Iron Stomach Trait Suggestion

Game Talk The Drawing Board
1

I’m suggesting a trait by which the survivor can eat rotten food items without penalty because there is a big disconnect in the food rot system vs reality.

I think that our lone survivor is maybe less than adventurous in their food choices, but historically or evolutionarily speaking the tradeoff between risks of sickness vs starvation has always been a pressure that determined our ancestor’s eating behaviors.

In game, many food items rot that don’t actually ‘rot’ in real life:
Cracklins, smoked meats like ham and hot dogs, and hard cheeses are specifically created to not rot, and last virtually indefinitely if you can keep them dry.
Jelly, jam, preserves, and ketchup will last an for years unrefrigerated if you just put the lid back on.
Canned goods last so long as the can is not breached. Even canned curry.
Even bread can be kept indefinitely if kept dry, hard, and stale.

Cooking meat that has been affected by microbes is a time honored practice common to many ancient and modern cuisines.
I don’t mean a little dry aged steak, I’m talking about fowl left out to the point where a modern American unskilled this in culinary practice would have trouble getting it to the trash can without gagging. I’m talking about heaps of dead fish (or even mice!) left to rot for months in a barrel of sea water, and then straining off the liquid for use as a condiment!

The Iron Stomach survivor would never worry about eating some moldy cheese, or a stinky ham sandwich. A strong resistance to salmonella and unpleasant odors would be a powerful advantage in a world with few food options and no refrigeration.

Also hobos should all start with this

2

You want this as a strating trait ? There already is a mutation that grants this as well as a cbm that helps (not always) with eating rotten food. And i see no justification to have this as a starting trait (other then a mutation).

3

I get the concept of iron rations after all; the “iron stomach” variety is somehow a feature more suitable for DCSS.

Also, some streetwise hobos eat as well as regular guests in restaurants.

4

Your suggestion and rationale are disconnected, the obvious solution to the problems you’re outlining is to handle rotting in some items better, a blanket immunity to getting sick from eating rotten food is not a reasonable trait for a human to have.

5

Slightly off topic, but it’s somehow in the same train of thought:

Having a trait or CBM that has a certain chance of preventing the bad effects of rotten food is nearly pointless, imho.

The player wil never eat spoiled food, as there is still a chance of bad consequences (as long as he has alternatives at least.)

Also, the situation, that all food you have is rotten food is extremely rare and even has never occured to me before. If you have amounts of rotten food, that means that you have a good way of getting food, or at least had that some time ago. It is rare for a player to get in a condition that he has not a single way of acquiring food, except the beginning of the game (when there won’t be no rotten food).

I’d also say that canned food should actually never go bad, or at least take a really long time.