Question about Fatigue Loss from Starvation?

[Rowan]

Hi there. :) I was wondering about the wording under fatigue loss from starvation on page 426, that a human needs three meals per day. For each meal missed you lose 1 fatigue. Then it says you can only recover fatigue loss from starvation with a day of rest: No fighting, no travel and three full meals. Each day of rest makes up for three skipped meals.

I have a situation like this, and I want to know if I'm doing things correctly.

A character is locked in a room. They have 10 fatigue. They ate a morning meal and a mid-meal before being locked in the room, and they spend the rest of the day in the room, until the next morning. Am I correct in saying that character loss 1 fatigue from a missed meal?

That morning (day 2) they aren't fed until sometime after 3 PM in the afternoon, so they miss their morning meal. They would lose another fatigue and be at 8 fatigue, correct? And if they missed their next meal that 'night' they would be at 7 fatigue? Am I correct in assuming if they rested that entire day, but only got one meal out of three, they would gain 'no' fatigue?

The next day (day three) if their captors allowed them a full day of rest and provided three full meals, they would regain 3 FP, correct?

[The Benj]

That's correct, as far as I understand it.

[Flyndaran]

I think that the starvation rules are ridiculous. Three days without food does not render a normal person unconscious.

I've gone two days without eating and could still lift furniture. My digestive system may be unusually slow, but to the best of my knowledge I'm human.

[PK]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I think that the starvation rules are ridiculous. Three days without food does not render a normal person unconscious.

Nor in GURPS. After three days, you're at half Move/Dodge/ST. After the fourth day, you have to roll to stay conscious, but could certainly remain active if you're healthy. You have to go without food for seven straight days to pass out for sure.

I've gone two days without eating and could still lift furniture. My digestive system may be unusually slow, but to the best of my knowledge I'm human.

Great! Since that's exactly what would happen in GURPS, I guess the system isn't too broken. (HT 10 man would lose 6 FP and be at no penalties to any attributes.)

[cccwebs]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I think that the starvation rules are ridiculous. Three days without food does not render a normal person unconscious.

I've gone two days without eating and could still lift furniture. My digestive system may be unusually slow, but to the best of my knowledge I'm human.

Umm, at HT 10 after only 3 days without food would still be at 1 FP, which is far from collapse. They would have to go to -10 FP (which is into the 7th day) before the automatic collapse. The rules are for "average" situations. Most "average" people will be very lethargic after 3 days with no food. Besides, the GURPS starvation rules assume your meals are only the basic amount you need to survive, not the gorge-fest most of us participate in on a regular basis (which can add up for a limited "storage" of meals which you wouldn't have missed)

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by cccwebs

Besides, the GURPS starvation rules assume your meals are only the basic amount you need to survive, not the gorge-fest most of us participate in on a regular basis (which can add up for a limited "storage" of meals which you wouldn't have missed)

Certainly, someone who is Overweight or heavier owing to a gorge-fest diet is going to have some resistance to starvation FP.

[GoatRider]

Originally Posted by Kromm

Certainly, someone who is Overweight or heavier owing to a gorge-fest diet is going to have some resistance to starvation FP.

Yah, but that takes common sense. These people want RULES!

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Kromm

Certainly, someone who is Overweight or heavier owing to a gorge-fest diet is going to have some resistance to starvation FP.

Of course. I wasn't counting low to no eating 'coasting' days after a day of heavy eating.
I still find the rules excessively strict. I don't have an unusually slow metabolism, and I can go two days without food standing on my head.

Either way, opinions differ, so no problems.

[Eljay451]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Of course. I wasn't counting low to no eating 'coasting' days after a day of heavy eating.
I still find the rules excessively strict. I don't have an unusually slow metabolism, and I can go two days without food standing on my head.

Either way, opinions differ, so no problems.

Presuming HT 10, the rules cover going two days without food without penalty (other than the 6 "starvation fatigue", rather than the usual "ordinary fatigue" which requires 10 minutes of rest).

The rules don't factor in sedentary, active, or exhaustive activity.

I think that a sedentary person could miss 2-out-of-3 meals a day, no "starvation fatigue" incurred.

An active person, say an adventurer hiking, could miss 1-out-of-3 meals a day -- presuming the other two meals have plenty of sustenance (and nibbling trail mix on-and-off, maybe that counts as a "meal" all told).

I think someone doing exhaustive heavy labor really needs those three square meals a day. Like the 4 folks from Local Motion (a moving company) who busted their humps for 8 solid house to move my stuff from my old house to my current house.

Seven days without food for a HT 10 person (i.e., 20 points of starvation fatigue) starts fatigue-->damage spillover.

[Kromm]

By sitting down like Gandhi and doing almost nothing, one could likely minimize the impact of going without food. No doubt some humans actually rate Reduced Consumption 1-2, and perhaps some ascetics know skills like Autohypnosis and Body Control. But the rules in the Basic Set assume active adventurers being starved by Evil Villains or shoddy travel preparations. More unusual situations will have to wait for GURPS Hunger Strike.