Cram ration
% 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | cram ration |
| Base price | 35 zm |
| Nutrition | 600 (700 for dwarves) |
| Turns to eat | 3 |
| Weight | 15 |
| Conduct | vegan |
A cram ration is a type of comestible that appears in NetHack. It is considered vegan.
Contents
Generation
Several heroes can start the game with cram rations:
- Gnomish and human Rangers start the game with a stack of 4-8 cram rations.[1]
- Dwarven heroes have any lembas wafers in their starting inventory replaced with cram rations, though there are no roles that start with lembas wafers.[2]
- Elven heroes have any cram in their starting inventory replaced with lembas wafers.[3]
- Orcish heroes that are not Wizards are given two stacks of 1-2 random food items to compensate for inferior equipment, and any cram rations generated in their starting inventory or among their extra food are replaced with tripe rations.[4][5]
- Tourists can start with cram rations among their initial stacks of food.[6]
Cram rations make up 1⁄50 (2%) of all comestibles randomly generated on the ground, in shops or as death drops. General stores, delicatessens and health food stores can stock cram rations.
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.
Per commit ae3e5d28, one room on the dungeon level with the stairs to the Gnomish Mines will generate an additional comestible, which has a 1⁄5 chance of being a cram ration.Description
When eaten, cram rations grant 600 nutrition across 3 turns—cram rations cannot be rotten food unless they are cursed.[7] Dwarven heroes gain an additional 100 nutrition from eating cram rations.[8]
Strategy
Cram rations are lighter but less filling than the more common food rations, and non-cursed cram rations is a safer option than most other comestibles if you must eat while hostile monsters are nearby—this makes them particularly useful during the ascension run or an encounter with Famine in the Astral Plane, though not to the extent of K-rations or C-rations.
History
Cram rations first appear in NetHack 3.0.0.
In NetHack 3.3.0, which introduces playable races of hero, orcish heroes that are not Wizards can start the game with cram rations among their random extra food items[9]—later versions added code intended to give orcish heroes tripe rations in place of cram rations and lembas wafers for this extra food, but that code did not function properly. This is fixed in NetHack 3.6.2 via commit 98099863.[10][11]
The inability of non-cursed cram rations to be rotten when eaten is introduced in NetHack 3.6.0, while the extra nutrition dwarves gain from eating cram rations is added in NetHack 3.6.1 via commit 6e56c796.
Origin
Cram is a type of food in the Middle-Earth setting of J.R.R. Tolkien, and is described as biscuit-like with some vaguely hardtack-like qualities. Cram is made by the human inhabitants of Lake-town and Dale and shared with the dwarves of the Lonely Mountain—while much less flavorful compared to elven lembas, cram is still very nutritious and is said to keep fresh indefinitely, making it viable sustenance on long journeys.
In The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins and the dwarves keep themselves fed with cram during the latter part of the Quest of Erebor; in The Fellowship of the Ring, Gimli eats a tiny portion of a lembas cake expecting it to be a similar type of cram, but takes a liking to the food and eagerly finishes it. Some variants of NetHack add a message for a dwarven hero eating lembas that references this latter occurrence.
Messages
- This cram ration is bland.
- You ate a non-cursed cram ration.
Variants
Variants of NetHack based on NetHack 3.4.3 and earlier versions may not include the cram-related substitutions for dwarven and orcish heroes.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, orcish heroes will receive cram rations as part of their starting inventory and extra food without them being substituted out, as in NetHack 3.4.3.
Upgrading a cram ration will produce a lembas wafer, and upgrading a K-ration, C-ration or lembas wafer has a 1⁄2 chance of producing a cram ration.
Applying a fishing pole on a pool or moat has a 1⁄6 chance of hooking a cram ration.[12]
dNetHack
In dNetHack, Binders that are not elves or vampires will start each game with 1-2 cram rations, and with the exception of dwarven Binders those rations are considered stolen. Pirates start each game with 2-4 cram rations, and know the cram ration as sea biscuits.
Orcish heroes will receive cram rations as part of their starting inventory and extra food without them being substituted out, as in NetHack 3.4.3. Clockwork heroes will have any cram rations in their starting inventory replaced with potions of oil, while incantifier heroes will have them replaced with scrolls of food detection, and vampire heroes will have them replaced with potions of blood from humans.
Fishing village map inclusions in the Outlands rings have a 1⁄9 chance of generating a cram ration on each square. Fishery shops in Elshava can stock cram rations.
Hedrow warriors have an effective 2⁄15 chance of being generated with 1-2 cram rations, and drow novices generate with 2-6 cursed cram rations as well as an additional partly eaten one.
notdNetHack
In notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, in addition to dNetHack details, salamander Rangers will receive an additional 1-2 cram rations to replace the role's standard high boots, which they cannot wear due to their serpentine body.
SlashTHEM
In SlashTHEM, Corsairs start each game with 1-2 cram rations, and Gladiators start each game with 1-2 cram rations. Pirates start each game with 2-4 cram rations and know the cram ration as sea biscuits, as in dNetHack and its derivatives.
Orcish heroes will receive cram rations as part of their starting inventory and extra food without them being substituted out, as in NetHack 3.4.3. As with dNetHack and its derivatives, clockwork heroes will have any cram rations in their starting inventory replaced with potions of oil, while incantifier heroes will have them replaced with scrolls of food detection.
Encyclopedia entry
If you want to know what cram is, I can only say that I don't know the recipe; but it is biscuitish, keeps good indefinitely, is supposed to be sustaining, and is certainly not entertaining, being in fact very uninteresting except as a chewing exercise. It was made by the Lake-men for long journeys.
References
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 119: Initial inventory for Rangers pre-substitution
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 229
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 212
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 222
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 851: Extra food for orcs
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 144
- ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 55
- ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 333
- ↑ u_init.c in NetHack 3.3.0, line 806
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.2, line 222
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.2, line 1055
- ↑ apply.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 2874
