DELICIOUS IN DUNGEON: Let the Players Do The Creative Cooking

But seriously, "D-in-D" IS a good manga

Jumping again on the gravy train that is Delicious in Dungeon posting. Here is a post by Grinningrat looking at how to do a Delicious in Dungeon setup, but pointing out that one issue is that most systems are reactive instead of listing in the monster manual what ingredients are found on/in each monster. They lay out 3 nice versions of how to do monster parts.

BUT TO ME, THIS PROCESS TAKES TOO LONG: Each monster might have ~3-5 ingredients and, for instance, the Level 1 monster encounter table for BX D&D includes 20 monsters. This means that a DM would be generating up to ~60-100 unique “things”. I’d rather make a 60-100-room dungeon if I am going to come up with so many things. 

But before I tell you might alternative, the fantastic blog d4 Caltrops of course already has d100 tables for this sorta thing here (Monster Parts for Magical Research) and more distantly related here (Magical Marginalia). The AD&D DMG also has a listing of properties associated with gems that could be useful as well.

MAKE PLAYERS DO THE COOKING: The key piece: let the players provide the connection between the raw material harvested and its use. To me, that connection should be alchemical, occult, religious, or use dream-reasoning and not scientific (they can also use anything of IRL myths). Then write it down in your house-rules doc if you agree. This cuts a lot of time and offloads the creative work while also adjusting the depth of this “crafting” to the level of involvement your players want. If you have real Bobby (S)lay on your hands then they can have at it- you have a campaign to run!

NECTARS, SALTS, BILES, HUMORS, & ESSENCES: Monsters, creatures, and undead of the dungeon produce nectars, salts, biles, humors, & essences. 

• Nectars are from “plants” only or plant parts of monsters: e.g. yellow musk creepers or violet shriekers

• Salts are from rock/stone only, including things monsters turn into stone (I’d also put ground gems in here): e.g. living statues or victims of medusas

• Biles might have to be squeezed or processed out of some “organ” including venoms/poisons: e.g. paralyzing substance from carrion crawler or dragon breath weapons

• Humors would be liquids present in the corporal body: e.g. blood from giant rats which will putrify anything

• Essences might be from things like incorporeal undead, “cloud”-type things, or semi-liquid things like oozes/puddings that don’t have a real differentiated body. Essences could also be from things that are astral or ethereal in origin which might require special equipment to harvest: e.g. black pudding or displacer beast

These categories are not my own, but I think was another good blog post that I can’t seem to find– please, dear readers, if you know the post I’d love to link it. 

Distilling components takes time, prep, & skill

MANUFACTURE OF MAGICAL MONSTER MATERIAL

RAW MATERIALS PRESENT (2-in-6): This is the base chance that a character has to obtain the raw ingredients from the corpse/remains of some dungeon creatures that’s just been hacked apart in melee. Things are a mess and it is likely the desired part/organ has already been butchered by the end of combat. OR it might be the body quickly decomposes, dissolves, disappears, or detonates depending on the creature and can't be gotten to quickly enough.

RAW MATERIAL REFINING TO COMPONENT (DOWNTIME ACTION): During downtime roll 1+1d4 to determine how many raw materials can be processed (if a PC has multiples). Then spend 100sp for each chosen raw material and the DM rolls 1d20 (plus INT bonus) to determine the results of these efforts.  The character may add their level to the d20 roll, but a natural “1” is always “EXPLOSION!”. Gain 100 xp per successful component manufactured. Each refined component takes up a slot.

01 | EXPLOSION! No component & replace equipment, lodgings, and answer to the guard

02 | WHAT’S THAT SMELL? No component & your suspect activities land earn a guard visit

03 | POISON… yeah best not use that…

04-07 | RENDERED INSERT. Bubble, bubble, toil, and trouble…for nothing. No component.

08-17 | SUCCESS! Manufacture 1 unit of nectar, essence, bile, salt, or humor

18-19 | IMPROVED YEILD: 3-in-6 chance manufacturing 2 units otherwise 1 unit

20 | DOUBLE YEILD: Manufacture 2 units of substance

Notes: “POISONS” can be used offensively, but likely will also endow the target with a monstrous property in a very negative, monkey’s paw sorta way. “WHAT’S THAT SMELL?”: remember until a PC gets their own domain space, they are essentially trying to cook fantasy meth in the village– this can have consequences in a world where magic is real/dangerous. If a PC would like to somehow modify some aspect of the process or take shortcuts, perform the same procedure as above, but roll 1d10 (if its really on the fly, 1d8).

HOW TO USE YOUR MYSTICAL SPICE RACK: Again this should be a conversation between the DM and player, but letting the player take the lead and provide the occult rationale as to why these components can be used or used in lieu of time/money/skill in the preparation of something. Here are also a couple of other thoughts on components:

• A substitute for 100 sp or 1 week of time when writing a scroll

• Enhance the spell if used during casting (+1 target, re-roll a “1”, or increase duration 1 turn)

• Speed up the creation of a spellbook

• 3 components to manufacture a potion at no cost provided the components are harmonious

• 1 component for each of the five senses is needed to create a magic weapon/item

• Be sold to a NPC MU for some negotiated amount (at least 100sp)

THIS POST WASN'T ABOUT FOOD! It wasn't. The post above has leaned more toward things a Magic-User (or Elf) PC might want to do mainly because it provides them with a way to enhance and augment their early-level magic. But this system could still be used for a cooking bit too. Same deal as above. Collect raw materials (meat). And prepare it rolling a 1d20 (+ WIS bonus) to see how well you did:

01 | W.T.F! No rations. Meat has gone wrong & something tracked the smell (roll on encounter table)

02 | WHAT’S THAT SMELL? No rations. The cooking might have attracted attention (encounter check)

03 | POISON… No rations. Yeah don't eat that...

04-07 | BURNED. But it looked so easy when nan did it. No rations.

08-17 | DELICIOUS! Feed everyone; +1 to HP and next hireling loyalty check

18-19 | THIS IS AMAZING!: Feed everyone; +1 to HP and hireling loyalty improves +1

20 | (SPEECHLESS STUFFING THEIR FACES): Feed everyone; next single save or death & dismemberment is at advantage

Ah, dungeon food. Delicious in dungeon.

DESTROY ALL MONSTERS: The Magic ofKing of Tokyo Is Magic For Kids

 

While on vacation, I had the opportunity to introduce the kids I was with to Richard Garfield King of Tokyo. The kids picked it up very fast and had a lot of fun (I was happy to see the other adults taking an interest in the game as well)!

Given it won a fair bit of awards, I'm not writing this to convince you of the game's value as Richard Garfield as worked his magic again, BUT I did want to highlight why I think this is a particularly good game for kids:

1. Great theme- monsters punch other monsters! This isn't skipping though some candy land. Or collecting fish or apples. Or whatever other BS is peddled to kids. Monsters. Punch. Monsters. 
2. Letting kids roll dice multiple times. Often in games for kids, rolling dice is fun but you only get to do it once. This game is a Yahtzee style where you roll 3 times before deciding what you want to keep. This also helps control grumpy feelings on not rolling the best on a turn.
3. Symbols are easy for kids to understand because most likely they've encountered them in video games: hearts for health, lighting bolts for energy cubes, claw for attacks, and numbers for points; the procedure is easy to follow as well as roll x3, resolve, buy power-up cards with green cubes, and end your turn.
4. You know who else likes big monsters punching each other? Adults. See also Pacific Rim. This is a great game for adults, teens, & kids to play because it features dice as a center of play. Dice always level the playing field because each player is equal chance of rolling something good. However, with two goals (victory points or being last monster standing) and power-up cards, there is ample strategy to be found in the game.
5. The key which I think makes the game really sing for kids is the "king of the hill format". This removal of choice in who you deal damage to prevents kids (and teens) from ganging up on one monster the strong potential source of tears and hurt feelings which can quickly ruin the game. In the game, when a player rolls punches, they either deal deal damage to all other monsters outside of Tokyo or if they are outside of Tokyo they deal damage only to the monster inside Tokyo. After taking damage the monster inside Tokyo can decide to leave and effectively pulls a monster outside of Tokyo into the center.

I also have two suggestions for quick modifications. First, there is no difference between monsters. The card board counter is just to track health and victory points and the stand is just simply a picture. So DIY your own monsters from drawings or pictures from movies or lego-- just anything. Second, if you really want to differentiate, then give each monster a random 3 Energy Point "Keep" card as an individual power.

 

My favorite monster from the first edition