Lodi_sl said:
In basic, you take 1d2 damage for each day without food; 1d3/day without water; 1d4+1/day without either. Hit points lost this way can't be restored by any means, including magical, until you take in the lost sustenance. The difference in quality was between regular rations and iron rations -- rations last for 1 week, and will spoil overnight if taken underground, while iron rations last for 2 months, and can survive underground.
However, the rules on food and drink are a bit glossed over in AD&D -- as in I can't find the rules at all in the DMG or PHB. In 1st edition, there was a wilderness survival guide that had some advanced rules on the subject -- they were stupidly complicated for a game. About the best you could take from it would be the tolerance level for how long you can go without food before taking damage, and an actual number for the minimum daily requirements of both food and water (in case you actually need to micro-manage.)
Tolerance levels for lack of food
Combined strength
and constitutionTolerance level
15 or less4 days
16 to 195 days
20 to 246 days
25 to 307 days
31 to 358 days
36 or more10 days
Minimum Nourishment
Food: M-sized creatures need 2-lbs of food a day; S-sized creatures need 1-lb of food a day; L-sized creatures need 6-lbs of food a day. Meat counts as double its weight in food value. Dry rations from the 2E PHB are suppose to be enough for one week, so probably about 14-lbs worth.
Water: M-sized creatures need 4-lbs of water (1/2-gal.) a day (or 8-lbs/1-gal. if performing heavy activity); S-sized creatures need half this amount; L-sized creatures need 3? this amount. Conveniently, the wineskin holds exactly 4-lbs, so you can keep track based on those.
Lodi_sl said:
how do the rules work torches? How long do they last? Are they reusable?
http://www.purpleworm.org/rules/PHB/DD01770.htm
In 2E, they last for 30-mins and have a 15-ft radius. They are mostly just a use and drop item, but I suppose if a player had the spare ingrediants, I would let them have a make-shift torch rambo-style. Lantern oil wouldn't do for this, since in most D&D time settings, this is a vegetable oil. So you would need a petroleum-based oil (greek-fire from the equipment list) or a resin-based oil (pitch) to use as the fuel for the torch.