Cook's utensils are used to prepare food for royals, adventurers, and anyone else that enjoys food for more than just sustenance. These delicious dishes are the calling cards of chefs and, through the love of their Signature Dishes, are imbued with a hint of magic.
Cook's Utensils include a metal pot, knives, forks, a stirring spoon, and a ladle. Proficiency with this kit allows you to add your proficiency bonus to any Wisdom checks you make for your Signature Dishes.
Some Signature Dishes require you to use Intelligence instead of Wisdom when it comes to precise recipes.
Signature Dishes are recipes you are known for and are so good, that the magic from the world has infused them with special properties.
To cook a Signature Dish, you must have proficiency in the use of the Cook's Utensils and you must know the recipe for the item you wish to cook. After choosing the Signature Dish to cook, you must gather the required ingredients and then you can cook the dish.
If you do not have proficiency, you can still cook the items, but you do not gain any of the effects of a Signature Dish except for good quality food.
To craft a Signature Dish, you must roll a Wisdom (Cook's Utensils) check, though certain recipes may call for you to use your Intelligence instead.
If you know the recipe for a particular item, you know which ingredients are required to cook a Signature Dish, where those ingredients are likely to be found, and how to prepare them. You even know enough to substitute ingredients based on what's available in your pantry.
Every Signature Dish recipe specifies the DCs required to craft Select (ṩ), Choice (¢), and Prime (Ü) quality versions of that item. It also specifies any unique ingredients you must have access to; those ingredients must be acquired through special means, either through purchase or during the course of an adventure. When you roll a check to create food, you compare the result to each quality's DC and you create the highest quality of the item whose DC you met or exceeded.
Signature Dishes come in three qualities, starting with the lowest and increasing in quality: Select (ṩ), Choice (¢), and Prime (Ü). Generally, the higher the quality, the more potent the item. A dish you have just cooked is known as Fresh and has all of its normal benefits.
As time passes, Signature Dishes, just like other food, begins degrading in quality. This effect is known as becoming Cold. When a Signature Dish becomes Cold, which is based on the type of dish being created, they offer a reduced benefit and are not as effective as when first cooked.
The final stage of a Signature Dish is when it gains the Compost trait. This means it is only fit for composting and has no benefits, though you can still eat it in a pinch. A Compost dish has spent too much time since it was created and so has lost any benefits the dish once had.
The three categories for Signature Dishes are:
Snacks take 10 minutes to prepare and don't become Cold for several days.
Everyday dishes can take a full hour to prepare and become Cold after a few hours.
Gourmet can take several hours to prepare, and may even require constant monitoring while preparing it. These dishes become Cold quickly and should be consumed soon.
Signature Dishes are best prepared with ingredients of the finest quality that have the Fresh trait. The Fresh trait provides a small bonus to the dish, this typically makes the DC for creating the Signature Dishes lower, though it may even provide an extra lasting effect to the dish. When Fresh ingredients are unable to be used, the Signature Dishes have their default bonuses.
When you make a Signature Dish, you create enough to feed up to 7 medium sized creatures and a creature can only gain the benefits of one of your Signature Dishes once per short rest. A creature loses any benefits from a previous Signature Dish, even if they have taken a short rest, if they consume another Signature Dish. Eating regular food does not lose any benefits early.
For each size category above medium, double the amount of food they need; for example, a Large creature takes the place of 2 creatures and a huge creature is 4 creatures. Small sized and smaller creatures take the place of 1/2 medium creature. If a creature doesn't eat enough of your Signature Dish, they gain no benefits and eating more than is required provides no extra benefits.
If you are proficient with the Cook's Utensils, there are a number of ways you can learn new recipes. Chefs can easily teach each other recipes in just a few minutes and if you discover a chef's Recipe Book, you can also learn any recipes they have recorded. Not every recipe is a Signature Dish as Signature Dishes are special and often infused with magic upon their creation. Some say this is a blessing from the deity of food, but it could be the chef's own innate magical ability.
In addition, if you acquire a Signature Dish, you can use your Cook's Utensils to analyze the item. It takes one hour of quiet, careful work to analyze a Signature Dish and the item is destroyed in the process. At the end of the work period, make a Wisdom (Cook's Utensils) check. If you meet or exceed the DC required to craft the item at Prime quality, you learn the recipe. Otherwise, you have learned nothing and destroyed the item.
Any chef with a proper palate can evaluate Signature Dishes; this allows a Wisdom (Cook's Utensils) check to identify the characteristics of the dish (Snack, Everyday, or Gourmet; Fresh, Cold, or Compost; any special effects the dish provides; Select, Choice, or Prime; ingredients of the dish). This only requires a taste of one of the dishes, at DC 10 for snacks, DC 12 for everyday dishes, and DC 15 for gourmet dishes.
Alternately, you can taste a dish and attempt to replicate it precisely based on your skills. This requires much less time, and requires a Wisdom (Cook's Utensils) roll to evaluate the dish first; non-Signature Dishes have a DC of 10 (snack), 12 (everyday) or 15 (gourmet) to identify perfectly. Identifying the dish will allow you to replicate it at Prime level; lesser successes (for non-Signature Dishes, failure by 2 or 4, respectively) will allow you to prepare the dish at Choice or Select level, respectively. If the dish is a Signature Dish, the replica will have similar effects.
Someone who is unaware they need to replicate a dish (tasting it without evaluating it at the time, at any time up to one day in the past) is at Disadvantage to this check.
| Recipe | Category | Cooking Time | Ingred. Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burger Bomb | Everyday | 1 hour | 15 gp |
| Carrot Cake | Gourmet | 1 hour | 15 gp |
| Five-Spice Chili | Gourmet | 8 hours | 20 gp |
| Granola Bar | Snack | 10 minutes | 8 gp |
| Meatballs | Everyday | 1 hour | 15 gp |
| Potato Hash | Everyday | 1 hour | 5 gp |
| Three Layered Chocolate Cake | Gourmet | 3 hours | 20 gp |
| Trail Mix | Snack | 10 minutes | 8 gp |
| Warm Almond Milk | Snack | 5 minutes | 5 gp |
| Whole Wheat Bread | Everyday | 4 hours | 10 gp |
Everyday dish
Who would've thought putting a ground beef patty between two pieces of bread would be so delicious? After eating this sandwich, you are ready to take on the world. This burger provides you better chances at fighting your enemies. The next time you roll a 19 (ṩ), 19-18 (¢), or 19-17 (Ü) on an attack roll, and you would normally succeed against the target's AC, you land a critical hit. If you don't gain this benefit before you finish a long rest, you lose this benefit.
When the burger goes Cold, treat it as a burger of one lower quality.
Everyday dish
Nothing says decadent like a slice of a delicious carrot cake, and did you know that carrots are good for your eyes? When you eat this cake, you swear you can see better.
This cake provides a +1 (ṩ), +3 (¢), or +5 (Ü) bonus to your Wisdom (Perception) checks for the next 3 hours, this has no effect on your passive Perception. When the cake goes Cold, this bonus is reduced by 2.
Gourmet dish
This super spiced chili is composed of ground beef, sweet tomatoes, and five signature spices that are sure to make a grown man cry. These spices bolster the natural constitution and provides protection from the cold.
This chili provides a reduction to cold damage of 3 (ṩ), 5 (¢), or 10 (Ü) points per hit, this reduction lasts for 12 hours. When the chili goes Cold, the damage reduction lasts for only 3 hours.
Snack dish
Sometimes all you need is a bar of fiber and honey. This delightful creation will boost your spirits and get you closer to supper without dying of hunger.
This bar provides 3 (ṩ), 5 (¢), or 8 (Ü) Temporary Hit Points. When the Granola Bar goes Cold, the number of Temporary Hit Points is reduced by 2. These Temporary Hit Points last until you finish a long rest.
Everyday dish
This hearty meal of balled up meat gives a boost to your natural Constitution.
This dish provides a +3 bonus to Constitution saving throws for 1 hour (ṩ), 2 hours (¢) or 5 hours (Ü). When it goes Cold, the bonus decreases to +1.
Everyday dish
PO-TAY-TOS. Boil em, mash em, stick em in a stew. Lovely big chunks of potatoes cooking in a fat slab of butter over a camp fire. Nothing will help give you a better pick-me-up than devouring some crispy taters.
The hash provides 1 (ṩ), 2 (¢), or 3 (Ü) additional hit dice to use during their next short rest, these additional hit dice are d8s and, if unexpended, are lost after finishing a short rest. When the hash goes Cold, the number of hit die gained is reduced by 1.
Gourmet dish, Requirement: Intelligence
Delicious and heavy, this cake is sure to turn anyone over to your side… so long as they still remember the heavenly texture and wonderful experience this cake provides.
This dish provides a +1 (ṩ), +3 (¢), or +5 (Ü) bonus to all Charisma checks the chef makes against someone who has eaten this cake. When the cake goes Cold, all bonuses are reduced by 2.
Snack dish
This assortment of nuts and berries is the perfect mix to snack on, especially when you get to the only part that matters, sweet chocolates. While traveling, you can munch on a serving over the course of a day.
This dish provides a +1 (ṩ), +3 (¢), or +5 (Ü) bonus to Wisdom (Survival) checks to avoid becoming lost. When the trail mix goes Cold, all bonuses are reduced by 2.
Snack dish
Warm almond milk sprinkled with nutmeg. When ingested, it prepares the body for a restful sleep.
A willing target falls asleep within 10 minutes after drinking it and sleeps heavily for a short rest, waking up feeling refreshed. When the creature wakes up, the milk provides a +3 bonus to their Wisdom saving throws for 1 hour (ṩ), 2 hours (¢), or 5 hours (Ü). When this milk goes Cold, the bonus is reduced to +1. If the target wakes up before the end of the short rest, they do not gain any benefits from consuming this milk.
Everyday dish, Requirement: Intelligence
Bread may be the greatest carb ever crafted. This complex recipe mixes different flours to produce a fine loaf of bread just begging for some honey smeared on top.
This bread provides a +3 bonus to Strength saving throws for 1 hour (ṩ), 2 hours (¢), or 5 hours (Ü). When this bread goes Cold, the bonus is reduced to +1.