They really should have supplies that if you run out before you can complete the adventure, you lose the game, or there should a way to replenish supplies, i.e. foraging or plundering supplies.
In a survival game? Perhaps, in a fantasy or sci fi game its completely and horribly out of place.
Rations are part of inventory management. Just because whatever roguelikes you've played don't do it well doesn't mean anything.
Either you have them or you dont, its a binary thing, theres no depth there. Mount and blade had a decent implementation, with them giving morale bonuses depending on variety. But generally speaking, in every other game, they are a number that you should try to keep above 0 and thats it.
Nontheless, I'm starting to think you just don't like rpgs since you don't want to deal with fairly basic aspects that have even been in the D&D rulesets up to third edition and later pathfinder (I'm not too familiar with the 4e or 5e item lists, but I suspect rations are still there).
Rations in pen and paper work differently, because shit happens there, your rations can be spoiled or lost, you can be driven to desperation, forced into banditry to survive. I have DMed such campaigns. But in a computer electronic game it just sucks as a mechanic.
Actually, it doesn't have to be the case that magic weapons and armor can't break. Daggerfall had magic equipment that could break as the items wore under the stress of using their enchantments and you still had to repair enchanted gear in Morrowind and Oblivion.
Powerful, magical weapons that break after killing a few dudes always sounded wrong to me. Like they are mundane shit with a sharper edge at that point. Stories of how this weapon slew such and such are interesting, but finding out that they need to be maintained by some schmuck son of the blacksmith on your stop before entering the dungeon is so mundane, feels like watching a heroic figure taking a dump. It detracts from the fantasy, therefore its not needed.
Patching clothing and mending straps are just basic sewing. Rivets also are fairly simple to use to attach things and don't require complicated tools or a workshop. Sharpening a blade can be done with basic and can be done with sharpening stones. There are appropriate repairs that can be made in camp. If you have a decently sized party with followers such as one which would be expected in a serious expedition, then it's entirely possible to be able to carry gear that allows you to do more complicated tasks.
They are also heavy, take up space and will get you killed if you have to go jumping around trap filled rooms. Either way, you rarely get the luxury of preparing for an expedition in most dungeon delving rpgs, or have the resources to do so. Plus it is basically expected that you will find better gear as you explore, taken from dead enemies or found in the enemy armory.
I get the fantasy you are going for, it just isnt compatible with even most mundane or low fantasy settings. Just historical rpgs, of which we dont get many, even less that implement realistic weapon and armor maintenance and ration management.
There's nothing uninteresting about managing food and water supplies, or making sure you have the right gear for the environment you're going into. Plus you could easily do something other games have like given particular morale or physical bonuses for having a good meal and sleeping well through the night and on the other side, physiological and morale problems for deficits or having to do with being against unexpected conditions your weren't prepared for and needing to turn back. You can even have bonuses for having a diverse and fulfilling set of rations.
Yeah, mount and blade, like I said above. Still, thats for a company of mercenaries in a quasi historical setting.
Anywhere else all that shit doesnt work.
They do matter as killing people usually isn't a solution to most in-world problems that could pop up yet still affect the town and the prices you could pawn of gear at or the prices you'd have to pay for supplies. Plus merchants may be less likely to part with their coin in variously circumstances.
So you fucking mug them, whats the big deal? Trying to force an economy on a powerhouse that holds the lives of so many on his hands is retarded. Money ceases to be an issue when you can just take things by force if you want to.
Im not advocating for economy to be gone from rpgs, im just saying that it eventually becoming irrelevant is an inevitability and not just that but desirable, as the moment when you can afford whatever the fuck you want feels so great, like you reached a milestone in your adventuring career.
