Comestibles and satiation

Comestible items are, as the name says, items that you can eat. They are very important, as almost all species need to eat, or they will grow hungry and eventually die of starvation. Luckily, there are many sources of nutrition in the Dungeon for the resourceful adventurer.

Overview

Hunger and food in Dungeon Crawl is a significant issue, one that can break a game. Characters start with a full stomach, but grow steadily hungrier over time. Some races need more or less food than others, but characters also use more food when fighting and/or casting spells. (Time spent waiting to heal or otherwise recover is also an issue.) Food is provided in two main forms: big chunks of raw meat, and "permafood" (everything else).

Meat is plentiful (in most areas), but it's heavy to carry around, and soon rots to inedibility. Not only is some monsters' meat risky or deadly to eat, but even the safer options are nasty raw meat, carved from the still-oozing corpse of a monster! (You know you're in a tough game when rat and worm meat are among your better options!) Most species (non-carnivores) can't bring themselves to eat meat chunks unless they're hungry enough not to care, or unless their appetites have been altered. (Alas, plant and fungal monsters do not leave corpses.)

In contrast, "everything else" (ranging from massive bread and meat rations, to fruits and vegetables you won't find in your local grocery) does not spoil, and so can be collected and stored against future need. Permafood includes meat, vegetarian, and "neutral" options, making various items more or less useful to characters with the Carnivore or Herbivore traits. There are a few special items:

• Royal jelly is not only an ultimate permafood in its own right, it grants the effect of a potion of restore abilities.
• Ambrosia restores mana at the cost of confusion. Besides providing considerable nutrition, it has these effects:
  • You are confused for 1d8 + 2 turns, on top of any current confusion (identical to a potion of confusion).
  • Your MP regeneration rate greatly increases for several turns.
• As a final note, the various fruits are special to Fedhas Madash, and his worshipers can use them to power the god's special abilities.

Satiation levels

Your satiation level is determined by the number of "nutrition units" you have left. Most characters will use at least three food points per turn, more if fighting. Using spells and special abilities can also use a lot of nutrition. (See "hunger", below, for details.)

Label	Nutrition
Starving	<1,000
Near starving	1,001 – 1,533
Very hungry	1,534 – 2,066
Hungry	2,067 – 2,600
Satiated (nothing displayed)	2,601 – 7,000
Full	7,001 – 9,000
Very full	9,001 – 11,000
Engorged	11,001 – 12,000 (max.)

Effects of satiation

• If you're at level "Satiated" or more, most characters get no special bonus or penalty, although at level "Engorged", you can't eat anything, with no other special penalties. You also can't wield a vampiric weapon unless you are at least "Full".
• At level "Hungry" or lower, non-carnivores are allowed to eat chunks.
• At "Very Hungry", you can't go berserk or invisible until you reach "Hungry" again.
• At level "Starving", you get a −3 penalty to hit when fighting, and the damage you inflict is reduced by (1d5 − 1). You can't use most spells and abilities. If you are under 500 points of satiation, there's 1/40 chance that will lose consciousness for 1d8 + 5 turns. If you fall to 0 points, you die of starvation (unless you're undead).
• Undead characters are handled specially:
  • Mummies, and characters in lich form, are exempt from the food clock and do not need food at all. (Nor can they consume it.)
  • Vampires do not butcher corpses, but instead drain them. From level 6 onward, they can create potions of blood from corpses. They cannot starve to death, but both their powers and their vulnerabilities will be maximized by great thirst. Notably, they cannot take bat form, nor long remain in it, when Satiated or more (be careful eating over deep water or lava!). They do suffer most of the penalties of starvation, except for death and the to hit penalty on non-unarmed attacks.
  • Ghouls cannot become Full no matter how much they eat, but they don't accumulate food beyond "Satiated" level; any food points accumulated above 6,999 are wasted. They can't actually starve to death, but when Hungry or worse, they will rot much faster, which may well kill them.

Chunks

Corpses of fallen monsters can be butchered (command c) to produce chunks of raw meat, which can then be eaten. This should be your characters main food source, but beware, not all monsters leave clean meat, and some chunks are harmful in other ways. Most species can only eat chunks when hungry or worse. Under certain circumstances, however, your character can eat raw meat at will:

• Wearing an amulet of the gourmand will give you both the ability to eat chunks even when not hungry, and protect you from contaminated meat. These effects will be minimal at first, with full nutrition and protection taking effect after 200 turns.
• Gaining any level of the Carnivore mutation. This gives the nutritional benefits of an amulet of the gourmand, but does not protect against sickness. It will, however, increase the satiation value of all meat (not just chunks).
• Being a Kobold, Troll, or Ghoul, who start with the Carnivore mutation. These species, along with Ogres and Hill Orcs, also have the Saprovore trait, which protects against contamination and even allows them to eat rotten meat.

The ability to easily stuff yourself until Very Full or Engorged makes a huge difference in your margins of safety, especially for spellcasters and large species.

Chunks come in the following varieties:

Chunk type	Colour (ASCII)	Monster	Effects
Clean	White	Most animals	No harmful side effect. Your satiation increases by 1,000, less if you are an Herbivore. Ghouls have a 80% chance of healing (1d5 − 1) + 1d(experience level) damage, and a 67% chance to unrot 1 HP.
Rotten	Light grey	All chunks after 200 turns	Only Saprovore species (see above) can eat rotten chunks. Hill Orcs and Ogres get the 80% of the nutrition of a clean chunk, but they have a 20% chance to become nauseated for 99 + 1d100 (more) turns (and sick for 49 + 1d100 (more) turns, if nauseated). If they are nauseated, the nutrition value is halved and the chance of nausea is doubled. Trolls and Kobolds get 93% of the nutrition and the chance to become nauseated is only a 7%. Ghouls never become sick -- instead, they heal (1d5 − 1) + 1d(experience level) damage, with a 80% chance to unrot 1 HP, and a 20% chance to restore 1 point of lost Strength. If not eaten, rotten chunks eventually rot away completely.
Contaminated	Brown	Humanoids mostly	It provides 66% of the nutrition of a clean chunk. 33% chance of making you nauseated for 99 + 1d100 (more) turns (and you become sick for 49 + 1d100 (more) turns, if nauseated). If you are nauseated, the nutrition value is halved and the chance of nausea is doubled. Saprovores face much less risk: 93% of nutrition and a 7% chance of nausea for Hill Orcs and Ogres; 98% of nutrition and a 2% chance of nausea for Trolls and Kobolds; and none at all for Ghouls.
Poisonous	Green	Poisonous creatures	If you're resistant to poison, you get the effect of a clean chunk (note that the chunk will be displayed in white and not green if that's the case). Otherwise, you don't get any nutrition, and you're poisoned for several turns.
Contaminated + Poisonous	Green	Occasional species	Some monsters such as scorpions have meat which is both poisonous and contaminated. (If you're poison-resistant, the chunks will be listed in brown.)
Mutagen	Purple	Aberrations	Causes a random mutation instead of providing nutrition. After 200 turns, those chunks will rot in a special way and will only grant bad mutations. Ghouls get the effect of a clean chunk instead (or a rotten one if it's rotten).
Rot-inducing	Red	Necrophages and Ghouls	You don't get any nutrition. You start to rot for several turns, which reduces your max HP until it is fixed. Ghouls get the effect of a clean chunk instead (or a rotten one if it's rotten).

Religious restrictions

All of the "good gods" (Zin, The Shining One, Elyvilon), plus Beogh, forbid followers to eat the meat of their own species (cannibalism). If this happens, you lose 10 piety and gain 10 penance points. In addition, Zin forbids followers from eating chunks from "beings with souls", meaning any monsters with intelligence higher than animals. For "normal" intelligence monsters, you lose 5 piety. For "high" intelligence monsters, you lose 10 piety and gain 5 penance points. This is not cumulative with the cannibalism penalty, and applies even to evil monsters. To prevent mistakes, chunks from "restricted" corpses are displayed in red (in ASCII mode).

• "Normal" intelligence monsters are mostly humanoid or half-humanoid monsters: humans, orcs, giants, goblins, kobolds, centaurs, yaktaurs, nagas, ogres, trolls…
• "High" intelligence monsters (which leave corpses) include: Centaur warriors and yaktaur captains, all draconians, all elves, Orc sorcerers and high priests, Guardian and greater nagas, Hell knights, necromancers and wizards, Giant orange brains and great orb of eyes, Killer Klowns, Ogre-mages, Shapeshifters and glowing shapeshifters, Serpents of Hell, Sphinx, Titans, and several unique monsters (Nessos, Polyphemus, Antaeus, Tiamat and Nergalle).

Worshippers of Fedhas Madash aren't formally limited in their diet, but many of their god's abilities can or must use fruit, so it's unwise to eat those fruits instead.

Nutritional values of food items

This list is ordered from most to least nutritious for normal eaters. "Density" is food units per aum of weight, for normal eaters. Note that meat chunks take three turns to eat, rations (bread or meat) take four turns, and all other foods require two turns. It's worth keeping some quick snacks in your inventory for emergencies!

Food	Normal Nutrition	Carnivore Level 1	Carnivore Level 2	Carnivore Level 3	Herbivore Level 1	Herbivore Level 2	Herbivore Level 3	Weight (aum)	Density (normal)
Meat ration	5,000	5,500	6,000	6,500	3,500	2,000	0	8	625
Royal jelly	5,000	5,000	5,000	5,000	5,000	5,000	5,000	5.5	909
Bread ration	4,400	3,400	2,400	0	4,900	5,400	5,900	8	550
Piece of ambrosia	2,500	2,500	2,500	2,500	2,500	2,500	2,500	4	625
Honeycomb	2,000	2,000	2,000	2,000	2,000	2,000	2,000	4	500
Snozzcumber	1,500	1,000	500	0	2,000	2,500	3,000	5	300
Slice of pizza	1,500	1,500	1,500	1,500	1,500	1,500	1,500	4	375
Beef jerky	1,500	1,700	1,900	2,100	1,300	1,100	0	2	750
Cheese	1,200	1,200	1,200	1,200	1,200	1,200	1,200	4	300
Sausage	1,200	1,350	1,500	1,650	800	400	0	4	300
Chunk	1,000	1,100	1,200	1,300	500	0	0	10	100
Orange	1,000	700	400	0	1,300	1,600	1,900	2	500
Banana	1,000	700	400	0	1,300	1,600	1,900	2	500
Lemon	1,000	700	400	0	1,300	1,600	1,900	2	500
Pear	700	500	300	0	900	1,100	1,300	2	350
Apple	700	500	300	0	900	1,100	1,300	2	350
Apricot	700	500	300	0	900	1,100	1,300	1.5	467
Choko	600	400	200	0	800	1,000	1,200	3	200
Rambutan	600	400	200	0	800	1,000	1,200	1	600
Lychee	600	400	200	0	800	1,000	1,200	1	600
Strawberry	200	150	100	0	250	300	350	0.5	400
Grape	100	80	60	0	120	140	160	0.2	500
Sultana	70	50	30	0	90	110	130	0.1	700

Other sources of satiation

Potions

• A potion of blood (or coagulated blood) might increase your satiation by 200 more. Carnivores always get this, normal eaters have a 75% chance, herbivores lose another 25% per mutation level (that is, a level 3 herbivore has 0% chance). If this test fails, you get sick, instead of the 200 satiation. The good gods forbid their followers to drink blood, but if it was unidentified, you'll get off with a warning.
• potion of blood and coagulated blood provide Vampires with 1000 and 800 satiation respectively. Vampires cannot consume any other "consumable" for satiation.
• A potion of porridge will increase your satiation by 6000, unless you have Carnivore level 3.

Religion

If you're a follower of Zin (not under penance) and you're starving, praying will restore your hunger state at Satiated (6000 points). (Costs Piety, restock works according to gift timeout).

Fountains

Drinking at a blood fountain will increase your satiation as if you were drinking a potion of blood.

Drinking at a water fountain will increase your satiation as if you were drinking a potion of water.

Drinking at a sparkling fountain may increase your satiation appropriately if you get the effect from a potion of blood (or coagulated blood), porridge, or water.

Cards

Drawing the "Feast" card (Deck of Oddities) will set your Hunger state at 12,000 (Engorged).

Hunger

Hunger per turn is proportional to time taken during that turn, except if you were walking with a movement delay greater than 10 auts; In that case you will consume food (and regenerate) as if that delay was 10 auts. This means that fast races gain less hunger, but slow races and followers of Cheibriados don't gain extra hunger.

Each turn, the player uses a certain amount of food. This is calculated as follows:

Base hunger: 3

This is modified as follows:

Species/mutations:

• Slow Metabolism −1 for level 1, −2 for level 2
• Fast Metabolism +1 per level
• Troll +3 (on top of their Fast Metabolism 3)

If you are currently:

• Regenerating (as the spell) +4
• Invisible +5
• Hasted (but not berserk) +5
• Follower of Cheibriados with at least 30 points of piety -1

Equipment worn:

Equipment	Effect
ring of sustenance	Decreases hunger rate by 40%, rounded down (see below)
randart with "Hunger-" attribute	Except for one case, a randart ring of sustenance.
randart with ability "speeds metabolism"	+1 to +2
Troll leather armour	+1 or +2 (same chance) (only when injured, if you are not a Troll)
ring of regeneration	+2 (only when injured)
randart with ability "greatly speeds metabolism"	+3
ring of hunger	+4

The effect of the rings of sustenance was changed in 0.10 to make them more useful for characters with a very fast metabolism. It used to reduce hunger by 2 points. After the change, it uses this formula:

New hunger = (3 * Hunger)/5

This number is then rounded down. For most races, this equals a reduction of hunger by 2 points, but for some, it may be more or less.

The "Hunger-" autoinscription usually only appears on randart rings of sustenance, but it also appears on the unrand Black Knight's horse barding. That artefact, however, only provides a basic -2 to hunger, not a 40% reduction. On non-mutated centaurs, this will be the same as a ring of sustenance, however.

After all things are considered, minimum hunger is still 1.

Base hunger rates by race

The "basic" hunger rate (taking account of racial factors and in-built mutations) one can expect when playing a given race is listed below:

Race	Hunger rate
Spriggan	1
Halfling	2
Ogre	4
Centaur	5
Troll	9
Everyone else	3

The hunger rate of Vampires depends on their hunger status:

Status	Hunger rate
Bloodless, Near bloodless, Very Thirsty	1
Thirsty	2
Not thirsty	3
Full	4
Very Full	5
Alive	6

Other sources of hunger

Normal food consumption isn't the only way to decrease satiation: fighting, abilities, and spells eat up sustenance, as well.

Fighting

• Making a regular melee attack makes you consume an additional 3 points of satiation
• Ending a berserk phase decreases your satiation level by 700 (be careful!).
  • Vampires who are unable to berserk (because they're at Satiated or less), but drink a potion of berserk rage, will lose 100 satiation right away.
• Wielding a vampiric weapon takes a huge amount of satiation, perhaps 5,000 points. It's usually only possible when you're Full or better.
• Being damaged by a hungry ghost has a 50% chance of decreasing your satiation by 1/4; if it hits you but does no damage, it still has a 5% chance of decreasing your satiation by 1/4.

Spellcasting

Casting a spell reduces your satiation level by an amount depending on the spell level, your Intelligence and your Spellcasting skill. This can be reduced by wielding a staff of energy, which allows you to cast for 1/3 the normal food cost. Hunger costs can be eliminated by being in lichform.

The base cost is given by the spell level:

Level	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Base cost	50	95	160	250	350	550	700	850	1,000

This amount is then reduced by your intelligence multiplied by your Spellcasting skill. (Vampires then halve this amount if they are hungry or very hungry, or reduce it to 0 if they are starving or near starving.)

The second page of the spell screen (command I, then I again) hints at the amount of satiation that each spell you know will cost:

• None: 0
• Sultana: 1–14
• Strawberry: 15–40
• Choko: 41–120
• Honeycomb: 121–400
• Ration: 401+

Abilities

Several intrinsic abilities have a food cost. This cost is random in the following range, with a bias toward average value:

Ability	Cost
Blink	51 – 100
Bolt of Draining	101 – 200
Breathe Fire	126 – 250
Breathe Frost	126 – 250
Breathe Poison Gas	126 – 250
Breathe Lightning	126 – 250
Breathe Power	126 – 250
Breathe Sticky Flame	126 – 250
Breathe Steam	126 – 250
Channeling	31 – 60
Fly (Tengu)	101 – 200
Fly (Draconian)	26 – 50
Hellfire	201 – 400
Invisibility	251 – 500
Levitate	101 – 200
Spit Acid	126 – 250
Spit Poison	41 – 80
Teleportation	201 – 400
Throw Flame	51 – 100
Throw Frost	51 – 100

Evoking an ability from an item has the same satiation cost as if it was your own ability.

Cards

Drawing the 'Famine' card (Deck of Oddities or Punishment) sets your satiation level to 500 (Starving).

History

Prior to 0.6 turn hunger was not proportional to you.time_taken.