GM in need of some assistance

[krispy]

this is just a very brief breakdown but i hope this helps

you could try to use the old and outdated food pyramid as a means for headings for the food items and then designate a portion size for each item (say 250ml is a portion for water & 100grams is a portion for rice or canned meat)
Grains/cereals, meats, dairy, nuts/seeds, processed foods, mixed, miscelaneous etc

e.g. - searched next door kitchen, found:

3 portions of canned meats (300 grams)
4 portions of water (1 litre)
20 portions of grains/cereals (a 2kg bag of rice)
2 portions of nuts/seeds
is this what you were looking for??

now, when it comes to different food items

if refrigeration is not an option, and you are in a warmer climate then obviously perishables like fresh vegetable, fruits, milk etc wont last long at all and you would want to use those first

options to keep things cool: some people might know how to make a coolgardie safe. if not, puting things in waterproof containers and puting them in a river will extend the life of some of the foodstuffs that perish quickly

i have relatives that live near a deep river and even in the Australian summers (41 degrees celc. and up sometimes) that river is always cold

then you look at the more lasting things like pasta, rice, nuts, seeds, dried fruit etc they can keep you going for a while. it might be a smart idea if people actually tried to dry their fruit and veg as quiclky as possible

basically anything that helps preserve the life of perishables would be a great advantage to a group over the years of a game

we all know canned goods will last for years

sugar last years as well and though it isnt nutritious, a glass of sugar water will at least give you some energy

when it comes to how much people need to eat.... i work in the Health Field and i know the many varying opinions on that charged topic

[krispy]

since i replied ive had the feeling i went off topic sorry

ill be brief. food & nutrition are extremely important for you to function at an optimal level

and it can (& should) play a huge cornerstone in a game of survival

it comes down to calorie reqiurement for energy (like the fuel in your car) and protein (more specifically amino acids), vitamins (e.g B group vitamins for metabolism) and minerals (like calcium for bones) that are require for the rest.

now eating a candy bar will give you a heap of energy but not much in the form of nutrition....calories are easy to come by. like i said in my previous post, a bag of sugar will last years

so finding nutritious food is extremely important (e.g goat milk, eggs, avacado, meat)....multi-vitamin tablets can help a lot in a crux as a substitute (though not filling) for proper hearty nutritious food

some groups of people might try and keep the old routine of 3 square meals a day for continuity, but this can change greatly depending on the availability of food or your level of mobility

in the Health Field there is huge debate regarding the when and how much you should eat - like 3 square meals a day / 6 smaller meals a day / eat like a king for breakfast, a prince for lunch and a porper for tea / dont eat after a certain time etc etc

all i will say, is when most of society (therefore infrastructure) has crumbled and the world is full of Zeds who want to feed on you, humans will become opportunistic eaters grabbing a meal whenever they can and expect to go without food for a couple of days at a time sometimes

[krispy]

First off thank you for all the information you have posted its given me a few ideas on how to deal with my food issue in my games. but heres a better question. What have YOU done in your games about this major issue? have you ignored it? have you had a huge list of foods?

Most have heard the rule of 3s: 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food

Drinkable water is paramount, then comes food

For game dynamics I keep the amount of water an individual needs per day to be 2 liters (half a gallon), so 3 gallons of drinkable water for 6 individuals per day
This amount increases a bit depending on temperature and physical activity (how much you sweat) and I never really go over 4 liters (1 gallon) per person per day

If you are lucky to be near a fresh water river or lake, that solves a lot of problems, but if not then you have to go on water runs

I don’t know what it’s like in America, but in Australia we have gone water tank crazy due to our recent extremely long drought. So I get my characters to go on water tank (and bottle water) runs on a regular basis for the needs of the group. This includes enough to clean them and wash clothes. They have a couple of utes that have 500 liter tanks in the back to get the water (looking for something that can store more, and that runs)

(pg 58-59 SB2 ‘don’t drink the water’)

When it comes to food I was already doing what came out in the SBs (Pg 45/46 & 53-55 of SB1 & the random boxcar contents table pg 37-39 SB2)

But the nitty-gritty of exactly what a human being needs food wise (flashbacks on nutritional evaluations of someone’s eating habits and where they are lacking or excessive) is imho too much for an rpg

So I just did a very general portion amount of calories and protein (amino acids) for each character (based on age, gender and size) and increased it accordingly with physical exertion (generally up to twice daily requirement) and let the vitamins and minerals sort themselves out in the food they ate

All the while, I have been getting the group to consolidate their knowledge of how to find (wild food), prepare and preserve food and make it a goal to look for info on these topics (houses and book stores)

[Mech-Viper Prime]

remember the water heater for water , house with a fire spinkler system normally have a large storage drum with water. soda machines for drinks

[krispy]

remember the water heater for water , house with a fire spinkler system normally have a large storage drum with water. soda machines for drinks

i was always curious about the water for house fire sprinkler systems, houses in Australia dont have them (buildings and apartments do, but not houses)

[Mech-Viper Prime]

remember the water heater for water , house with a fire spinkler system normally have a large storage drum with water. soda machines for drinks

i was always curious about the water for house fire sprinkler systems, houses in Australia dont have them (buildings and apartments do, but not houses)

my house does because its mentally handicapped home and it's in the basement. so for apartment and business might be in the basement too
but there the extra water in the toilet's cistern.

[Illendaver]

A real issue that I am having is the Idea of being able to carry as much stuff as I can while still running full tilt away from a horde. I made my OCC an entertainer and decided that I was specifically a Ren Fair acter. I started with some pretty good gear, a battle axe and scale mail with a shield and helmet, the armor is a little noisey, but I would much rather have it than not. Sadly, I am not sure what to do about my food. Where can I carry it? I have a huge PS, but I need room to fight the zed so I can't carry everything all the time. I don't have a horse, and I am stuck in Denver (WORST PLACE I CAN THINK OF) So far I have broken into a few houses and stashed a few duffelbags into quiet corners so that I can come back and eat later, I haven't run into any other living folks and it doesn't look like I am going to any time soon. I can't carry all my food with me while I am searching for other people/extra stuff and the last thing I need is to be trying to outrun a horde while I am bogged down with 2 duffel bags full of gear that I have found. Cars are worthless because they are almost everyplace so no road space. My GM is trying out a kinda weird gameplay style. Its completely one on one untill you find somebody else in Denver (which is huge, its kinda likely that I will get eaten before I find anybody) and then he sets up a time for you and whoever you have found to play together. Really helps build the tension, but I am not going to make it at this rate. Anybody have any suggestions for my food problem?

[Illendaver]

Wow, I just found out that three out of five players have been eaten in my game already. Only I and the mechanic have not had to roll up new chars yet. (One guy has been eaten twice! We have only been playing for a month) I must be lucking out somehow. Any place else I could find MREs? So far I have limited myself to the same grocery store over and over, I don't want to clean out a bunch of places just so that the zombies can move back in.