COOKING
This content pack contains rules and
guidelines for cooking magic, a form of
itemcraft that combines ingredients to take
advantage of their natural magical
MAGIC properties. Cooking magic is accessible not
just to magic users, but to anyone who can
prepare food, as it requires no
CULINARY WITCHCRAFT IN 5E spellcasting––only knowledge of the
properties inherent to different forms of flora
and fauna.
TABLE OF CONTENTS PREPARING A DISH
By expending the time and ingredients listed
COOKING in a dish’s description, you can make a
Wisdom (Cooking utensils) check to attempt
Preparing a Dish 1 to craft a dish you know. On a successful
Recipe Components 2 check, your resources are expended and
you create the dish. On a failed check, you
Ingredient Components 2 still create an edible meal, but the magical
properties of the dish are lost, and you gain
Purchasing Ingredients 3
no effect from consuming them. A single
INGREDIENTS dish is enough to feed one Medium or Small
creature, or two Tiny creatures. A Large
List of Ingredients 4 creature requires two dishes to gain the
Ingredient Descriptions 4 effects associated with that dish.
You can craft a number of dishes at once
DISHES equal to your proficiency bonus. You must
have the required ingredients for each
List of Dishes 8
recipe at the beginning of the crafting
Dish Descriptions 8 process.
RECIPES
You can learn recipes in a number of ways,
COOKING as described below. Work with your DM to
determine which method or methods work
Food is one of the most important
best for your table.
substances to our survival, and we are
Identify. When you acquire an ingredient,
constantly looking for ways to improve it––in
you can spend an hour examining it and
flavor and effectiveness. Moreover,
make an Intelligence (Nature) check to
preparing a meal is an important way to
guess that ingredient’s properties. The
prepare for the day: a big meal before a
difficulty of this check is equal to the
long battle is essential to maintaining
difficulty rating associated with acquiring it.
strength and stamina to the very end.
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On a successful check, you learn one dish
you might make with this ingredient. On a PREP TIME
failed check, you learn no recipes, but keep The prep time of a meal describes the
the ingredient. amount of time between starting the dish
Experiment. S imilarly to above, you and finishing it. At the end of a dish’s prep
experiment with the ingredient to figure out time, the dish is completed and ready to
its properties. The difference between the consume.
two methods is that you must expend one Cooking can be interrupted, but only
serving of the ingredient to perform cooking briefly. If an interruption lasts an amount of
experiments. time equal to the prep time of the
Cookbooks. You can also learn recipes ingredients, the components break down
from a cookbook. Cookbooks generally and the dish is lost.
focus on a single discipline of cooking, or on
how to prepare the various parts of a single DIFFICULTY
creature or type of creature. For instance, The difficulty of a dish describes the amount
you might read a Dragon Cookbook to learn of skill required to properly prepare
the dragon steak recipe, or a Common ingredients, follow complex steps, correct
Cookbook t o learn all the common mistakes, and substitute ingredients where
ingredient recipes. These books might be necessary, expressed as a number. When
common or rare, depending on the setting you make a Wisdom (Cooking utensils)
of your campaign. check to prepare a dish, this difficulty rating
is what your check is contesting. If your
RECIPE COMPONENTS check exceeds the difficulty rating, you
Each dish has an associated recipe that succeed in cooking the dish.
describes its qualities––both the
components required for crafting and the INGREDIENT COMPONENTS
effects bestowed on creatures who eat a Ingredients are the building blocks of meals,
serving of the dish. Each quality is briefly without which cooking couldn’t exist. There
covered below. are many different kinds of ingredients that
come from many different places. Each
INGREDIENTS quality assigned to an ingredient is briefly
The ingredients of a dish are the material covered below.
components necessary to begin cooking the
dish. Each ingredient is consumed by the SOURCE
process of cooking, whether you succeed in The source of an ingredient is where you
bestowing the dish with magical effects or can find or derive it. For foraging ingredients
not. like plants and spices, the source will
If an ingredient has no number next to it, describe an environment, such as deserts,
the recipe requires a single serving of that forests, or underground caverns. For
ingredient, while an ingredient with a hunting ingredients like fish, meat, and
number in parentheses requires multiple poultry, the source will describe what
servings. animals the ingredient can be stripped from.
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extremely hard skin or scales, or natural
TYPE defenses like quills or a venom sac.
The type of an ingredient describes what
activity is required to acquire it. There are PURCHASING INGREDIENTS
two types of ingredients: foraging and Sometimes a campaign will never deviate
hunting. into the right environment to forage a
Foraging. To acquire a foraging particular ingredient, and thus an entire
ingredient, you must travel to the group of recipes is locked away. A solution
environment described in that ingredient’s to this problem is purchasing ingredients
source and make a Wisdom (Survival) from merchants in cities or markets.
check. On a successful check, you forage The cost of an ingredient a direct result of
the number of servings described in the its rarity. In a desert environment, exotic
ingredient’s type. An environment can be fruits and vegetables are not particularly
foraged multiple times. expensive, as they’re quite common to find
Hunting. T o acquire a hunting ingredient, in the wild. However, common fruits and
you must hunt and kill the creature vegetables, despite their name, are
described in that ingredient’s source and extremely rare in the desert and fetch a
make a Wisdom (Survival) check. On a much higher price. As a guiding range, a
successful check, you recover the number serving of most foraging ingredients would
of servings described in the ingredient’s be bought in copper or low amounts of
type. You cannot attempt to recover silver, and most hunting ingredients would
ingredients from the same creature more be bought in silver or low amounts of gold.
than once. A particularly rare type of hunting ingredient,
such as dragon meat or aboleth fish, is an
WEIGHT exception to this rule and can cost huge
The weight of an ingredient describes how comparatively huge amounts of gold or
much of that ingredient qualifies as a single even platinum.
serving. A recipe may call for multiple
servings.
DIFFICULTY
The difficulty of an ingredient describes how
hard it is to acquire from foraging or hunting.
When you make a check to acquire an
ingredient, this difficulty rating is the number
your check is contesting.
A foraging ingredient with a high difficulty
rating is especially rare, or difficult to safely
forage due to its natural defenses, like
poison or spores. A hunting ingredient with
a high difficulty rating is hard to recover
from a creature’s body, either because of
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INGREDIENTS DESCRIPTIONS
Presented below is a list of ingredients in
alphabetical order, followed by short
descriptions of those ingredients and their ACIDIC GELATIN
qualities. Source: Any ooze-type creature
Type: Hunting (5 servings)
Weight: 2 lbs.
LIST OF INGREDIENTS
DC: 13
Acidic Gelatin
The ooze of a gelatinous cube or its
Beholder Eyestalks
relatives can be especially sweet or sour.
Birdmeat
The difficulty of recovering this gelatin
Common Fish
comes from its horribly acidic nature, which
Common Fruits
must be nullified before it can be collected.
Common Meat
Common Poultry BEHOLDER EYESTALKS
Common Spices
Source: Any beholder species
Common Vegetables
Type: Hunting (A number of servings equal
Dragon Meat
to the number of intact eyestalks)
Exotic Fish
Weight: 20 lbs.
Exotic Fruits
DC: 15
Exotic Meat
The eyestalks of a beholder or its relatives
Exotic Poultry
have a strange and rubbery texture. The
Exotic Spices
refractive beam lenses of these stalks must
Exotic Vegetables
be removed carefully, else the eyestalk can
Fiend Heart
fire independently of the body.
Flumph Tendrils
Mimic Tongue BIRDMEAT
Monstrous Fish
Source: A griffon, hippogriff, owlbear, or
Myconid Shrooms
other bird-hybrid creature
Nightmare Meat
Type: Hunting (4 servings)
Roc Poultry
Weight: 10 lbs.
Shambling Shrooms
DC: 12
Sphinx Heart
This unusual ingredient straddles the line
Unicorn Meat
between meat and poultry. You may
substitute any “Exotic Meat” or “Exotic
Poultry” with this ingredient.
COMMON FISH
Source: Any aquatic creature (CR 1 or less)
Type: Hunting (1 serving if Small; 5 if
Medium; 10 if Large)
Weight: 5 lbs.
5
DC: 10 local plantlife, and can create most
This ingredient can be found in nearly any combinations of flavors.
river, pond, or sizeable body of water.
COMMON VEGETABLES
COMMON FRUITS Source: Mild and temperate forests or fields
Source: Mild and temperate forests Type: Forage (5 servings)
Type: Forage (5 servings) Weight: 1 lb.
Weight: 2 lbs. DC: 10
DC: 10 This ingredient is usually pulled from the
This ingredient, which covers all common ground, and is important in balancing the
fruits and berries, can be derived from many texture and nutrition of any meal.
trees and bushes.
DRAGON MEAT
COMMON MEAT Source: Any chromatic or metallic dragon
Source: Any land-based creature (CR 1 or Type: Hunting (5 servings if wyrmling; 10 if
less) young; 20 if adult; 40 if ancient)
Type: Hunting (1 serving if Small; 5 if Weight: 15 lbs.
Medium; 10 if Large) DC: 16
Weight: 10 lbs. This meat is notoriously difficult to gather,
DC: 10 as the dragon’s scales are extremely hard
This ingredient can be hunted in almost any to pierce, and one wrong move can
environment, and covers all sorts of wild puncture the dragon’s breath weapon gland,
game. spoiling the meat.
COMMON POULTRY EXOTIC FISH
Source: Any avian creature or creature with Source: Any aquatic creature (CR 2 or
nonmagical flight (CR 1 or less) more)
Type: Hunting (1 serving if Small; 5 if Type: Hunting (1 serving if Small; 5 if
Medium; 10 if Large) Medium; 10 if Large)
Weight: 8 lbs. Weight: 5 lbs.
DC: 11 DC: 14
This ingredient can be tricky for amateurs, This exotic ingredient can be derived from
but most hunters have no trouble rousing all sorts of rare fish-like creatures, including
some up. sharks, whales, and merrow, should you
find it in yourself to eat them.
COMMON SPICES
Source: Any environment EXOTIC FRUITS
Type: Forage (8 servings) Source: Tropical, desert, or magical forests
Weight: 1 lb. Type: Forage (5 servings)
DC: 11 Weight: 3 lbs.
This ingredient is derived by grinding down DC: 14
These rare fruits take on unusual flavors as
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a result of their environmental adaptation, These exotic vegetables are not only a
and are good for spicing up any dish. source of nutrition but also sharp and
unforgettable notes of flavor.
EXOTIC MEAT
Source: Any land-based creature (CR 2 or FIEND HEART
more) Source: Any fiend-type creature
Type: Hunting (1 serving if Small; 5 if Type: Hunting (1 serving if Small; 2 if
Medium; 10 if Large) Medium; 4 if Large)
Weight: 15 lbs. Weight: 15 lbs.
DC: 14 DC: 15
This meat comes from more difficult game, A fiend’s heart is a delicacy in many
and is sometimes infused with subtle magic. cultures, though its heat-resistant nature
It can be derived from all sorts of game, makes it extremely difficult to cook.
including chimeras, displacer beasts,
manticores, and some giant beasts. FLUMPH TENDRILS
Source: Flumphs
EXOTIC POULTRY Type: Hunting (2 servings)
Source: Any avian creature or creature with Weight: 10 lbs.
nonmagical flight (CR 2 or more) DC: 14
Type: Hunting (1 serving if Small; 5 if If you can live with the emotional weight of
Medium; 10 if Large) killing a flumph, you deserve the zesty
Weight: 10 lbs. flavors locked inside their acidic tendrils.
DC: 15
These ingredients are derived from rare MIMIC TONGUE
winged beasts and birds, including Source: Mimics
perytons, cloakers, and coatls. Type: Hunting (4 servings)
Weight: 10 lbs.
EXOTIC SPICES DC: 16
Source: Any environment A mimic’s tongue has an unusual sour but
Type: Forage (8 servings) meaty taste that is difficult to replicate. This
Weight: 1 lb. ingredient is difficult to gather, as the
DC: 15 mimic’s body immediately starts to digest
These spices create more exciting and the tongue upon death.
unusual flavors. Unlike most exotic
ingredients, they can be derived from any MONSTROUS FISH
environment if you know where to look. Source: Aboleth, hydra, kraken, or any
aquatic creature of CR 10 or higher
EXOTIC VEGETABLES Type: Hunting (5 servings if Medium; 10 if
Source: Tropical, desert, or magical forests Large; 20 if Huge; 40 if Gargantuan)
or fields Weight: 10 lbs.
Type: Forage (5 servings) DC: 17
Weight: 1 lb. This fish is extremely hard to gather, as it
DC: 14 only comes from aquatic creatures of
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legendary fierceness and repute. However, dead, or merely waiting for you to drop your
the subtle flavors are reward enough. guard before engulfing you whole.
MYCONID SHROOMS SPHINX HEART
Source: Any member of a myconid colony Source: Any sphinx relative
Type: Hunting (1 serving if Sprout; 2 if Type: Hunting (10 servings)
Spore Servant; 8 if Adult; 20 if Sovereign) Weight:
Weight: 5 lbs. DC: 17
DC: 16 The heart of a sphinx is tough to reach, but
This ingredient is tough to gather as the its gently burning taste is worth the work. A
spores it emit are naturally pacifying. Most sphinx’s heart can’t be extracted from its
avid consumers of this shroom wear body without magical weapons, as its body
breathing apparatuses and tight clothes to is resistant to regular steel.
gather it.
UNICORN MEAT
NIGHTMARE MEAT Source: Unicorns and pegasi
Source: Nightmares Type: Hunting (8 servings)
Type: Hunting (8 servings) Weight: 15 lbs.
Weight: 15 lbs. DC: 16
DC: 16 As unicorns and pegasi are near-universally
Like fiend heart, the meat of a nightmare is seen as icons of good, their meat is
notoriously difficult to cook because of its something of a forbidden delicacy, hoarded
immunity to flame. by black market merchants and the richest
elite.
ROC POULTRY
Source: Rocs
Type: Hunting (10 servings if adolescent;
20 if adult)
Weight: 20 lbs.
DC: 14
The hardest part of gathering this ingredient
is killing the roc, as its body has little in the
way of natural armor.
SHAMBLING SHROOMS
Source: Shambling mounds
Type: Hunting (10 servings)
Weight: 8 lbs.
DC: 14
Gathering this ingredient is dangerous, as
its tough to tell if a shambling mound is truly
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DISHES DESCRIPTIONS
Presented below is a list of dishes in
alphabetical order, followed by short
descriptions of those dishes and their BEHOLDER SOUP
qualities. Ingredients: Beholder eyestalks, exotic
spices, exotic vegetables
Prep Time: 2 hours
LIST OF DISHES
Difficulty: 17
Beholder Soup
A creature that eats a serving of this soup
Dragon Steak
has advantage on all Strength, Dexterity,
Exotic Seafood Gumbo
and Constitution saving throws for 24 hours.
Exotic Steak
As a side effect, the eyes of some
Exotic Rotisserie
creatures that eat this soup turn unusual
Exotic Stir Fry
colors until its effects wear off.
Flumph Soup
Grilled Sphinx Heart DRAGON STEAK
Grilled Steak
Ingredients: Dragon meat, exotic spices
Heart of Fiend
Prep Time: 4 hours
Ooze Dessert
Difficulty: 17
Mimic Tongue Kebab
A creature that eats a serving of this steak
Monstrous Seafood Gumbo
gains the following benefits for 24 hours.
Myconid Soup
Planar Horse Stew ● The creature has advantage on
Poultry Rotisserie Strength saving throws.
Poultry Stir Fry ● The creature has advantage on saving
Roc Rotisserie throws against being frightened.
Seafood Gumbo ● The creature has resistance to the
Shambler Soup element associated with the species of
Stir Fry dragon this steak is made from.
Sweet Dessert
As a side effect, a creature that eats this
steak sometimes belches a small burst of
elemental energy that corresponds with the
dragon’s species. This belch does no
damage.
EXOTIC SEAFOOD GUMBO
Ingredients: Common spices, common
vegetables (2), exotic fish
Prep Time: 2 hours
Difficulty: 14
A creature that eats a serving of this gumbo
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has advantage on Wisdom saving throws GRILLED SPHINX HEART
for 8 hours. Ingredients: Exotic spices, sphinx heart
Prep Time: 2 hours
EXOTIC STEAK Difficulty: 16
Ingredients: Common spices, exotic meat A creature that eats a serving of this heart
Prep Time: 1 hour has advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom,
Difficulty: 14 and Charisma saving throws for 24 hours.
A creature that eats a serving of this steak As a side effect, some creatures that eat
has advantage on Strength saving throws this heart have an unusual interest in riddles
for 8 hours. until its effects wear off.
EXOTIC ROTISSERIE GRILLED STEAK
Ingredients: Common spices, exotic poultry Ingredients: Common spices, common
Prep Time: 2 hours meat
Difficulty: 15 Prep Time: 1 hour
A creature that eats a serving of this Difficulty: 10
rotisserie has advantage on Dexterity A creature that eats a serving of this steak
saving throws for 8 hours. has advantage on Strength saving throws
for 4 hours.
EXOTIC STIR FRY
Ingredients: Common spices, exotic HEART OF FIEND
vegetables (2) Ingredients: Exotic spices, fiend heart
Prep Time: 1 hour Prep Time: 4 hours
Difficulty: 14 Difficulty: 15
A creature that eats a serving of this stir fry A creature that eats a serving of this heart
has advantage on Constitution saving has advantage on saving throws made
throws for 8 hours. against spells and other magic effects for 8
hours. If the creature has darkvision, their
FLUMPH SOUP vision is not impeded by magical darkness
Ingredients: Exotic spices, common for the duration.
vegetables (2), flumph tendrils
Prep Time: 1 hour OOZE DESSERT
Difficulty: 13 Ingredients: Acidic gelatin (2), exotic fruit
A group of creatures who eat from the same (2), common spices
pot of flumph soup can communicate with Prep Time: 1 hour
each other telepathically to a distance of Difficulty: 14
120 feet for 24 hours. A creature that eats a serving of this dessert
As a side effect, when a creature under is resistant to acid damage for 8 hours.
the effects of this soup feels strong emotion, Additionally, the creature’s sweat becomes
they gently glow. An amused creature glows very sticky, granting them advantage on
pink, a sad one blue, a curious one green, ability checks and saving throws made
and an angry one red. against being disarmed.
10
MIMIC TONGUE KEBAB skin. These fungi never last more than a
Ingredients: Exotic spices, mimic tongue day, and pull away easily.
Prep Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: 15
PLANAR HORSE STEW
A creature that eats a serving of this tongue Ingredients: Exotic spices, common
is resistant to acid damage and has vegetables (2), nightmare meat or unicorn
advantage on ability checks made to meat
grapple other creatures for 8 hours. Prep Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: 14
MONSTROUS SEAFOOD GUMBO A creature that eats a serving of this stew
Ingredients: Exotic spices, monstrous fish, gains the following benefits, depending on
exotic vegetables (2) what kind of meat was used in the dish.
Prep Time: 4 hours Nightmare. Y ou have resistance to fire
Difficulty: 16 damage and advantage on saving throws
A creature that eats a serving of this gumbo against being frightened for 8 hours.
gains the following benefits for 24 hours. Unicorn. Y ou have resistance to radiant
damage and advantage on saving throws
● The creature has advantage on against being charmed for 8 hours.
Wisdom saving throws.
● The creature gains a swimming speed POULTRY ROTISSERIE
equal to their walking speed. Ingredients: Common poultry, common
● The amount of time the creature can spices
hold their breath is doubled. Prep Time: 2 hours
Difficulty: 11
As a side effect, a creature that eats this A creature that eats a serving of this stir fry
gumbo sometimes develops protrusions on has advantage on Dexterity saving throws
their skin resembling fish scales. These for 4 hours.
protrusions flake away as the effects of the
gumbo fade. POULTRY STIR FRY
Ingredients: Common poultry, common
MYCONID SOUP spices, common vegetables (2)
Ingredients: Common spices, common Prep Time: 1 hour
vegetables (2), myconid shrooms Difficulty: 10
Prep Time: 1 hour A creature that eats a serving of this stir fry
Difficulty: 14 has advantage on Dexterity and
A creature that eats a serving of this soup Constitution saving throws for 4 hours.
has resistance to poison damage and
advantage on saving throws made to resist ROC ROTISSERIE
poison and disease for 8 hours. Ingredients: Exotic spices, roc poultry
As a side effect, some creatures that eat Prep Time: 4 hours
this soup notice tiny fungi growing on their Difficulty: 16
A creature that eats a serving of this
11
rotisserie gains the following benefits for 24 Prep Time: 1 hour
hours. Difficulty: 12
A creature that eats a serving of this dessert
● The creature has advantage on has advantage on saving throws against
Dexterity saving throws. being charmed for 4 hours.
● The creature has advantage on
Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely
on sight.
SEAFOOD GUMBO
Ingredients: Common spices, common
fish, common vegetables (2)
Prep Time: 2 hours
Difficulty: 11
A creature that eats a serving of this gumbo
has advantage on Wisdom saving throws
for 4 hours.
SHAMBLER SOUP
Ingredients: Exotic spices, common
vegetables (2), shambler shrooms
Prep Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: 15
A creature that eats a serving of this soup is
immune to lightning damage for 8 hours.
Additionally, when that creature takes
lightning damage, it recovers a number of
hit points equal to half the damage the
attack would have dealt to a non-immune
creature.
STIR FRY
Ingredients: Common spices, common
vegetables (2)
Prep Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: 10
A creature that eats a serving of this dessert
has advantage on Constitution saving
throws for 4 hours.
SWEET DESSERT
Ingredients: Common spices, common
fruits (2)
