[RPG] Minor Creation and food

dnd-3.5efood-and-drinkspells

So, a hungry wizard walks into a bar… And then gets kicked out before he's able to get any food in his stomach. He throws some curses and then remembers – he has some olives left, as well as a Minor Creation Spell prepared. So he casts the spell, gets more olives than he can eat and goes off for some other business.

Now, here's the question: what is going to happen after the spell expires, given he has even slower metabolism than his hours/caster level allow? In other words – can Minor Creation be used for constant food supplying, or it is basically a bad idea?

Best Answer

The game does not provide guidelines for this.

D&D 3.5 is not a "life simulator". It is a game whose mechanics largely involve abstracting combat against fantasy monsters. How a character handles the digestion of magical food is a detail the game simply does not address. In fact, the game doesn't seem to consider food an important topic in general, it often being handwaved away. Digestion is way below the simulation threshold - unless it has to do with fighting monsters.

Nevertheless, you are asking a question about a situation that can come up. People can and always will come up with questions the game can't not address, given the open-ended nature of RPGs.

In D&D, such questions are mostly answered by the DM. The DM makes some kind of ruling, and the game continues. If you are the DM in this situation, I suggest you go with whatever ruling that you think is...

  • most likely to improve fun at the table right now (is it funny to have a Wizard with a suddenly-rumbling stomach?)
  • most likely to improve the story being told (could a Wizard dying of magically-induced malnutrition be a good plot point?)
  • most likely to enrich/improve the players' experience of the game world (does it being possible for any 1st level Psion to create food from nothing have an odd effect on the setting?)

    ... and so on. In any case, you're going to have to make a decision for yourself. The game doesn't help you.