When you get lost in the dungeon...

On the OSR Google+ Community, someone was asking about difficulties getting lost in a mega-dungeon. I mentioned food and water being the most needed commodities. Then I was riffing on ideas, when I came up with what I feel is an neat one. So here goes.

Delver's Puffball

A large specimen ready to eat

A species of fungus called the Delver's Puffball grows in damp underground locations, like mines, caves, and dungeons. They are usually from fist- to head-sized, with rare specimens reaching the size of a small horse. Easy to identify by their white flesh and bulbous round shape. If the
puffball has turned brown, it is no longer fit to eat, as it is now a bag full of spores.

Brown and full of spores

The Delver's Puffball provides basic nutrients and some moisture. It's rather bland if eaten raw, but can be quite delicious if sauteed with a little butter. You can live on it for a couple of weeks with the only side effects being some mild hallucinations and a greenish tinge to the skin, which dissipates after four days in the sun.

There is a rumor that the spores are deadly and germinate in your lungs (dark and moist), so it is recommended that you don't disturb the brown ones. Another rumor says that bright light causes the hallucinations to intensify. Those four days in the sun might be quite a trip.