Hunger

Hunger is a player stat that is tracked in Caves of Qud, alongside thirst, and managed by the Cooking system.

There are three levels of hunger:

• Sated
• Hungry
• Famished! or, if the player has Photosynthetic Skin, Wilted!

The player can become hungrier by:

• Entering a screen after travelling on the world map greater than one parasang, which will automatically set the player to hungry.
• Letting time pass.

When the player is famished, their quickness is docked by 10 points, unless the player has the skill Mind over Body.

Hunger Mechanics

• When the player eats a meal, their hunger meter is reset to 0.
  • A player may only cook three times at a campfire or clay oven. This limit is reset whenever the player becomes hungry or famished.
  • Refer to the Meals page for a list of foods that are considered meals. These foods and are not subject to any use limits like the campfire or oven.
• When the player eats a snack, their hunger meter is reduced by 200.
  • Refer to the Snacks page for a list of foods that are considered snacks.
• The player's hunger meter increases by 1 each turn.
• When the player's hunger meter reaches the following skill-dependent value, the player becomes Hungry and loses any metabolic effects.
  • 1200 (with no relevant skills)
  • 2400 (with the Fasting Way skill)
  • 7200 (with the Mind over Body skill)
  • 14400 (with both the Fasting Way and Mind over Body skills)
• When the player's hunger meter reaches the following skill-dependent value, the player becomes Famished! or Wilted! and loses any metabolic effects. Players without Mind over Body also suffer a -10 QN penalty.
  • 2400 (with no relevant skills)
  • 4800 (with the Fasting Way skill)
  • 14400 (with the Mind over Body skill)
  • 28800 (with both the Fasting Way and Mind over Body skills)

Metabolic Effects

Eating a meal at an clay oven or cooking a meal with ingredients grants the metabolizing status and one or more procedurally generated cooking effects.

Metabolic effects are only lost when becoming hungry or famished. They can be maintained indefinitely by eating periodic meals and avoiding travel on the world map.

Skills that affect Hunger

• Fasting Way
• Mind over Body