[Swordbearer] Starvation

[lev at rpgreview.net]

> Hello all.
>

Hi Kai,

> Has anyone here run a Swordbearer campaign where the availability of
> food played a big role? If so, how did you deal with it? I'm looking for
> a way to determine when characters become incapacitated due to lack of
> food and how long they can keep crawling through the wilderness on an
> empty stomach.
>

Well, I guess the first rule is how much of an issue should it be in a
game. In D&D, for example, trivial Create Food and Water spells make it
almost a non-issue in most situations. In Swordbearer however, it can be
more of an issue, and the game system seems to appeal for crunchy
realism... The following is for humans; other species (especially
non-mammals) will have significant divergence from these.

1) A character requires their Strength in abstract food units per day. If
you like, each point of Strength = c1,000 kj. If a character does not
receive this, their Mass will decrease by 1 point for every shortage of
food units equal to their current Mass.This represents burning off "excess
fat".

e.g., Portly Joe has a Strength of 10, and a Mass of 15. Whilst travelling
through the wilderness, he steels his will and lives on minimal supplies
of beef jerky, dried fruit and nuts and only consumes 5 food units per
day. After 3 days (shortfall of 5 units per day) his Mass decreases by 1,
and will continue to do so until it reaches the character's Strength.

2) The quantity of food required varies according to activity level. As a
general rule of thumb, a sedentary character only requires 50% as much
food, whereas an active character would require 50%. Note that "active"
here is being used in the medieval context of a fantasy setting. Most
people in a contemporary developed country are sedentary. Most of us
probably eat too much (really?).

e.g., After the third day Portly Joe feels a little light-headed as he
reaches the first waypoint in his journey. He decided to spend a day
resting. His food requirements are only 5 units, so he suffers no
shortfall.

3) If the character's Strength is already higher than their Mass, or their
Mass is reduced to the character's Strength and they still are not
receiving sufficient food, then the character begins to starve. Again
using the food unit system, the same applies, except now effective
Strength, effective Agility and effective Intelligence. Note that a
character's reduced Strength is the metric used for the amount of food
units required.

e.g., The less Portly Joe, after some months of travelling deep in the
wilderness, is down to Strength 10, Mass 10. He's actually looking quite
fit rather than Portly. But the lack of excess body fat is now going to
take its toll. After two days on half-rations, he loses an effective point
of Strength, Intelligence and Agility. He's light-headed, weakened and a
bit clumsy. After another couple of days, he loses another effective point
in each of those characteristics... And then, in three more days (remember
the loss slows down), another point...

Things are looking grim for the less than Portly Joe. If he doesn't find a
real supply of food soon, he's in trouble.

Anyway, that's entirely off the top of my head. It looks like it would
work, and it seems somewhat accurate in terms of the gradual decline that
a person without food faces.

Hope this helps,


Lev