them find a small sack filled with spices. By the sack was a note reading how it had been delivered from a distant land and it was a fine blend of cooking spices that was sure to impress anyone. The funny part is the party seemed to care more about that one thing than all of the scrolls and potions they found in the entire building.