Cooking

Cook’s Utensils

• RAW Cost: 1gp
• RAW Weight: 8lbs
• Example Items: Kettle, Frying Pan, Pot, Spoons, Knives, Bowls, Plates
• Crafting Restrictions: Need access to a heat source.
• Mundane Item Crafting: Bread, Cheese, Meat, Meals, Banquets
• Magic Item Crafting: No RAW crafting options. However, there is some home-brew potential here. Entirely DM Dependent.
• Artwork Creation: Can potentially create very valuable meals for wealthy customers, but if a customer is not found within the day the product will spoil.
• QA Artwork Bonus: Able to find a buyer in 1 day, and you can add your cooks’ utensils proficiency to the investigation check used to find a buyer.
• Structure Building: N/A
• Adventuring Utility: N/A

In many ways a cook is much like an alchemist, but one that works with food and short-term meals.  Most of the rules are very similar to what was presented for Alchemist.

Default Recipes

A good cook is welcome at any campfire, and a bad one is always called George.  Cooks start off with being able to cook most simple things:

• Bread
• Cheese
• Meat
• Meals
• Bear Claws

In addition to these recipes, the character can also choose a single recipe from the common rarity recipe list:

• Bangers and Smash
• Castle Amber Onion Soup
• Dwarven Hardtack
• Elven Marruth
• Elven Waybread
• Garlic Bread
• Miner’s Pie
• Moonshae Lemon-Chocolate Macaron
• Neverwinter Coffee
• Pumpkin Spiced Spider Legs
• Traveler’s Stew

Skill Usage

• History: Your knowledge of cooking techniques allows you to assess the social patterns involved in a culture’s eating habits.
• Medicine: When administering treatment, you can transform medicine that is bitter or sour into a pleasing concoction.
• Survival: When foraging for food, you can make do with ingredients you scavenge that others would be unable to transform into nourishing meals.
• Prepare Meals: As part of a short rest, you can prepare a tasty meal that helps your companions regain their strength. You and up to five creatures of your choice regain 1 extra hit point per Hit Die spent during a short rest, provided you have access to your cook’s utensils and sufficient food.

Cook’s Utensils Basic Skill Use Difficulty Table

Crafting

For much of the crafting for this skill set and tools, just use the Mundane Crafting rules unless there is something specific that the character wishes to create outside of the normal things.

Research Point Cost

While cooking many times is an exact science much like many other skills, it is nuances of incorporating different flavors that matters the most.  There are also the varied palates of different people and even creatures that might make something taste great to one and like garbage to another. This means that like any other researcher, the cook must experiment and test different combinations of ingredients to make that perfect meal.

Recipe Creation Research Point Cost Table

Research Point Reductions

Only one of the two existing recipe reductions may be used for any specific formula creation.

Existing Recipe: If the researcher has on hand another recipe that is very similar and it can be used as an exemplar starting point, then a reduction up to 25% of the total Research Points needed can be applied to the cost. The recipe that is used for this is also consumed during the process.

Existing Recipe: If the Cook has a full formula created by someone else, there is a 50% reduction of the total research points required to create the spell.  While it might be a formula, it most likely will not be accurate missing brewing idiosyncrasies of the alchemist that created that formula, therefore requiring the formula to be validated through additional research.

Facility: If there is a dedicated facility for the research and creation of recipes, then up to 25% of the cost can be reduced by expending facility points to replace the research points.  See the facilities rules for more details.

Recipe Formula Creation Completion

Once the cook has collected enough Research Points it is time to put the recipe together and test it.  There is no benefit in expending more Research Points or gold pieces once the minimum has been met, these would just go to waste since they will not impact the final DC. The Research Points that will be used for completing the project are spent and lost and are not recoverable. The creator will make a Cook Utensils skill roll. No other modifiers or advantage chances can be applied to this roll. 

Once again, if the product being created is a slightly improved version of an existing recipe, but not sufficiently to increase the rarity, the DC will increase as the average of the two rarity DCs as selected by the DM.

If the roll is equal to or greater than the listed DC, the recipe has been created and can be considered entered in the Cook’s recipe book. Failure means that the recipe was not created, and the recipe must start again, but in their next attempt the amount of Research Points required is reduced by 50%.

Recipe Formula Creation Success Table

Recipe Creation

Now that the cook has created a recipe, it is time to start cooking it. Each recipe normally creates a single meal, but with greater difficulty, the cooks can stretch out the meal to multiple people., but all of them will require a certain amount of special ingredients as well as a difficulty check. The listed required ingredients are only the minimum and should include additional ingredients depending on the type of recipe being created if the DM requires changes.

Recipe Benefits

Any person may only be the recipient of a single recipe bonus oncer per 24-hours.  Consuming the extra delicious food will only fill your belly, but not have any appreciable effect. A character cannot also have two benefits in effect at once, only the first one will be active while the second goes to waste. There is a table summarizing each of the different recipes and most of their benefits, but each one must be checked directly to see if there are any caveats for consuming the meal.

Recipe Failure

Normally, getting a recipe wrong just makes for upset guests and customers. but when working with magical ingredients. there is potential for catastrophic arcane failure. When a creature fails an ability check to cook a magical recipe by five or more, roll on the Cooking Mishaps table to determine what happens to the food.  Note that rolling a one when attempting to make the DC always results in a mishap.

The creature is not aware how wrong their food is until someone eats it. Another creature can notice these imperfections in the food with a DC20 Wisdom (Cooking Utensils) check.

Cooking Mishaps

Animated Food: The food animates, gets up from its dish, and either starts attacking or attempts to escape. The food has the same statistics as a Mud Mephit.

Cursed Food: Creatures that eat cursed food become cursed indefinitely. Choose one of the creature’s ability scores at random. That creature gains disadvantage on ability checks and saving throws using that ability until the curse is lifted.

Explosive Food: Creatures that eat this food will find it explode in their mouth dealing 3d10 fire damage to them.

Illusory Food: The food becomes an illusion. The dish or vessel holding it remains real and can move the illusion with it. but the actual food becomes a Programmed Illusion mimicking steam and smell. Interacting with the food reveals it to be an illusion as matter passes through it. The illusion disappears after one hour.

Inverse Food: The food has the opposite of the intended effect. Food that heals instead harms, food that grants improved sight instead blinds. and food that grants advantage instead grants disadvantage, for example. For food that grants a special attack such as Yeti Tartare, deal damage to the creature as if they had damaged themselves with the ability. For unique circumstances, the DM can make their own ruling.

Polymorphic Food: Creatures that eat polymorphic food must attempt a DC13 Constitution saving throw or become polymorphed into a random tiny beast for 1 hour.

Poisonous (mild): Creatures that eat mildly poisonous food must attempt a DC11 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save. the creature becomes poisoned for 1d4 hours.

Poisonous (strong): Creatures that eat strongly poisonous food must attempt a DC13 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 3d6 poison damage and becomes poisoned for 1d3 days.

Poisonous (deadly): Creatures that eat deadly poisonous food must attempt a DC15 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the creature becomes poisoned and takes 1d6 damage at the start of each of their turns while poisoned in this way. The creature can attempt a new saving throw every ten rounds, ending the effect on a successful save.

Summoning Sickness: Creatures that eat this food become afflicted with magical sickness that causes them to periodically vomit harmless tiny objects from their mouth. The objects are random, anything from slugs to ball bearings. The creature has a 25% chance to do nothing at the start of each of its turns for the next one hour. All objects disappear at the end of this duration.

Cooking Success Table

Recipe Rarities and Benefits Table

Common Recipes

Bangers and Smash: Increase AC by one while wearing light or no armor for the next hour.

Castle Amber Onion Soup: Gain advantage on saving throws against poison for the next hour.

Dwarven Hardtack: This ration requires fungi grown underground that is turned into a dense flour. Dwarves usually soak the tack in stout to add moisture and flavor. Dwarven Hardtack does not spoil. One pound is enough to feed a person for a week.

Elven Marruth: Add +1 to your initiative for the next hour.

Elven Waybread: This elven bread requires rare grains found only in the elven city of Evermeet. One loaf provides sufficient food tor a month for one person.

Garlic Bread: Vampires and Vampire Spawn that use their Bite attack on a creature that has eaten garlic bread within the last 4 hours regain no hit points from their attack.

Miners Pie: Gain advantage on your next Dexterity save within the next four hours.

Moonshae Lemon-Chocolate Macaron: Moonshae Lemons have innate healing properties, but most people can’t stomach their sour taste alone. A creature that eats one of these regains 1d4+1 hit points.

Neverwinter Coffee: Gain advantage on your next initiative within the next four hours.

Pumpkin Spiced Spider Legs: The curious taste of Phase Spider goes surprisingly well with cinnamon and nutmeg. Creatures that eat it gain advantage on saving throws against effects that would induce the frightened condition for one hour.

Traveler’s Stew: Common       Gain Temporary hit points equal to your proficiency bonus for an hour

Uncommon Recipes

Aboleth Calamari with Dried Ooze: Rubbery Aboleth flesh treated with powdered, dried ooze is an acquired taste, but done well it can be quite tasty and not dangerous. Its flavor is like mushrooms and lime. A creature that eats this meal finds that they can breathe underwater for the next four hours. 

Amphail Braised Auroch: Your hit dice restore extra hit points equal to your proficiency bonus for the next 24 hours.

Balduran Maple Bread: The maple syrup from the regions near Baldur’s Gate has healing properties that emerge when used for baking. A common variant includes peanut butter. A creature that eats this regains 2d4+2 hit points immediately.

Chultan Fruit Tart: The fruit of the Assassin Vines common on Chult are known to increase one’s reflexes. They bear fruit very infrequently. Grants advantage on DEX ability checks and saving throws for one hour.

Cockatrice Cordon Bleu: Ham, cheese, and cockatrice rolled together and cooked. The head is usually served with the dish, but it is only decoration and extremely inedible. A creature that eats this becomes immune to the petrified condition for 24 hours.

Corned Beef and Cabbage: Change your eye color for the next eight hours.

Elven Bread: Move speed is increased by 5 feet for the next four hours.

Gingerbread Man: Your next short rest only takes 30 minutes.

Iron Rations: Gain Temporary hit points equal to your proficiency bonus + Wisdom modifier for four hours.

Kara-Tur Noodles: Temporarily Raise your max hit points equal to your proficiency bonus for an hour.

Moonshae Seafood Rice: Add +2 to perception checks for the next hour.

Myconid Foot Stew: The core of a myconid is edible, as are their feet, which are packed with flavor. When cooked into a stew, it can grant a creature resistance to necrotic damage for one hour.

Nelanther Fish Pie: Finding good tuna is difficult in the Nelanther Isles. Cooked well, it makes for amazing brain food. Grants advantage on INT ability checks and saving throws for one hour.

Orange Mountain Duck: Change your hair color for the next eight hours.

Plate of Gold: Change your skin color for the next eight hours.

Pommes Vrock: These potatoes are dusted with specially treated Vrock spores, which taste like truffles. The meal grants a creature resistance to poison damage for the next eight hours.

Quith-Pa: You can remove one level of exhaustion immediately.

Shaar Honey Baklava: Floral honey from the fields of Shaar is some of the best in the world. The honey between the many layers of this dessert makes anyone smile. Creatures that eat it gain advantage on saving throws against effects that would induce the charmed condition for one hour.

Tavern Steak: Gain advantage on constitution saving throws for the next hour (Does not include concentration checks).

Rare Recipes

Barbecued Nalfeshnee Shoulder: Looks and tastes like pulled pork, with a hint of Sulphur. A creature that eats this meal is warded against fiends for four hours as if by a protection from Evil and Good spell.

Boiled Devil Tongue: Proper preparation requires boiling in holy water to avoid accidentally cursing oneself. Serve with a cheese sauce to counter its bitter bite. You gain a +2 bonus to Charisma (Deception) checks for four hours.

Cherrybread: Gain Darkvision for two hours.

Chicken Shrieker Marsala: Chicken cooked with the Shrieker mushroom in a special gravy. You always know they are fresh when you can hear the shrieking from the kitchen as it is prepared. The meal makes the wearer very sensitive to even the smallest amount of light. A creature that eats it gains Darkvision out to 120 ft. but gains disadvantage on attack rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks while in sunlight for the next eight hours.

Chuul Claw with Bay Seasoning: Chuul can be very salty and otherwise bland on its own. but its magic is worth it. Mages developed a seasoning that makes the meat taste palatable, even good. It turns out that experienced chefs were already using a similar seasoning from the Bay of Pearls. Chuul claw grants a creature with the ability to detect magic out to 120 it. as it with a Detect Magic spell for the next eight hours.

Dragon Turtle Soup: A delicacy that is as difficult to master as the ingredients are difficult to acquire. Cooked with hot Calimshan spices and lemons from the Moonshae Isles. The eater’s maximum hit points are increased by 2d10+10. This bonus decreases by two each day while the meal is slowly digested until the bonus reaches zero.

Dragon Salmon: Recover a level 1 spell slot on a short rest within the next four hours.

Drow Mushroom Steaks: Add +2 to your initiative for the next hour.

Faerie Dragon and Starfruit Teriyaki: Some hesitate to eat such an intelligent and good-natured creature, but most change their tune once they have a taste of its naturally sweet meat with a sour sauce A creature that eats this meal is warded against Fey for eight hours as it by a protection from evil and good spell.

Fermented Harpy Egg: A harpy egg that is fermented underground for at least a month but sometimes as much as a year. Usually served with a strong garlic sauce which is the only thing making it palatable. A creature that eats the egg (yes, the whole thing) is warded against undead for eight hours as if by a Protection from Evil and Good spell.

Feywild Eggs: You can remove two levels of exhaustion immediately.

Fried Brain Curry: A coconut curry that uses the body of an Intellect Devourer as its base. The meal can impart a creature with knowledge from the brains the creature has eaten. Desperate mages seeking knowledge turn to this dish. A creature that eats it gains a +4 bonus to Intelligence ability checks during the next one hour.

Gelatinous Cube Aspic: suspension of savory foods inside a specially treated glob of Gelatinous Cube. The recipe requires that the aspic set over four hours. After eating the meal. you can use your action to expel a 30 ft. by 5 ft. line of acid from your mouth. Creatures in the area must make a DC 13 DEX save. Creatures take 4d6 acid damage on a failed save or half damage on a successful save. You can use this ability up to three times within the next hour after eating the meal.

Ghost-Chilled Mint Ice Cream: Ice cream is difficult to create without some magical training, but using a ghost’s natural chill can impart various magical properties to the ice cream. The meal grants a creature resistance to cold damage for the next four hours. The creature also becomes immune to the frightened condition for the duration.

Green Slaad and Salad Greens: Slaad meat has unique polymorphic qualities thanks to its chaotic nature. The meat constantly shifts and moves of its own volition. When denatured with lime juice, the meal allows a creature to change their appearance for one hour as if with the Alter Self spell.

Honey-Glazed Rothe Ribs: Temporarily Raise your max hit points by 10 for four hours (Does not stack with heroes’ feast).

Maple-Glazed Mandrake: This dish utilizes the mandrake’s healing properties and tastes a bit like honeyed carrots. Careful when harvesting your own as mandrake roots have a deadly scream. The creature that eats it becomes immune to the poisoned condition for two hours and is cured of any other poisons currently affecting them.

Mimic Fritters: Battered and deep-fried clumps of mimic bod. Mimic Fritters seem to taste different to just about everyone, but they all agree the taste improves with thyme. The food makes creatures hyperaware of their surroundings to an almost paranoiac degree. Grants advantage on WIS ability checks and saving throws for one hour.

Neverwinter Berry Mille-Feuille: This dessert uses strawberries and blueberries grown year-round near the Neverwinter river. It’s believed the water charges the berries with healing power. A creature that eats this regains 4d4+4 hit points.

Purple Worm Cutlet: A bit of Purple Worm marinated in its own venom can be a real treat. provided the cutlet is thoroughly cooked with added cream to negate the poison. A Purple Worm cutlet prepared in this way grants a creature blindsight out to 15 ft. for 24 hours.

Seafood Bouillabaisse: Gain Temporary hit points equal to your Level + Wisdom modifier.

Scorpion Crostini Tapenade: The innards of a giant scorpion are very bitter but work well mixed with capers and olives and spread on crusty bread. When aided with a bit of transmutation magic. This dish can give the eater a poisonous bite attack that can be used up to three times within the next hour. The creature is proficient with the attack. If the attack hits a creature, that creature must make a DC 13 CON save. The creature takes 5d6 poison damage on a failed save and halts as much damage on a successful save.

Spicy Roc Wings: These wings are not unlike chicken wings, but their massive size means they must be cut into smaller pieces before being tried. When a Roc falls. it takes an entire town to clean it and preserve the meat before it spoils. Eating properly prepared Roc wings grants the power to cast Levitate on oneself for the next four hours.

Spicy Troll Ribs: Although there is some danger to eating troll with their flesh constantly mutating, it does have its benefits. A creature that eats Troll Ribs regains two hit points at the start of each of their turns if they are below half their hit point maximum for the next one hour. There is a 1% chance that the creature mutates and grows an additional (but useless) limb or head.

Three-Pepper Hellhound Chili: The hot peppers are there to balance the innate spiciness from the Hellhound meat. A serving of the chili acts as a Potion of Fire Breath.

Trolltide Candied Apples: Regenerate one hit point every 10 minutes for one hour. The effect starts after you have lost at least one hit point and expires if not activated within 24 hours.

Treant-Smoked Unicorn Sirloin: Only non-good creatures would ever consider making such a forbidden meal that involves the death of both a treant and a unicorn. The meat is smoked for 13 hours. Served with a decadent black garlic butter. A creature that eats this gains a +1 bonus to their spell attack rolls and +1 to their spell save DCs for one week. However, the creature becomes cursed and cannot enter consecrated or hallowed ground for seven months.

Wood Elf Forest Salad: Move speed is increased by 10 feet for an hour.

Worg Steak with Grilled Muskmelon: This dish is especially pungent but tastes delicious. It opens the senses and with a bit of magic can even improve your sense of smell. The dish grants a creature a +5 bonus on Wisdom (Perception) checks involving scent for one hour.

Yeti Tartare: Raw yeti meat with very few but important spices and a sprig of mint that brings the dish together. A serving of the tartare acts as a Potion of Fire Breath but deals cold damage instead of fire damage.

Very Rare Recipes

Beholder Bourguignon: Treated beholder eyes slowly cooked with its flesh creates a rainbow of flavors that crackle with arcane energy. A creature that eats this risky meal gains a temporary +2 bonus to either their Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma score (chosen at random) for the next week. The dish is so potent that it interferes with spellcasting. For one week, all spells the creature casts have a 50% chance of failure. DC 21.

Greenspear Bundles in Bacon: Gain Darkvision for eight hours.

Hand Pies: Restore 8d4+8 hit points.

Heroes’ Feast: You can spend four hours preparing a smorgasbord of arcane delights using magic ingredients, creating an effect identical to a Heroes’ Feast spell.           

High Harvest Puree: Regrow small appendage or teeth if consumed every day for a week.

Knucklehead Trout: Gain Temporary max hit points equal to your proficiency bonus + Wisdom modifier for one hour.

Otiks Skillet: Regenerate two hit points every 10 minutes for one hour. The effect starts after you have lost at least one hit point and expires if not activated within 24 hours.

Poached Basilisk Egg in Nothic Broth: Basilisk eggs are a delicacy that grants special powers when cooked in a broth of spiced ciliary juices from a Nothic. The meal grants a creature with the benefits of a True Seeing spell for one hour.

Qualinesti Vegetable Stew: Recover a level 2 spell slot on a short rest within the next four hours.

Red Dragon Tenderloin: It’s very difficult to place the spices that bring out the magic of a red dragon’s flesh and chefs are strangely secretive of their recipes. Rosemary, oregano, and thyme are easy to spot in the mixture of spices. Thankfully almost all meat of a dragon is usable in this way. The meal grants a creature immunity to fire damage for the next 24 hours.

Venison Pot Roast: Temporarily Raise your max hit points by 15 for four hours (Does not stack with heroes’ feast).

Legendary Recipes

Dark Molasses Nutbread: Restore 10d4+20 hit points.

Meals End: Recover a level 3 spell slot on a short rest within the next four hours.

Tethyrian Tarrasque au Vin: Very little of a tarrasque is edible. and harvesting these prime cuts requires a legendary-tier magic weapon. The ancient Tethyrian recipe is found on an ancient scroll that was lost long ago. The recipe takes one week of prep work and one day of cooking. Bating the meal grants a creature a temporary +2 bonus to their Strength. Dexterity, and Constitution scores, to a maximum of 22 for the next week. You also do not need to eat food for an entire year after eating the meal, as the tarrasque’s hyper-dense flesh takes so long to digest. DC 22. Price: 10,000g plus a freshly slain Tarrasque and the lost recipe.

Yawning Portal Biscuits: Regenerate four hit points every 10 minutes for one hour. The effect starts after you have lost at least one hit point and expires if not activated within 24 hours.

Common Recipe Table

Uncommon Recipe Table

Rare Recipe Table

Very Rare Recipe Table

Legendary Recipe Table