Rock your players world: Serve them Iron Rations

Surprisingly this is not that difficult to do and while iron rations are not tasty, the certainly are a change from the snack foods most of us serve.

For GM's who like immersion into their game world, having the players smell and taste what their characters are eating can really get them into the game. And hey it looks less silly than robes and a wizard hat.

Midrea Style Iron rations

#1 Hard Tack about 4-6 ounces . This is based on US civil war allotments here. A daily ration would be about 1lb on the march. I figure its bad tasting , the players are sedentary and its a snack anyway so 4oz will do.

#2 A skin of non alcoholic wine or beer- You can let this sit for a while to give it that gamy wineskin taste just by pouring it before the players arrive and leaving it in the room . Off of course in groups where driving is not an issue and everyone is of legal drinking age, feel free to use real wine or beer. Two Buck Chuck seems about right .

#3 a Little Salt in a cloth bag

#4 Pemmican. Not the beef jerky of the same name or the energy bar, but the real deal, dried meat and fat.

#5 Dried Fruit, mixed. You can add this to the pemmican of you like as well.

#6 Some hard cheese. I like to leave mine out for a few hours but you'll have to decide if thats safe on your own

#7 A little bowl of something pickled, I like sauerkraut but pickled cucumbers are also a good choice.

#8 A little honey

Serve this in those silly wooden bowls and mugs you bought at Ren-Faire and you are good to go.

As always know your players and make sure there are no allergies or food safety issues ....