Food and Drink

This is a list of all the foods and drinks available for purchase from vendors. With the exception of rations, these foods are generally freshly prepared and meant for immediate consumption. While some of these foods may keep for a while after purchase, they are not intended to be carried around in a backpack for days on end (except for rations).

As a note, the listings for Ale are the same prices for beer, cider, mead and other light alcoholic beverages. The listings for wine represent the prices for any other fancy alcoholic beverages (such as absinthe, mixed drinks, etc.), and the listings for spirits are the prices for any hard liquors, such as whiskey, vodka, brandy, etc.

A round of drinks for the bar

• Cost: 5 gp
• Weight: lbs
• Craftable? No
  • Skill: -
  • Check DC: -

This is, quite simply, a round of drinks for all the customers in a typically-sized bar or tavern. This price assumes a standard "house" ale, rather than anything fancy, and a crowd of approximately 40 patrons. Larger venues or better booze will increase this price at the GM's discretion. Note that most bar patrons will be perfectly happy to get a free tankard of the house's ale, regardless of how crappy it might be. Remember that if they had higher standards, they wouldn't be at /this/ bar.

A round of drinks can be a good distraction to slip away unnoticed, a good way to focus everyone's attention on the bartender instead of somewhere else, or it can be used to improve the mood of the bar's patrons. As a result, buying a round of drinks typically grants a circumstance bonus of +4 for a single Stealth, Sleight of Hand or Perform check made within the tavern in question, and within one minute of announcing the free drinks. This bonus may be larger or smaller at the GM's discretion, depending on just how the PC's set things up.

Ale, cheap (1 pint)

• Cost: 5 cp
• Weight: 1 lb
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Brewer)
  • Check DC: 10

This is a pint of cheap ale, served at room temperature in a glass of questionable cleanliness.

Ale, decent (1 pint)

• Cost: 8 cp
• Weight: 1 lb
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Brewer)
  • Check DC: 15

This is a pint of decent ale, often served slightly chilled (since it came out of the cellar) in a decent glass. The barkeep will want that glass back, though.

Ale, fine (1 pint)

• Cost: 1 sp
• Weight: 1 lb
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Brewer)
  • Check DC: 25

This is a pint of fine ale, served slightly chilled (since it came out of the cellar) in a decent glass. Fine ales are often imported from famous breweries, either nearby or distant. In lower-quality taverns, fine ale isn't available at all, or will just be the house ale in a nice glass (still costs the same as fine ale, though. It's best to know your bars before you start flashing all that gold around, Captain Moneypants.)

Ale, watery (1 pint)

• Cost: 3 cp
• Weight: 1 lb
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Brewer)
  • Check DC: 10

Watery ale is the swill they serve to the people too drunk to know better (and usually, they'll try to charge the 'cheap ale' price), or in places truly too despicable to have anything better to serve. The crud on the glass that this tepid backwash is typically served in is probably more nutritious than the ale itself. Bartenders will cut their ale with water to save a little money, thinking their clientele either won't notice, or are too intimidated to complain about.

Banquet Feast (per person)

• Cost: 10 gp
• Weight: 10 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Cook)
  • Check DC: 30

One person's portion of a massive cornucopia of rich, delectable foods prepared by a talented chef. Eating this way more than once or twice a month will probably lead to significant health problems, but you'll really enjoy the process.

Bread, heel

• Cost: 1 cp
• Weight: 0.1 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Cook)
  • Check DC: 5

The discarded heel of a loaf of bread, often a chunk that was either over-cooked or under-cooked, and in any case, always a portion that was deemed inadeqate to serve to paying customers. Many taverns and restaurants will generously sell heels of bread to the poor at the end of the day, thinking they're performing a charitable service. In truth, they probably are, since most of the impoverished folks that buy them are hard-pressed to find a better source of calories for the price.

Bread, loaf

• Cost: 2 cp
• Weight: 0.5 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Cook)
  • Check DC: 5

A whole loaf of crisp-crusted, soft-centered bread, fresh from the oven. Yum! In most villages and towns, this will be a rich dark bread like pumpernickel, with traces of molasses added for flavor. Larger cities might have many varieties of bread, including sourdough, rye and wheat. White breads are quite rare, as they require a degree of wheat processing not frequently available.

Cheese, hunk

• Cost: 1 sp
• Weight: 0.5 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Farmer)
  • Check DC: 15

A half-pound hunk of cheese. Cheeses vary in type from town to town, and are largely determined by what cultures are present in the molds they use to press the cheese and age them. The most common cheese will most resemble a very firm cheddar or swiss, though many other varieties exist. Soft cheeses, like ricotta or cream cheese, tend to be rare.

Comfortable Meal

• Cost: 5 sp
• Weight: 2 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Cook)
  • Check DC: 15

A comfortable meal is the normal dining fare of a comfortable lifestyle, and features a good diversity of fruits, nuts, grains, breads, vegetables, meats and cheeses. The amount of preparation and culinary expertise required to make a comfortable meal is not terribly high, but the quality of the ingredients, and the attention to wholesomeness is quite high. Someone eating comfortable meals three times a day will remain healthy, fully nourished and never feel hungry. Comfortable meals usually come with a pint of decent ale, or a glass of fresh-squeezed juice from some local fruit.

Kaff (1 cup)

• Cost: 2 cp
• Weight: 0.5 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Cook)
  • Check DC: 15

Kaff, also called coffee by the less civilized, is a hot drink made from a bean. The bean is roasted and ground up, and hot water is poured through the grounds, filtered (as the grounds are not very tasty) and sometimes served with sugar and/or cream. The ground beans are usually discarded after a single cup of Kaff has been filtered through them. The drink is a moderate stimulant, and can be somewhat addictive, though not to a degree requiring a Fort save. Because it requires a fair bit of preparation, it is very difficult (though not impossible) to prepare Kaff in the wilderness over a campfire (or even a portable fire). The beans lose their potency very quickly after being ground, and getting the water to just the right temperature can be tricky.

Kaff, Exotic (1 cup)

• Cost: 1 gp
• Weight: 0.5 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Cook)
  • Check DC: 20

Exotic Kaff uses beans of higher quality, often imported from distant lands. The beans used are usually revered for the strength of the Kaff they produce. Exotic Kaff is hardly ever sweetened or diluted with cream, and is instead consumed from tiny cups while piping hot. It is a strong stimulant, and quite bitter. Because it requires a fair bit of preparation, it is very difficult (though not impossible) to prepare Kaff in the wilderness over a campfire (or even a portable fire). The beans lose their potency very quickly after being ground, and getting the water to just the right temperature can be tricky.

Meager Meal

• Cost: 5 cp
• Weight: 0.5 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Cook)
  • Check DC: 5

A meager meal is often a small quantity of food of questionable quality and low nutritional diversity. This is the sort of meal people are served in prisons -- just enough to keep them alive, but not enough to let them feel full or even prevent food poisoning or undernourishment. Meager meals might be a mealy apple and some watery ale, or perhaps a small chunk of fatty pork (doubtless someone's leftovers) on a heel of bread. It is not uncommon for a meager meal to be dirty or slightly rotten, but it is still a big step up from scrounging food out of trash piles.

Milk

• Cost: 3 cp
• Weight: 0.5 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Farmer)
  • Check DC: 5

A glass of milk. It does the body good.

Modest Meal

• Cost: 3 sp
• Weight: 1 lb
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Cook)
  • Check DC: 10

A modest meal is a step up from a meager meal, primarily in that the meal is actually prepared on purpose, and doesn't have much dirt or mold on it. This is the sort of meal someone with little cooking skill might prepare for someone they care about. A decent variety of ingredients of varying freshness is present, and someone who eats nothing but modest meals is in little danger of either starving, becoming malnourished or getting food poisoning. That said, modest meals are a little on the skimpy side, and don't really provide that satisfying "full" feeling a better-quality meal would.

Noble Meal

• Cost: 2.5 gp
• Weight: 5 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Cook)
  • Check DC: 25

A noble meal is defined by having generous portions of meats, pastries and vegetables usually well-seasoned and crafted with a variety of imported and unusual foods, then slathered in complex sauces and garnishes. Only the best chefs can even attempt the sorts of culinary creations common to a noble meal. Noble meals don't actually offer any greater nutritional value than a wealthy or even a comfortable meal, but they are a genuine pleasure to consume. Chefs preparing such meals often focus on specific taste aspects, balancing acidity with bases, enhancing savory flavors with hints of spicy or sweet undertones. Noble meals are nearly always served with fine wines, and often contain multiple courses, including delicate, rich desserts served with a brandy, or a hot cup of Kaff.

Rations, Elven Trail

• Cost: 2 gp
• Weight: 0.1 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Cook)
  • Check DC: 45

Elven trail rations have three major advantages over traditional trail rations. First, they are very lightweight, even though they provide the same nutritional value of standard trail rations. Second, they will never spoil, no matter how long they are carried around. Third, they actually taste like food, unlike trail rations, which often taste a bit like used shoe leather. Elven trail rations are, consequently, highly sought after by adventurers with a little extra cash to throw around. Unfortunately, they are quite difficult to prepare (even for Elves), and making a single day's worth of Elven trail rations takes an entire day's effort. This means that, despite their high price, they are often difficult to find, and even more difficult to find in large quantities. A single Elven trail ration is enough food for one person for one day.

Rations, Trail

• Cost: 5 sp
• Weight: 1 lb
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Cook)
  • Check DC: 15

Standard trail rations consist of strips of salted meat jerky, and usually some sort of dehydrated soup stock, wrapped in cloth for portability. The soup stock is a soft block of fatty, salty goo that, when added to hot water, makes a reasonable broth. The jerky can be cut into smaller chunks and added to this soup to give it some texture. Skilled woodsmen can usually scavenge some nearby edible vegetation (edible grasses, leaves, mushrooms and/or spring onions) to turn it into something genuinely tasty. While it is possible to eat the soup stock without putting it in hot water to turn into broth, it's pretty disgusting this way. A single trail ration is enough food for one person for one day.

Spirits, aged (bottle)

• Cost: 15 gp
• Weight: 3 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Brewer)
  • Check DC: 15

A whole bottle (approximately 1 liter) of aged spirits. Aged spirits can be any hard liquor, such as whiskey, vodka, brandy, etc. This particular bottle is a fine example of the craft, having been aged in a large barrel for between 8 and 10 years to gather flavor and complexity.

Spirits, aged (glass)

• Cost: 1 gp
• Weight: 0.5 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Brewer)
  • Check DC: 15

A small shot glass of aged spirits, which could be any hard liquor, such as whiskey, vodka, brandy, etc. This glass of spirits is a fine example of the craft, having been aged in a large barrel for between 8 and 10 years to gather flavor and complexity.

Spirits, rare (bottle)

• Cost: 1,000 gp
• Weight: 3 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Brewer)
  • Check DC: 25

A full bottle (approximately 1 liter) of rare spirits, which could be any hard liquor, such as whiskey, vodka, brandy, etc. Rare spirits can be aged as much as 50 years before being bottled, and often come from famous estates that have a strong reputation for excellent products. Rare spirits such as this are so prized by collectors that they are rarely even consumed, since the prestige of having an unopened bottle is often as satisfying as the taste of the actual spirits in question.

Spirits, rare (glass)

• Cost: 50 gp
• Weight: 0.5 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Brewer)
  • Check DC: 25

A small glass of an extremely rare and fine spirit, which could be any hard liquor, such as whiskey, vodka, brandy, etc. Rare spirits can be aged as much as 50 years before being bottled, and often come from famous estates that have a strong reputation for excellent products. Rare spirits such as this are so prized by collectors that they are rarely even consumed, since the prestige of having an unopened bottle is often as satisfying as the taste of the actual spirits in question. However, you're here to drink, and this is some of the finest adult beveraging that can be had by a humanoid on the Prime Material plane.

Spirits, rotgut (bottle)

• Cost: 3 gp
• Weight: 3 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Brewer)
  • Check DC: 10

A bottle of the old rotgut, this can be any hard liquor, such as whiskey, vodka, brandy, etc., but is not a very good example of its peers. It will, however, get the imbiber well and truly plowed, if they drink enough of it. Which is probably the point of buying this stuff. It doesn't taste very good, and it will consistently give you a merciless hangover the next day. Also, being seen drinking this can be damaging to your reputation, if you care about such things. At least have the common decency to hide it in a paper bag before you drink it.

Spirits, rotgut (glass)

• Cost: 5 sp
• Weight: 0.5 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Brewer)
  • Check DC: 10

A small glass of some of worst whiskey, vodka, brandy or other hard liquor you've ever tasted. I'll have another!

Street Vendor Meat Pastry

• Cost: 1 sp
• Weight: 0.5 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Cook)
  • Check DC: 15

This golden brown pastry is filled with a ground meat, seasoned with some cumen, cayenne and salt, with a hint of what is probably cheese (you hope). It is dripping with grease and difficult to eat without spilling the contents all over yourself, but it is also one of the finest things you've ever tasted. It seems like there should be a law forbidding such tasty food from being served at such reasonable prices. If the peasants catch on, they'll discover happiness, which can't be good for the country.

Tea

• Cost: 2 cp
• Weight: 0.5 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Herbalist)
  • Check DC: 15

A cup of steaming hot water, steeping several leaves and herbs to give the water a soothing, mildly spicy flavor. Sometimes served with honey and/or a little bit of cream.

Tea, Ceremonial

• Cost: 2.5 sp
• Weight: 0.5 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Herbalist)
  • Check DC: 25

Ceremonial tea uses specific herbs which often have religious or cultural significance. This hot beverage is somewhat bitter, but has a variety of complex flavors if one cares to pay attention to it. Ceremonial tea is used differently in each culture, but often symbolizes a truce between the drinkers, or some other convocation of a meeting. This tea can also be used to create a symbolic link between the drinkers, as each shares the brew from a single pot, taking a bit of sustenance from a common pot.

Tea, Meditation

• Cost: 30 gp
• Weight: 0.5 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Herbalist)
  • Check DC: 20

A cup of hot water steeped in several herbs and leaves which induce a calming effect on the drinker. Meditation tea is useful for helping someone to focus on a single issue, or to focus on nothing at all. It can also make sleep easier to find.

Tea, Tansy

• Cost: 1 sp
• Weight: 0.5 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Herbalist)
  • Check DC: 10

A single cup of tansy tea, this is a milky, syrupy tea which can render a female humanoid sterile for 24 hours. In larger doses, it can be toxic.

Wealthy Meal

• Cost: 1 gp
• Weight: 3 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Cook)
  • Check DC: 20

A wealthy meal offers more complex foods and multiple courses to the diner, using a variety of fine ingredients as well as spices. The meal is usually paired with wine or ale, and the preparation of the meal requires a large, well-stocked kitchen and either a very skilled chef, or a staff of reasonably skilled cooks. This preparation is so complex that a household which serves this sort of meal will never stop cooking, even overnight (though nighttime is usually reserved for less intense preparation like letting dough rise, slow-cooking a large meat, or cooking down a broth. Wealthy meals are very filling and delicious.

Wine, common (bottle)

• Cost: 1 gp
• Weight: 3 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Brewer)
  • Check DC: 15

This is a bottle (approximately 1 liter) of common wine (or any other "fine" beverage, such as absinthe, that isn't a hard liquor). Common wine is usually made locally, and is only notable in that it quenches thirst and is somewhat alcoholic. It is neither unpleasant nor noteworthy.

Wine, common (glass)

• Cost: 4 sp
• Weight: 0.5 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Brewer)
  • Check DC: 15

A single glass of common wine (or any other "fine" beverage, such as absinthe, that isn't a hard liquor). Common wine is usually made locally, and is only notable in that it quenches thirst and is somewhat alcoholic. It is neither unpleasant nor noteworthy.

Wine, fine (bottle)

• Cost: 10 gp
• Weight: 3 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Brewer)
  • Check DC: 25

This is a bottle (approximately 1 liter) of fine wine (or any other "fine" beverage, such as absinthe, that isn't a hard liquor. See "Spirits" for hard liquor). Fine wine is often imported or from a famous vineyard estate. Fine wine is satisfying, tasty and carries complex flavors, but is not especially rare or hard to find. However, fine wines that have been aged for 10 or more years can become quite valuable, if the vintage is reputed to have been a particularly good one.

Wine, fine (glass)

• Cost: 2 gp
• Weight: 0.5 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Brewer)
  • Check DC: 25

This is a single glass of fine wine (or any other "fine" beverage, such as absinthe, that isn't a hard liquor. See "Spirits" for hard liquor). Fine wine is often imported or from a famous vineyard estate. Fine wine is satisfying, tasty and carries complex flavors, but is not especially rare or hard to find.

Wine, watery (glass)

• Cost: 2 sp
• Weight: 0.5 lbs
• Craftable? Yes
  • Skill: Profession (Brewer)
  • Check DC: 15

This is a glass of common wine (or any other "fine" beverage, such as absinthe, that isn't a hard liquor. See "Spirits" for hard liquor) which has been watered down. In some cases, this improves the wine to a more drinkable state, but in most cases it is just done out of greed by the establishment serving it. The dilution makes the wine less potent and less flavorful.