When should I eat people?

Question

The in-game manual for ADOM is massive, and I don't see anything on the main screen that resembles a hunger stat. How do I know when I should start eating all these corpses and foodstuffs I'm piling up?

Answer 1

The above answer is wrong, and there is a significant downside to being Satiated and Bloated, namely -5 speed for each of them (i.e. -10 speed when bloated). It also decreases your DV somewhat.

Also, if you reach Starving!, you will die in 100-150 turns depending on the toughness stat.

Answer 2

There are five different hunger indicators:
- Bloated (Can't eat any more)
- Satiated
- Normal (No indicator)
- Hungry (Usually first indication that you should eat something)
- Starving! (The longer you stay here, the more stats you lose. I don't think it's permanent, but not 100%)

So if you're managing to pile up lots of food, eat! The only downside to Bloated is if you find a corpse that grants an ability you want (ie. troll, blink dog, etc.). You'll have to wait to digest before you can eat it and gain the ability.