Item Encumbrance

The best encumbrance system ever designed ™

Every role-player notices two basic facts about encumbrance after playing for a while:

1. An encumbrance system is needed. This is primarily because players want their characters to "be prepared" for "every eventuality." They consequently carry around everything but the kitchen sink (and sometimes…)
2. Most encumbrance systems suck. This is due to the tendency to make encumbrance systems realistic, rather than playable. The latter is far more important than the former, though…

Thus, the aim of an encumbrance system should be playability; characters should be able to know exactly how encumbered they are at all times, and exactly what that means game-wise. This requires that the gradation of the system be very coarse, which further implies that the system will be mostly unrealistic. This lack of realism is therefore an inherent flaw and a necessary feature; in all cases the system should be tempered with common sense.

Essence

The basic measure of the new encumbrance system is the ITEM. A rough measure of an item:

1 item ~ 1 longsword ~ 10 pounds ~ 100 coins

The average person can carry ten (10) items worth of stuff without being encumbered; after that, they lose movement on a 5' per 1i basis, rounded up for fractional items. A person at 0' (or less) movement cannot carry any more items (in addition to being unable to move).

For simplicity, let us denote:

	H	= Half Item	= ½ item
	Q	= Quarter Item	= ¼ item.

The smallest measure of encumbrance will be the quarter item. A single piece of chalk weighs a Q item. 10 pieces of chalk (kept together) also weighs a Q item. While unrealistic, the upshot is that you can use chalk without having to worry about updating your encumbrance total for each piece, or even keep track of how many pieces you have.

The total of items you are currently carrying (i.e. your current encumbrance) is called your Load.

Quantities

The most important statistic for your character is your Encumbrance Limit (EL), which is the sum of your Base Encumbrance Limit (BEL) and your Strength Encumbrance Modifier (SEM) * your Encumbrance Factor (EF):

EF = BEL + (SEM * EF)

Note that EF = X1 for both Medium and Small size creatures, so for player characters EL simplifies to just BEL + SEM.

BEL and EF comes from your size, and SEM from your STR, according to the charts below.

Size BEL EF Move Fine 1i X1/8 5' Diminutive 2i X¼ 10' Tiny 4i X½ 15' Small 8i X1 20' Medium 10i X1 30' Large 20i X2 40' Huge 40i X4 60' Gargantuan 80i X8 80' Colossal 160i X16 100'

STR SEM 1 -9i 2 -8i 3 -7i 4 -6i 5 -5i 6 -4i 7 -3i 8 -2i 9 -1i 10 0i

STR SEM 11 +1i 12 +2i 13 +4i 14 +6i 15 +9i 16 +12i 17 +16i 18 +20i 19 +25i 20 +30i

STR SEM 21 +35i 22 +40i 23 +46i 24 +52i 25 +60i 26 +70i 27 +80i 28 +92i 29 +104i 30 +120i +10 x4

For very small and weak creatures, it possible to get a negative EL; in this case, simply use the EF as the EL.

Examples

While adventuring, he comes upon 300gp! This adds 3i of encumbrance, bringing his Load to 17.5i. That is 1Hi above his EL of 16i, or 2i since we always round up. That slows him down 10' to 15' (= 25' - 10'), which he feels is too slow. He drops a half item (.5i) to get to exactly 17i, which brings his movement back up to 20' (= 25' - 5').

His Halfling companion, being small-sized and weak (STR 9), is in a much worse situation. The little guy has a mere 7i EL (= 8i BEL - 1i SEM X1), which is barely enough to carry essentials like leather armor, weapons, and clothes. Moreover, given his already low base movement of 20' (from being Small), he can't really afford to go much over his limit. He's constantly pestering his big buddies to carry food and other stuff for him.

Specifics

To illustrate, a Huge giant with STR 22 has a whopping EL of 200i (= 40i BEL + 40i SEM X4). But even moreso, he has an EF of X4. That means that he loses 5' for every 4i over his EL. So he would be slowed 5' up to 204i (inclusive). He'd have to go over 204i (= 200i + 4i) before he would lose another 5' movement.

On the flipside, our little brethren have a steeper ratio. A Diminutive creature with EF X¼ would lose 5' of movement for every Quarter item (= ¼i) over their EL.

The exact formula for calculating movement penalty is:

ROUNDUP(MAX(0,(Load - EL)) / EF) * 5'

EF also determines item weight for other-sized objects, i.e. Clothes for a Huge creature would ½i X4 = 2i.

Containers

Containers are a special kind of item that can hold other items.

Containers have a Capacity expressed in items and denoted by brackets. So, for example, a typical knapsack would be written

¼i

[5i]

Knapsack

This means the knapsack itself weighs a Quarter item, and it can hold up to five items. All containers with [1i] or greater capacity have their own encumbrance in addition to what they contain. Small containers with less than [1i] capacity are considered part of what they contain. That doesn't mean they have zero encumbrance, it means they have no additional encumbrance when filled. So a filled [H] Flask weighs a H item, but an empty flask would still be a Q item. [Q] Vials are a Q item filled or empty.

Suppose we were taking a trip and packed some travel gear:

¼i	[5i]	Knapsack
1i	8	Rations {1d, #2}
¼i	1	[1i] Wineskin
1i	4	Water {1d}
1i	1	Tent {1p}
½i	1	Camping Eq {1p}
½i	1	Survival Kit {1p}
¼i	1	Token(s) {#4} (Locket, Headband, Seashell)

Items listed under a container are assumed to be in it. So here, the 4 days worth of water are in the wineskin container, which is in the knapsack. Items also have extra info in braces, for example {1p} means enough for one person and {1d} means enough for one day.

Let's take a closer look at the contents of this knapsack.

Implied Items

While in their nebulously assumed state, implied items are considered part of the total encumbrance of their collection: "Chain Mail" armor weighs 2 items. When singled out implied items have whatever encumbrance would be reasonable, typically a Q item. Thus, if you removed your helm in order to use it for something, you would still be wearing 2i of Chain Mail and have a chain helm weighing Q items in your hand. If you put it back on, then it would become implied again and you would have only 2i of encumbrance.

In our knapsack above, we have many implied items. Camping Equipment is assumed to have the typical things you would want while camping, including a small pan, towel, etc. A Survival Kit might have a fishing hook, fishing line, etc. We are typically concerned with just the game effect of equipment: A Kit gives a +2 Competence bonus on skill rolls. Everything else is swept under the carpet until we actually need to look there.

So what can we imply and what can't we imply? Here are some guidelines:

• An item specifically listed in the charts below cannot be implied. So, a spade is a distinct item and not part of camping equipment. Neither are rope or pitons, even though one might reasonably expect them to be used while camping. Some light twine and tent stakes might be acceptable, assuming it didn't serve the same function as rope and pitons.
• Class-related items are not implied, including weapons, holy symbols, spellsbooks, etc.
• Anything singularly expensive is not implied. Sorry, no Spyglasses in your Survival Kits. :-)
• Magic items are never implied. If you found a magic helm, you would be wearing 2i Chain Mail and a Q Helm of Whatever. It is possible for magic items to have no encumbrance, but even these must be explicitly written on your character sheet.

Note that for ammunition the #N becomes the multiple at which you can reduce your encumbrance by a Q item. To illustrate, suppose you had a full item of Arrows, or 20 of them. If you fired a couple off, your encumbrance wouldn't change. But once you had only 15 left, you could deduct a Q item from your load. Similarly at 10, 5, and finally when you exhaust them.

Here's a list of the common bundled items:

• Ammunition - Arrow(s) {#5}, Bolts(s) {#5}, Shurikens(s) {#5}, Sling Stones(s) {#5}
• Consumables - Rations {1d, #2}, Spike / Pitons {#2}
• Valuables - Gem(s) {#4}, Token(s) {#4}

Tokens are any personal item with sentimental value, say a keepsake, trophy, or souvenir. The locket given to you by your late husband, the headband of the ogre you barely defeated with two timely natural 20s, and the colored seashell from the exotic land you visited are all perfect tokens. As a general guideline, items that cannot be implied shouldn't be allowed as tokens. Quest related objects (the goblin banner you need to show to the duke) cannot be a token while "active", but can become a souvenir after your quest is finished.

Ready Slots

¼i

1

[1i] Ready Slot

An item is In Hand if you are currently using it. You can have as many things in hand as you have hands.

A Ready item can be drawn / retrieved for a move action in combat. This moves it from your Ready Slot to being In Hand.

A Stored item can be drawn / retrieved for a full round action. In general, these are items in your backpack, sack, coffer, etc., anywhere except your Ready Slots.

Ready slots are implied containers. A Ready Slot for your Longsword is the scabbard hanging off your belt. A Ready Slot for 20 Arrows is a quiver. A Ready Slot for 4 daggers is a bandolier slung across your chest. A Ready slot for Spell Components, two Potions, and a Wand is a belt pouch. All Ready Slots are considered one combined container so that you can ready items over 1i of encumbrance (most notably big weapons). You also don't have to worry about "packing" each slot to a full item, though most players will try to get the very most out of their ready slot total.

Typical candidates for Ready Slots are weapons and magic items. For example:

1¼i	5	[1i] Ready Slot
2i	1	Axe, Great
1i	1	Bow, Short
1½i	30	Arrow(s) {#5}
¼i	1	Potion-Healing
¼i	1	Vial-Holy Water

Ready Slots can be "created" or "destroyed" during game play at the cost of 1 minute per 1i of slot. This is called Repacking and needs to be declared to the DM.

Assorted

Note that the concept of "loads" has gone away; there are no light, medium, and heavy load limits. The only state is a new Condition called Overloaded, which occurs whenever your Load exceeds your EL.

An overloaded person cannot be considered to be resting for the purposes of Fatigue and Exhaustion, even when not moving.

Overloaded sea vessels begin to sink.

When added to the Stat Block for creatures, encumbrance should be appear as "10i EL X1 EF;". As a shorthand, one can use "10iX1".

In general, add 50% to each size value for each extra pair of legs, i.e. x1.5 for quadrupeds, x2 for hexapeds, etc.

Containers: (Security = x1) (Coffer = x2) (Chest = x3) (Trunk = x4)

Ammunition less than a Q item is lost when fired; Q items and above are retrievable after combat. Ammunition can be created (where reasonable) with a Craft Mundane check. So arrows could be made in a forest but not in the desert.

Magic Armor and Magic Shields reduce their encumbrance on a 1i per +1 basis, with a minimum of zero. Thus, Leather +1 weighs a mere ½i when worn, and Leather +2 and above has no encumbrance! Magical armor and shields have the listed encumbrance when carried; the reduction happens only when worn.

Magic items affecting encumbrance are converted in a straighforward way. Heward's Handy Haversack grants free Ready Slots, Bags of Holding raise your EL, etc.

Charts

Armor and Shields

EXOTIC			ARMOR
Light: Dmg Crit Rng Spc i 1d6 19 10' C ½i S/N Kama B/N Nunchaku P/N Sai 1d4 18 20' C ¼i S B P Shuriken {#5}	One-Handed: Dmg Crit Rng Spc i 1d10 19 M N 1½i S Sword, Bastard B Mace, ? P Shaft ? 1d10 19 10' W 1½i S Axe, Dwarf War B Club, ? P Spear, Totem 1d6 18 M C ½i NB S/B Nine-Tails B/P P/S Rapier 1d4 19 M N ½i S Whip B P 1d4 19 60' N ¼i B Sling, Halfling	Two-Handed: Dmg Crit Rng Spc i 1d8* 19 M N 2i S Sword, 2-Bladed B Flail, Dire P Pike, Double 1d8* 19 5' W 2i S Axe, Orc Double B Hammer, ? P Pole Arm ? 1d8* 19 M W 2i NB S/B Pugrul, Orc B/P Hammer, Gnome P/S Urgosh, Dwarven 1d8 19 140' N 2i P Bow, Elven 1d6 19 30' C ½i P Crossbow, Hnd 1d10 19 120' N 2i P Crossbow, Rpt	Brace (Gauntlet/Shield): Dmg i Crit Rng Spc Any 20 M C 1d4 ¼i Lgt Brc 1d6 ½i Med Brc 1d8 1i Hvy Brc 1d10 1i War Brc B 20 M C 1d3 0i Lgt 1d4 0i Med 1d6 0i Hvy 1d8 0i War	Armor: Dmg i Crit Rng Spc Any 20 M C 1d4 ½i Lgt Brc 1d6 1i Med Brc 1d8 2i Hvy Brc 1d10 2i War Brc	Category: Considered a ... weapon Lgt Simple 1-Hand Simple 1-Hand Martial 1-Hand Exotic   Dmg Brc =Brace Type S Bld =Bladed B Grd =Girded P Spk =Spiked

Weapons Flat