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#1 antioch Aug 20, 2005 15:37:43	Fooding Up; Expanded Your Profession Antioch's Soapbox “Hello, we getting food or what?” –Ronnie Cordova, Sockbaby. First and foremost, I apologize to the various food puns that are interspersed throughout this article, it was not my original intention to include them, but then I couldn’t help myself. This article was inspired not only by a cook prestige class on the Wizards message boards, but also (and primarily) by one Jon Estey, who has taken it upon himself to role-play a half-drow cook in my current campaign. I will note now that the rules and information here are not something that will appeal to many, and certainly not for powergamers. More or less, it’s just meant to add a degree of flavor, something that role-players should appreciate. These rules also demand that either the DM track the amount of raw ingredients a character is carrying that can be used in cooking, or a good deal of trust that the character wont cheat their way into these benefits. Profession (cooking) The Player’s Handbook delves very little into the actual function of how cooking works, simply providing you with a generic catch-all rule on how the Profession skill works as a whole, allowing you to make half your check in an equal amount of gold pieces during one week of work. However, it is possible that a player may take upon himself the role of the party cook, making memorable meals that provide a much desired break from the typical dried rations that a party may be forced to endure for weeks at a time, providing a very worthwhile service to their friends. Optional Rule: Skill Synergy If you have 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (local), you gain a +2 bonus on Profession (cooking) checks because you know what sort of dishes are typically to be had in a given area, and what sort of foods the populace will most likely appreciate. Cooking Food The average 1st level character with maximum ranks in Profession (cooking) and an average Wisdom score will, on average, make enough food to equate a single gold piece worth. The Player’s Handbook lists poor quality meals as 1 sp, featuring bread, water, and possibly onions or baked turnips. Common meals rank in only slightly higher with the inclusion of chicken stew in addition to carrots and ale or poor quality wine. Finally, good meals boast an array of pastries, hearty meats, vegetables, and good ale or wine. These prices are pretty much based around the quality of the food itself, and not the manner in which it is prepared; poor meals include the basics of bread, water, and vegetables that typically are very cheap or generally considered to be poor tasting. The more expensive meals include ingredients that are harder to get, not in ready supply, or simply taste better alone. Cooking DC Meal Quality 5 Poor 10 Common 15 Good +5 Increases the quality by one category (see Healing and Other Benefits below). Cooking a complete meal generally demands anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour or more depending on the food being prepared and the number of people you are preparing it for. Food cannot be prepared faster than usual (such as by making an exceptionally high DC check, or by suffering a penalty) without lowering the quality or potentially incorporating health hazards. Players must elect before making the skill check the quality of the meal they are going to make. The cost for cooking a poor meal is 5 cp of ingredients. The price increases to 1 sp and 5 cp for a common meal, and finally to 2 sp and 5 cp for a good meal. This price increases by 1 sp and 5 cp each time the DC check increases by five points. The player must have sufficient ingredients on hand to cook as well, demanding at least 1 ½ sp of raw foodstuffs per poor quality meal she wishes to make, for example. If the character decides to invest more expensive food items into making a meal, she receives a +1 bonus on the skill check per 5 gp beyond the normal required price. The DM has the final authority on the limitation of this usage. You shouldn’t allow a player to try and cram twenty pounds of food down another character’s throat in order to glean a hefty hit point boost (see Healing and Other Benefits below). Optional Rule: Preserving Food Food spoils if not properly maintained, and given time, will spoil regardless. Even in our day and age, refrigeration and freezers are not fail-safes against time. A logical assumption of players that know how to cook also knows how to keep food edible, if not fresh. This application of cooking assumes DMs are actually incorporating rules, if applicable, pertaining to food spoilage. If the players have no means to keep food fresh, then they will be forced to either eat rations, or continuously gather or hunt for food each day. This rule allows a simple DC 15 check to allow the player to maintain food in an edible state, if not tasty. For each 2 points the check exceeds 15, the player can keep it fresh for one additional day beyond the time it would actually spoil. The DM has the final say on the period in which food spoils, but generally meat lasts only one day, Healing and Other Benefits Healing in D&D occurs at a rate of either one hit point each day if the character engages in any taxing activities, or one hit point per level if the character is resting. Other than that, no other factors need be involved aside from the possibility of Heal checks to spur this process along. In a recent campaign, the two DMs introduced another element of healing; healthy eating. As they are not rules advocates like myself, the rule was more or less an abstraction, pretty much slapping on bonus hit points as they saw fit while we rested during travel if we were eating healthily. The idea of the rule is that the better quality food we ate, the faster we would heal due to our bodies getting a more complete array of vitamins and nutrients than you would from eating say, pasty gruel. This rule makes sense, and with works with only a slight addition of complexity. Using the rules detailed under “Cooking Food” above, simply provide each player with a bonus hit point for each quality category above common. For example, players eating good meals would gain a bonus of +1 hit point for each day they continued to eat meals of at least that quality. There are no official categories above good, but basically for each 5 points the DC exceeds 10, resting characters recover one more hit point than they actually would otherwise (+2 for a DC 20, +3 for DC 25, etc). Good food can also keep people in high spirits. If a character has the time and comfort to eat a DC 25 or higher prepared meal, she benefits from a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and skill checks for one hour. Also, they receive a +1 bonus to their Fortitude save when making a Forced March check. Time and comfort means that the character or creature is not being hurried or rushed, nor is being distracted by other conditions such as harsh weather, a battle, or other loud, rowdy characters. In addition to the bonus gained to avoid nonlethal damage due to forced marching, characters who stop to eat for one hour after suffering nonlethal damage from a forced march can remove their fatigued status as well as 1d6 points of nonlethal damage by eating a DC 20 prepared meal. By each 10 points that the meal exceeds 20, they heal +1d6 points of nonlethal damage. This only heals nonlethal damage suffered from a forced march, and cannot restore more hit points than a creature’s maximum, nor can the creature gain temporary hit points in this way. Other Skills An appropriate Knowledge check can provide the character with insight as to what the specific creature might eat, and thus how to appropriately feed it. Taking the above skill synergy into further depth, the DM should provide the chef with such a bonus depending on the PCs pertinent Knowledge skills in regards to his audience. Of the Knowledge skills, Knowledge (nature) is the most important. Such a character has a working knowledge of various plants, fruits, berries, and more. This allows them to determine which are edible, or potentially fatal. Used in conjunction with Survival and Profession (fishing) checks, a PC can not only catch or gather fresh food, but also prepare them depending on what they were able to find or catch. Freshly cooked fish, properly seasoned, will garner many more thanks to a hungry party than if served raw (in addition to being free of bacteria and parasites). Spellcasting cooks might elect to combine their culinary practice with alchemy, generating strange new foods that can be beneficiary, baleful, or just plain strange. See the Equipment section below. Also, the Appraise skill is useful for cooks shopping for exotic herbs, spices, and utensils. New Feats The following feats should serve to add some flavor to your campaign. Edible Familiar [General] You can devour parts of your familiar to heal yourself. Prerequisites: Must have a familiar. Benefit: As a full-round action you can consume a portion of your familiar, healing yourself for a number of hit points equal to the damage you inflict. You can inflict any amount of damage you wish so long as it does not exceed the familiar’s hit point total, to a minimum of one hit point. Use of this ability provokes an attack of opportunity. Source: Ducking Around Entertainment. Imbue Course [Item Creation] You can imbue your food with almost magical effects. Fasting [General] Your religion or personal beliefs mandate that you sacrifice either the first or first and second meals of each day. Benefit: You only need to eat one-half the normal amount of food each day to prevent starvation. Once per day, you can call upon this inner devotion to grant yourself a +1 bonus on an attack, saving throw, or skill check. Source: Ducking Around Entertainment. Feeding Frenzy [Monstrous] Upon tasting the flesh of another creature in combat, you become a ravenous engine of destruction. Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +5, bite attack. Benefit: Once per day, upon inflicting damage against a living creature with your bite, you can enter a frenzied state. This is in effect identical to the 1st level barbarian rage class feature, except that you are not fatigued at the end of the effect. Furthermore, each time you successfully damage a living opponent with your bite attack you must make a Will save (DC 10 + damage dealt) to avoid entering the frenzy. Special: You may take this feat more than once, each time gaining another use of this feat each day. Source: Ducking Around Entertainment. Professional Cook [General] You are a masterful expert of the culinary arts. Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on Profession (cooking) and Knowledge (nature) checks. Jaws of Death [Monstrous] Your bite is incredibly powerful and deadly. Prerequisites: Feeding Frenzy, base attack bonus +10. Benefit: While raging or in a feeding frenzy, your bite attack deals normal damage plus your full Strength modifier. If it already deals full Strength damage, then it deals 1 ½ times your full Strength modifier. In addition, the threat range of your bite attack is doubled while raging. Source: Ducking Around Entertainment. Scavenger [General] You feed on whatever you can find. Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on Survival checks and on Fortitude saves made to resist diseases. Source: Ducking Around Entertainment. Tools of the Trade Characters that elect to focus in the culinary craft should consider the following equipment. New Equipment Cook Book: A cookbook contains recipes and instructions on making a wide variety of foods. It allows a character to use the Profession (cooking) skill untrained, using their base Wisdom modifier. Despite this, even trained cooks carry these around to detail personal recipes and discoveries. Cook’s Outfit: Similar in appearance to an artisan’s outfit, this outfit comes with a white shirt with buttons, a skirt or pants, chef’s cap, shoes, and a white apron with a pouch to carry utensils. Cooking Bag: This complex backpack holds various pouches and sections for holding and sorting unworked materials and ingredients for cooking food. Areas for holding herbs, spices, and even preserved fruits, vegetables, and meats are available, as well as space to hold a cookbook. Cooking Utensils: This set of various cooking tools (silverware, scoops, ladles, knives, cleavers, etc) is necessary for the character to perform Profession (cooking) checks unimpaired. Otherwise, the cook takes a –2 penalty on such rolls, having to improvise. Cooking Utensils, Masterwork: As with cooking utensils, except a broader array of items in addition to being of superior craftsmanship. They provide the cook with a +2 bonus on Profession (cooking) checks. Item Cost Weight Cooking bag 3 gp 2 lb. Cook book 5 gp 2 lb. Cook’s outfit 1 gp 4 lb. Cooking utensils 5 gp 10 lb. Cooking utensils, masterwork 55 gp 10 lb. New Special Substances and Items Exploding Pumpkin: This is an alchemical creation similar to that of a flask of alchemist’s fire, except that it deals 1d4 points of bludgeoning damage to all creatures within a five-foot radius. Crafting an exploding pumpkin requires a DC 20 Craft (alchemy) check. Warm Milk: A vial of this thick, sweet tonic forces any creature drinking it to make a DC 10 Fortitude save, failure rendering the creature unconscious for 1d4 minutes. The creature can otherwise be woken through normal means without any ill effect. Crafting a vial of warm milk requires a DC 25 Craft (alchemy) check. Weeping Onion: Cracking open this specially treated onion releases a barely visible cloud of green gas in 10 ft. radius around it, forcing creatures to make a DC 12 Fortitude save or suffer a –2 penalty on Spot checks as their eyes begin to water. Crafting a weeping onion requires a DC 25 Craft (alchemy) check. Item Cost Weight Exploding pumpkin 35 gp 3 lb. Warm milk 50 gp – Weeping onion 30 gp 1 lb. New Magic Items Cauldron of Cooking: This magical pot appears to be made from a black metal, adorned with halfling icons and pictograms of various food items. When used as part of a Profession (cooking) check, the user gains a +3 enhancement bonus. Also, the cauldron of cooking may be used to conjure forth vast amounts of food once per day, feeding up to ten individuals with a thick, hearty stew. Prestige Class: Chef D'epelle Requirements To qualify to become a chef d’epelle, a character must fulfill all the following criteria. Feats: Professional Cook, Skill Focus (profession [cooking]). Skills: Profession (cooking) 10+ ranks. Class Skills The chef d’epelle’s class skills (and the key ability for each) are Appraise (Int), Concentration (Con), Craft (any) (Int), Knowledge (local) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Profession (any) (Wis), and Survival (Wis). Skills Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier Class Features The following are class features of the chef d’epelle. Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A chef d’epelle knows how to use any cooking utensil as a form of defense, treating such tools as either a dagger or club as appropriate. A chef d’epelle does not suffer a penalty for using them as improvised weapons. A chef d’epelle otherwise does not gain proficiency with any weapons, armor, or shields. Ambrosial Cuisine (Ex): A 1st level chef d’epelle’s food is inspiring, almost magical in nature, imparting lasting benefits to those who consume it. The number of creatures that can be fed varies depending on the result of her Profession (cooking) roll, but otherwise has no limit. A chef d’epelle selects one of the cuisines below each time she gains a level in chef d’epelle. She can choose to prepare any meal as one of the ones she knows how to make, continually granting the listed bonuses. Such effects do not stack if the chef d’epelle uses the same meal more than once. A creature may gain the effects of no more than two ambrosial cuisines at a time. Creatures must be alive and able to consume the food (creatures without mouths or metabolisms, such as most oozes and undead, for example, cannot benefit from this effect), as well as creatures without Intelligence scores. Brain Food: +2 enhancement bonus to Intelligence and to Will saves for ten minutes per rank in Profession (cooking). Hearty Meal: Grants the Endurance feat for one hour per rank in Profession (cooking). If affected creature already has Endurance, the bonus is increased to +6. Fast Food: +4 enhancement bonus to Constitution but also incurs a –1 penalty to initiative checks and Reflex saves for one hour per rank in Profession (cooking). Fine Dining: +4 enhancement bonus to Charisma for ten minutes per rank in Profession (cooking). Meat Buffet: +2 enhancement bonus to Strength and to Fortitude saves for ten minutes per rank in Profession (cooking). Midnight Snack: Food must be served before sleeping. Creatures only need four hours of sleep in order to be completely resting. Each additional use requires a successful Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1 per each additional night without full amount of sleep) if used more than one night in a row. Has no effect on creatures that do not actually sleep. Spicy Dish: Base land speed is increased by 10 feet, and when charging affected creatures gain a +4 bonus to attack rolls instead of the normal +2. Effect lasts for ten minutes per rank in Profession (cooking). The bonus to speed is an enhancement bonus. Vegetarian Platter: +2 enhancement bonus to initiative checks and Reflex saves for ten minutes per rank in Profession (cooking). Improvised Utensils (Ex): A 1st level chef d’epelle is never without tools, able to use seemingly mundane items and objects to great effect. A chef d’epelle suffers no penalties to her Profession (cooking) checks when she uses improvised tools in the process. Master Cook (Ex): A 2nd level chef d’epelle gains a +2 bonus on Profession (cooking) checks. Taste Testing (Ex): A 2nd level chef d’epelle can detect whether food is poisoned or otherwise containing harmful bacteria by simply smelling it or by consuming a tiny portion. The chef d’epelle must succeed a DC 15 Wisdom check to detect the harmful substance. If she detects a contaminant she may choose to discard the food or attempt to sanitize it. The chef d’epelle is in no danger of contracting the disease or becoming poisoned by use of this ability unless she fails to detect the harmful substance and consumes a normal amount. Medicinal Herbs (Ex): A 2nd level chef d’epelle knows which herbs and spices carry medicinal properties. She can make Heal checks to cure poison and diseases using her ranks in Profession (cooking) skill instead. Fascinating Preparation (Ex): A 4th level chef d’epelle can choose to use a variety of awe-inspiring moves as she makes her food allowing her to distract those that are watching her. Creatures must be within 60 feet and be able to see the chef d’epelle. Other distractions such as combat or obvious dangers prevent this ability from working. The chef d’epelle can fascinate one creature in this fashion per three ranks in Profession (cooking) beyond the first (two at four ranks, three at seven ranks, etc). The creature is entitled to a Will save with a DC equal to the Profession (cooking) check made by the chef d’epelle. If the Will save succeeds, that creature cannot be affected by the chef d’epelle’s preparation method for 24 hours. If the Will save fails, the creature watches the chef d’epelle as she cooks, suffering a –4 penalty to skills made as reactions, such as Listen and Spot. An ally of the chef d’epelle that approaches the fascinated creature requires another skill check (and allow another Will save with a DC equal to the new skill check). Obvious dangers such as a weapon being drawn, or a spell being cast, automatically breaks the effect. Sanitization (Ex): A 4th level chef d’epelle knows of certain materials and techniques to eliminate harmful contaminations in food. Doing so takes ten minutes, after which time the chef d’epelle makes a Profession (cooking) check against the save DC of the disease or poison in the food, essentially allowing the food to make a Fortitude save using her skill as the bonus. If the check is successful, the contaminant is removed, and the food may be consumed without ill effect. The DM may rule that certain foods cannot be sanitized, such as food that has been extensively infected by mold. Exemplary Chef (Ex): A 5th level chef d’epelle has mastered the art of cooking, gaining a +5 bonus on Profession (cooking) checks. This overlaps the bonus provided by master cook at 2nd level. In addition, she also gains a +5 bonus on Knowledge (nature) checks in regards to edible herbs and spices, and to Survival checks when foraging for food. The Chef D’epelle Class Level Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special 1st +0 +0 +2 +0 Ambrosial cuisine, improvised utensils 2nd +1 +0 +3 +0 Master cook, taste testing 3rd +2 +1 +3 +1 Medicinal herbs 4th +3 +1 +4 +1 Fascinating preparation, sanitization 5th +3 +1 +4 +1 Exemplary chef Spells with Spice Faerie Food Enchantment Level: Drd 4, Sor/Wiz 4 Components: V, S, M Casting Time: One minute. Range: Touched meals. Target: One meal/level. Duration: See text. Saving Throw: Will negates. Spell Resistance: No. This spell may be used to perform a variety of effects, chosen by the caster during the casting of the spell. Once chosen, it cannot be changed until the duration expires. It affects one meal per caster level (maximum of 20), sufficient to feed a Medium size creature. Affected creatures must be of the Humanoid type. Slumber: Renders targets unconscious if they fail their Will saves. Creatures with more less than 5 HD sleep for one minute per caster level, while creatures with more than 5 HD but less than 10 HD only sleep for one round per caster level. Creatures with ten or more Hit Dice cannot be affected. Enthrall: Dining creatures become enchanted by either the caster, the person who prepares the food, or the meal’s host, as the caster chooses. Creatures that fail their Will saves regard the designated recipient of the spell’s effects as friendly (as per the spell charm person). The magical effects of the spell last as long as the meal or event including the meal does, or up to one hour per caster level. Gorge: Creatures that see the enchanted food must succeed a Will save or become consuming food uncontrollably. They must then succeed a Fortitude save with the same DC or become nauseated for one minute per caster level afterwards. Curse: The affected food has some harmless curse attached to it. Those who eat from it must succeed a Will save, failure resulting in a number of bizarre effects such as skin changing color, body being covered in fur, uncontrollable hiccups, and more. The caster chooses one such affect, but can select a different curse for each meal including in the spell’s area of effect. Generally, such ailments impose a penalty to many Charisma checks until alleviated (such in the case of skin or hair modifications), but in some cases such as hiccups can impose necessary Concentration checks when casting spells with a verbal component. Remove curse is sufficient to remove this application of the spell. Material: A pinch of powdered sprite’s wing. Fellowship’s Break Conjuration [Creation] Level: 3 Effect: Meal for one creature/2 levels Duration: 1 hour plus 4 hours; see text As heroes’ feast, except as noted above and the spell does not create tables and chairs, but rather conjures forth a simple yet hearty breakfast for each creature. After consuming the meal, creatures are immediately granted another saving throw against any diseases or sicknesses they might have with a +4 sacred bonus. For the next four hours, they receive a +4 sacred bonus on saving throws against poison. They are also healed of 1d8 points of damage, +1 per level (maximum of +10). Finally, affected creatures also receive a +1 morale bonus to attacks and Will saves for the next four hours. Divine Banquet Conjuration [Creation] Level: Clr 9 As the spell heroes’ feast, except as noted above and as follows. Creatures become immune to all poisons and diseases for the next 12 hours. All creatures are affected as by a lesser restoration spell. Creatures gain 2d8+15 temporary hit points. Finally, each creature gains a +4 morale bonus on attack rolls and Will saves, and is immune to fear effects. Exploding Pumpkin Conjuration (creation) Level: Sor/Wis 2, Drd 4 Components: V, S, M, DF Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: 50 ft. Target: One creature Duration: Instantaneous Saving Throw: Reflex half You create an exploding pumpkin, which you immediately hurl at a nearby creature, causing it to explode. The pumpkin has a range of 50 feet and inflicts 1d6 points of damage per caster level (maximum of 10d6) to a five-foot radius. Half of this damage is fire damage, while the other half is bludgeoning. Material: A couple pumpkin seeds. Slippery Peel Conjuration (creation) Level: Sor/Wiz 1 Components: V, S Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Close (25 ft. +5 ft./level) Target: One creature Duration: Instantaneous Saving Throw: Reflex negates This simple spell was first created by a gnome as a prank, but quickly found circulation amongst other races, in particular humans. Use of this spell creates a banana peel beneath the foot of another creature, causing them to slip and fall prone. A Reflex save allows the creature to maintain their footing. Creatures without feet (such as most oozes) cannot be affected by this spell, and quadrupeds such as centaurs and horses receive a +2 racial bonus on their saving throw.
#2 reverendcow Sep 01, 2005 19:26:58	Wow. That's all I can say. Wow. Actually, I can say more. Last year, I played a hybrid game and put together a Tauren (Warcraft, think more intelligent Minotaurs) character who was a chef, in addition to his regular character stuff. He carried around a huge magic cookbook that, when you selected a recipe contained therein, it would create all of the necessary tools to cook said recipe, except for ingredients and fire. When the food was prepared, all of the utensils would disappear, except for the dinnerware, which was gone after the meal. His favorite meal was Assassin Vine Salad with Gnome Roast.
#3 khelvaster Sep 07, 2005 22:36:53	All the cook power falls short of two simple spells: Create food/water and prestigation. With these spells, uber-tasting food can be magically created.
#4 zombiegleemax Sep 20, 2005 10:38:02	Cooking a complete meal generally demands anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour or more depending on the food being prepared and the number of people you are preparing it for. In an otherwise good article, this is way out of place. Cooking a complete meal should take at least an hour if not longer, not including total preparation times. Yes, today we can do this, but not with the technology present in a common D&D campaign. The common meal of bread, water and onion or turnip soup probably took 2-3 hours of prep work and then 1-2 hours of cooking. When a common meal is offered at the tavern, the prep work and most of the cooking is already done. The bread was prepared that morning and allowed to rise until mid-late afternoon and then started to cook (sifted flour, kneaded the dough, set and then allowed to rise). The soup was prepared after the bread and then put into the water to soak and then started to simmer about the same time as the bread (cleaned and prepped the onion or turnip itself and then spiced - they didn't have spice containers, they had the spice plant itself hanging in the kitchen and had to take some of the spice off and cut it down to size and then put it in the soup/stew). If the publican had gold for some meat, there might be a meat stew offered (which takes a little longer prep and cook time) or they may offer a meat dish itself. Much like a modern restaurant, a lot of the work is already done by the time we sit down at our table and before we order what we want. I guess that's a long way of saying cooking wasn't so easy as the quoted statement makes it out to be.
#5 antioch Sep 30, 2005 12:29:35	First of all, let me say that I'm sorry about formatting. I've tried contacting WizOs about using my edited version (which for some reason all the extensive formatting that I used was not included). This is basically the culmination of about two days of slamming out ideas and information. I'm working on another big article which I plan on posting relatively soon if I don’t get word from Dragon. Second, thank you for the appreciating. I'm happy with the rating that this has garnered, and hope many enjoy the inclusion of new rules. This is a refined version of the "fooding" rule we use in my current campaign (by the by, if you have never heard of Fooding Up, head to www.sockbaby.com and be enlightened). Onto the second post, while its true that you can conjure food using the third level cleric spell, that is the usage of a 3rd level spell (which could be better applied elsewhere). Also, the food is nourishing, but bland. I take it to mean that this is basically the barebones method of feeding your party, and thus gains no benefit as described above. With prestidigitation, all you can do is flavor the food, and that only lasts for an hour. Its a very limited spell, and at the least could be used to make food taste better. Good for RPing applications, but not much else. Again, sorry about the look of it. If you go to www.daegames.com and click on Articles > D20 Machine, it’s also there, in glorious perfection.