It's going to happen, you slay a monster and wonder if that will feed the starving village, or you're trapped far from help and are starving yourselves... or maybe YOU are on some deranged monsters' menu... and the question will be "Just how much meat is there? How to keep it best?"
The table below shows how much meat an inexperienced butcher may be able to harvest from a creature, especially after a battle may have ruined some of the meat (i.e. burned, frozen, poisoned, etc.). If a whole creature's carcass is brought to a butcher, the butcher may pay 4x the value rolled in the chart below for the carcass (if the butcher even WANTS this kind of creature - DM discretion). Of course, carrying a heavy carcass can be difficult, and the creature's bacteria that kept it alive will begin to ruin the meat, spoiling it within a day.
| Beast Size | Pieces of Meat | Weight |
| Tiny | 1 | 4 lb. |
| Small | 1d4 | 4-16 lb. |
| Medium | 2d6 | 8-48 lb. |
| Large | 6d6 | 24-144 lb. |
| Huge | 8d12 | 32-384 lb. |
| Gargantuan | 8d20 | 32-640 lb. |
The weight of a raw piece of meat is 4 pounds. One slab of meat (4 lbs.), can be used to make 1 dried ration (2 lbs.). Raw meat has a very short shelf-life, and will go bad within a day if it is not refridgerated or cured.
The standard price for regular a piece of animal meat (such as cattle or deer) is 5cp per pound. The value of meat can vary drastically, depending on the quality, rarity and the creature it is sourced from. For example, dragon meat could cost 10x more than standard livestock meat, while insect meat could cost only a copper or two per pound. A DM can decide if that is adequate, and if certain meat is worth more or less.
Some creature types have meat that is inedible (i.e undead), while others carry some sort of stygma (cannibalism, distasteful, unholy). For example, eating a celestial may be considered a vile, unholy act; while eating a monstrosity may be considered disgusting and distasteful; in addition, giants are too similar to most medium-sized humanoids and are often considered inline with cannibalism. Of course, while buying meats with a stygma is forbidden and possibly illegal in most places, there are always people willing to buy illegal goods (although they may be hard to find).
| Creature Type | Edible? | Possible Stigma | Sellable? |
| Aberration | N | - | Inedible |
| Beast | Y | - | Y |
| Celestial | Y | Cannibalism, Holy | N |
| Construct | N | - | Inedible |
| Dragon | Y | - | Y |
| Elemental | N | - | Inedible |
| Fey | Y | Cannibalism, Worshipped | N |
| Fiend | N | - | Inedible |
| Giant | Y | Cannibalism | N |
| Humanoid | Y | Cannibalism | N |
| Monstrosity | ? | Disgusting Creature | N |
| Ooze | N | - | Inedible |
| Plant | N/A | - | No meat |
| Undead | N | - | Inedible |
Some monstrosities have meat that is edible (DM Discretion)!
Cooked meat can be eaten safely. Cooking meat requires a campfire or oven. Eating raw meat requires a Constitution Check; a successful check results in a filling meal, but a failure results in debilitating stomach cramps, causing 1 level of exhaustion.
The meat can be dried using salt, spices, heat and time.
Drying in an oven: 6 hours. The oven needs to be at the lowest heat possible, you want to dry the meat, not cook it.
Check: Hunting or Cooking, resulting meat is average in value (5cp/lb).
Drying in a Smoke Hut: 2 days. Smoking must be maintained periodically (can't be left alone for days)
Check: Hunting -2 penalty, Cooking -4 penalty, resulting meat is double in value (10cp/lb).
Drying in Sun light: 16 hours. Must be in direct sunlight, in over 85°F/30°C, Set on a hot stone, or hanging from a rack.
Check: Hunting, Cooking -2 penalty, resulting meat is of lower value (4cp/lb).
Drying with Salt: 1 day. To dry cure meat with salt, cover it entirely in salt for a full day. For this method, you'll need to use the amount of salt that is equivalent to 5% of the weight of the meat.
Check: Hunting +2 bonus, or Cooking, resulting meat is of low value (3cp/lb).
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