Quote from: Spinachcat;1093471That's exactly what the dwarf PC did! At one point we had an adventuring caravan, and one cart was just Dwarf Chow. I really liked the caravan idea because we actually hired own minstrels, dancers and we'd be the party tavern whenever we stopped somewhere.

We even had a ballista because...ballista.

Of course, everything went to crap when we got ambushed by a trio of chimera. 'Cuz that dragon head breathes fire and caravans are made of kindling. And all of our 0 level minions went up like fireworks because who cares what their saving throw might be when the mooks just took 13 points of damage?

Did the dwarf chow survive? Are surface rats inferior to those from below ground? Can he not make his own jerky?

Apparently giant dungeon rat is the free range chicken of the dwarf world. Our wimpy surface rats just don't compare and the deeper something lives, the tastier they get. The dwarf player always played that up, so he'd enter every dungeon with "daddy's a hungry dwarf!"

Fortunately, the Dwarf Chow did survive the chimera attack because it was mostly dried jerky, stinky cheese and dried shrooms which we didn't think would burn easily. But when the battle was over, the horses were dead, most of our minions were dead and most of the caravan was in flames. We killed two chimera and later hunted down the third and wasted his ass in revenge. My cleric had a cloak made from its hide (dragon scales with lion mane trim).

In my next 40k game, the PCs are going to come across a Chaos cult, wipe them out in a hail of bolter fire, then find pasta-stuffed sandwiches in their fridge. Yes, its a real thing and I blame Nurgle.  
https://www.popsugar.com/food/Pasta-Stuffed-Sandwiches-Amano-Las-Vegas-46300778

Quote from: Spinachcat;1091211I find some attention to the mundane aspects of the game world are important for immersion.

I like highlighting regional cuisines and decor. Not in lavish detail, but "you can't identify the fruit they added to this local wine, but its refreshingly different" or "everything is served as soup, even your drinks are in big bowls" or "the stringy vegetables are bright blue and taste sour."

I'm a big fan of Mazes & Minotaurs and Classic Traveller where PCs are often wandering the seas (or seas of space) on their adventures, so I find it interesting to ask them how they pimp out their cabins. In M&M, my PCs often pay for carvings of their patron gods, sails with their personal logo and regalia for their personal retainers.

What "mundane" tidbits to you focus on?

What bits seem most important to your players? Or most enjoyed by them?

I'm a HUGE believer of interacting with mundane bits of life deepens the experience. I always try to do it as much in-game as possible. So my shopkeepers and servant NPC's are the best delivery-vectors. Just asking/telling the PC's what is "on the menu" - or rather what is being served and going into those details, on how it's served, or if I can get the players to order "off"-menu - all come into play.

Things I consider - PC appearance vs. venue. Are they coming fresh from the road after an adventure? I'm always always prompting them with the innkeep telling the PC's of the bathing facilities (which may be nothing more than a wooden tub brought up by a stable-boy.) Which of course allows me to get into the fun details about the inn itself (if any).

Location - Where the venue is located. It helps me determine decor, general clinetele which are all factors. Local "materials" for creating food. Type of culture all factor in.

The actual food are always things that I think will tempt the players to engage in. I mean they could always eat their gross trail-rations. Hunger solved. My goal via the NPC's is to sell the players on a meal worth spending coin on. I always give them options (if they exist). And there's always the "shit-option".

I want my players to have the options to feel how other classes might live, including making them feel horribly uncomfortable when going beyond their natural station with the intricacies of social graces unknown to their characters. There are *always* options for RP that abound. Even if the PC's are "trying to keep to themselves". The only way to do that is to go to their room(s) and hide... heh. Assuming they can even GET a private room.

When I started inserting these details in my games - it made me start looking at cooking, interior design and other crafts and hobbies with new eyes. Everything is fodder for the game.

The last time my roleplaying group did RuneQuest, we spent a little time fleshing out our Beloved Peasant Village. Just making up names for the people that lived there, mostly based off their jobs: Cooper, Smith, etc. It wasn't a lot, but it helped to make our village our own.

The only problem was that most of the adventures were quests that took us away from the village for months at a time.

I think having a campaign set around your characters' home town or village might be a good idea.

One might even work in the changing of the seasons, so that in the Spring you help to build up the village and plant crops, then in the summer you are free to go off adventuring. You come back home in time to help with the harvest, and then winter in your village, occupying yourself with studying and learning new skills.

Quote from: Lurkndog;1093798One might even work in the changing of the seasons, so that in the Spring you help to build up the village and plant crops, then in the summer you are free to go off adventuring. You come back home in time to help with the harvest, and then winter in your village, occupying yourself with studying and learning new skills.

Essentially that's the Pendragon annual cycle. Winter is also used for determining births and deaths.

Quote from: Bren;1093804Essentially that's the Pendragon annual cycle. Winter is also used for determining births and deaths.

I've never played Pendragon, but I really need to buy a copy and read it sometime.

Quote from: Lurkndog;1095118I've never played Pendragon, but I really need to buy a copy and read it sometime.

Everyone should.