Encumbrance Notes

Tenkar's Tavern asks: How do you handle encumbrance?

I've probably written too much about encumbrance; I won't link to most of the posts here, since you can find them all by clicking on the encumbrance label below or in the sidebar. Encumbrance for me is mostly about movement rates; in practice, in the past, I mostly just had players figure out their movement rate and then that's it, unless they obviously pick up something heavy. As I mentioned before, I'm thinking of using index cards to represent each container, so that it meshes with the sack system: maximum capacity is 10 sacks/index cards, two sheathed or readied weapons count as one sack, armor counts as 1 to 3 sacks. Each sack holds 6-12 items, basically, but miscellaneous tiny items can be ignored. If some kind of guideline is necessary, one sack holds about 30 pounds, but for most items, bulkiness matters just as much as actual weight, which is why I say "6 to 12 items," regardless of weight, for anything dagger-sized and up.

Treasure is a special area. A small quantity of gems can basically be ignored, as far as encumbrance, as well as a few items of jewelry worn. Coins, however, come in large quantities, and there have been many debates about what size coins should be. The original rules use the 10 coins to the pound rule, so a sack would hold 300 coins... but I'm thinking about using a different size in the future, possibly as much as 100 coins to the pound, but maybe less. Or maybe gold and silver is 100 to the pound, but copper is 50 to the pound, because of larger coins. Changing the weights like that is a little lenient on the adventurers, but hey, they need a break here and there.

10 sacks, as I said, is maximum load (Move 3.) Half that is Move 6, less than 3 sacks is Move 12. What's noteworthy about this system, which I haven't really dwelt on before, is that I really do mean it when I say "encumbrance is mostly about movement rates". Where most GMs would also call for penalties on some actions, I try to equate actions to movement. For example, I figure a character can jump a number of feet equal to Move with no roll, or double Move but requiring a d6 roll: on 5+, the character doesn't make the jump (but has a chance to grab the ledge or branch or something to avoid falling.) Being encumbered thus doesn't add a penalty to the roll, it just shortens the safe jumping distance. Only being exhausted carries a penalty.

There's a quick and dirty trick for re-figuring encumbrance: rather than ask the player "How many sacks are you carrying?", just guess based on Move. If someone picks up one or two sacks, they are restricted to Move 6 (unless they were completely naked and unarmed to begin with.) If a character picks up 3 to 5 sacks, halve their Move. Sure, in some cases, characters might wind up carrying technically more than they should, but it's quick.

Simple Character Sheets

Telecanter's Receding Rules has some one-shot beginner character sheets. They look pretty good, which is one reason I probably wouldn't use them; I rarely like printing out or using pre-printed character sheets because the fancier they are, the more loathe I am to mess them up by writing on them. Lined paper or index cards have always been my preference.

Which leads me to comment on the backpack / inventory listings on the back of his character sheet. I'm leaning towards the idea of not writing equipment (or gold) on the character sheet at all, except maybe stuff normally in your hands or worn. Instead, each container gets an index card. This would actually interface well with the sack system: you can carry the equivalent of ten index cards (five, if you are a halfling.) Guidelines:

1. Each card equals about 30 pounds of equipment;
2. Two weapons (if listed on character sheet instead of a card) count as one card/sack;
3. Armor (if listed on character sheet) counts as 1 to 3 cards/sacks;
4. Six small bags could be listed together on one card, two lines per bag, one or two items per line;
5. Tokens of some kind can represent bags or sacks of coins or gems before they are counted; counting them lets you list them on a card;
6. A small chest can store one sack of general equipment, one suit of armor, or six sacks worth of coins without breaking, but weighs a couple sacks worth by itself;
7. The GM can write special items on individual index cards and these can be clipped/stacked under the card representing the container they are in.

For the character sheet itself, you have something similar to what's on Telecanter's site, except I'd add areas for Age, Year of Birth, and Background Notes. For advanced players, of course!

Sack Dangers

So, I wanted to follow-up the sack system post with some of the ideas from Pearce Shea's post. I figure large sacks and backpacks shouldn't provide automatic and total protection. Total immersion or being hit by a fireball can damage stuff. Not every hardship affects every item, though. Scrolls are probably the most vulnerable. I talked about scrolls in a previous post, and that's a good guideline for handling general mayhem: 5+ on 1d6 when exposed to fire means sack/pack catches fire, items in it are destroyed after 5 minutes. Similarly, if dunked, 5+ on 1d6 means the water has seeped into a pack or waterproof sack. Items can become moldy, spoiled, or rusty if not dried out.

For small sacks, I would add a 5+ test on d6 to see if they are torn by rough treatment, spilling their contents.

The Sack System

Pearce Shea of Games With Others has a post on inventory management that some may find useful. He measures things in terms of containers: PCs can carry two large containers at maximum load, or an infinite number of small containers. The difference is that items in small containers are vulnerable. There are some specific rules for handling search times and vulnerability, but oddly, no limits on how much either kind of container can store, which kind of makes the two container limit odd. Still, a pretty good idea.

I've already talked about switching to a large sack/small sack measurement system, where characters can carry the equivalent of ten large sacks at Move 3, half that at Move 6, two sacks maximum at Move 12. Halflings carry half as much. I think the idea of large sack = protected, small sack = accessible has merit and is worth stealing, however. I may have a more detailed response later.

Counting Your Coins

One of the side effects of measuring gold coins in terms of standardized sacks and bags is that it could be used by players for a rough estimate of how much treasure they've found. In fact, probably a lot of market transactions are going to be a matter of tossing a pouch or bag towards a merchant, who will give a quick judge of the bag's heft (and take a peek inside, to make sure the contents are what the buyer claims...)

But that begs the question: what does a full bag or sack look like?

I'm basing the size of bags and sacks on the size of a 5-pound bag of sugar and a 30-pound bag of potatoes, because these are common in grocery stores and just happen to have the same weights listed for bags and sacks in Men & Magic. A sugar bag is about as wide and broad as your hand and maybe two hands high; a potato sack is about as big as your torso. These are, of course, low-density contents, so the bags are at their maximum volume capacity; other contents will take up less room, even when the weight limit is reached.

Gold is about 30 times denser than sugar, so a 5-pound bag of gold isn't going to look full at all, compared to a bag of sugar. It's going to have two or three coin layers in a mostly-empty bag that can't really store much more weight. Adventurers are bound to try, however, so figure that a bag bursts on a 7+ (1d6), and every 10 pounds (100 coins) adds a +1 to this roll; the bag tears automatically at 60 pounds (600 coins.) That's about half full.

The density of potatoes is about the same as white granulated sugar, I'm shocked to learn, but that makes it easy: 500 coins/50 pounds adds a +1 to the chance of tearing a hole in the sack, with the sack definitely bursting at 3,500 gp. Gold's just too heavy.

I picked the volume of a chest based on the volume of a sack, but you could say it's twice as sturdy, or +1 to the roll for every 1000 coins. It will break if filled to the brim and lifted -- but that's 600 pounds, not including the weight of the chest itself. You will probably have a different problem to deal with. A trunk wouldn't even feel any strain at 1,000 coins; it will break at 12,000 coins. A coffer only has a 1 in 6 chance of breaking at 3,000 coins, assuming it's wood; stone or metal would fair better, but add a lot of weight.

An actual heap of gold? That's probably about 200,000 coins. Have fun hauling it out!

Wheelbarrow

The incidental discussion of sacks, bags, chests, coffers and trunks on the latest post about treasure got me thinking: I don't know that I've ever seen wheelbarrows in an RPG price list. So here you go:

Wheelbarrow: 10 gp
Does not increase speed, but allows an individual to transport their max weight limit at Move 6, or double their max weight at Move 3. Stairs may be tricky, but not impossible: lose control of an overloaded wheelbarrow on a 5+ (1d6.) Slowing down can lower the risk by 1 or 2 points.

The cost of this is based on 2/3rds the cost of a cart in the Delving Deeper price lists. In OD&D, a cart cost 40 gp, so maybe it should be increased to 25 gp ... or you can just let the price stand at 10 gp.

I kind of pulled these numbers out of my ass, but there's kind of a rationale behind it. A (western) wheelbarrow basically puts a wheel in place of one porter carrying a two-person stretcher or litter. So, it halves the effective weight. According to this article on the Low Tech Magazine website, the Chinese wheelbarrow should allow full speed regardless of load, with the weight limit based on what the wheelbarrow itself can support; the article claims Chinese wheelbarrows can carry 3 to 6 times as much as a western wheelbarrow.

Thousands of Coins II

So, when I commented about the 2000 silver coins debacle, I didn't make any recommendations. Because really, who cares about whether the number seems too round?

But if I *did* care, if I really, really, REALLY wanted to make the numbers seem right, I'd record treasure amounts very roughly: "silver x10", "gold x1k". When the treasure is actually found, I'd say "you found what looks like thousands of gold coins!" Or whatever. And I'd roll 2d6 and record the round number on my session log. I'd convert this to sacks and bags as the adventurers pack up the treasure, or if they ask for an estimate of how many sacks they will need.

And when they get around to counting, I'd roll 5d6 and subtract that from the round number. Call it higher precision, call it coins lost in transit; doesn't matter.

Also: why don't we call small sacks "bags" and reserve "sacks" for the large ones? For some reason, I think of the word "sack" as implying something larger than a typical bag. Perhaps this is under the influence of my "sack of potatoes/bag of sugar" analogy.

Also also: I haven't decide how much a typical chest ought to hold. Maybe a small chest is the same as a sack, just sturdier and lockable? A trunk would be two sacks, and a coffer three sacks.

Fatigue Made Simple

Lots of blogs talking about fatigue right now, including A Paladin in Citadel and Hidden in Shadows. I've hinted at my own take on fatigue, but I'll explain it quickly here, in its own post. It's based on bits and pieces: stuff already in Chainmail and the LBBs, the situation roll technique, and my simple wound system.

Characters can travel for 5 turns while exploring or fight for 3 rounds before needing to rest. If a character pushes these boundaries, make a d6 fatigue test (or use a tired fighter's damage rolls as the fatigue test.)

• On 5+, the character is tired;
• On 7+ or a second failed test, the character is very tired;
• On 9+ or a third failed test, the character is exhausted.

A tired character is automatically overburdened and moves at half-normal rate; if the character becomes tired in combat, there is also a 1-point penalty on all rolls until the end of the combat. A very tired character keeps the penalty until able to rest. Exhausted characters immediately collapse, until to fight or move effectively.

Characters who move while literally overburdened automatically become tired. This is why the character moves at half normal rate: it's a side effect of exerting oneself. Characters who run for 3 turns likewise become tired automatically, no roll necessary; if they run more than 3 turns, roll a d6 fatigue test to see if they become very tired or exhausted.

A character must rest 1 turn, plus an additional turn for each level of fatigue. For running characters, this duplicates the rule in the LBB which says they must rest for 2 turns instead of one turn, so we aren't changing that rule at all, just expanding it in such a way that it covers other situations. Very tired characters thus become merely tired after 2 turns of rest, then are back to normal after 3 turns. Exhausted characters are able to move after two turns, but aren't fully rested until they've rested for four turns.

20 Questions, Part IV: Bookkeeping

This installment of the 20 questions deals with the two big areas of bookkeeping: encumbrance and experience.

12. How strictly are encumbrance & resources tracked?
    Countable resources (like torches): strict. Encumbrance: Loose.
13. What's required when my PC gains a level? Training? Do I get new spells automatically? Can it happen in the middle of an adventure, or do I have to wait for down time?
    Must return to town to gain a level. Training is required for switching classes or gaining non-class abilities, but not for level increases. Spells must be researched.
14. What do I get experience for?
    Treasure, defeating monsters, other.

I have been asking players if they are marking off torches and oil, but I should probably keep track of them myself as well. I haven't been tracking encumbrance very well, though. My intention is to only track it in terms of masses equivalent to the character: human characters can carry up to half their own weight at Move 9 or up to their own weight at Move 6, with anything more (up to twice their weight) halving Move again. But maybe I'll measure it out in "sackfulls". One large sack holds 300 gp, and the typical human is equivalent to 6 to 8 sackfulls. So, eyeball current encumbrance, figure out how many more sacks they could carry, and just count sacks.

Increasing levels and gaining spells are pretty much by the book. I figure if the character can switch to another class (prime ability 16+,) there's a restriction that the character must reach at least 2nd level in the current class and must go through some kind of training: find or purchase a 1st level spell book and learn how to cast spells, spend some time at a church or monastery in prayer, or train with multiple weapons. Figure the base costs for training equals the minimum amount of experience needed to gain your first level in that class: 2,500 gp for M-Us, 2,000 gp for fighters, 1,500 gp for clerics, 1,200 gp for thieves. This is the "crash course" price of training for 1 week; deduct 2,000 gp to become an M-U if you have captured a 1st level spell book, reduce the remaining cost based on the reaction of the trainer (i.e. they're willing to cut a deal,) and divide the cleric cost by the number of weeks spent in service to the church.

I'm pretty standard on what gets an xp award. Monsters: 100 xp/HD (but no adjustment for special abilities, so pick your battles!) Treasure: 1xp/gp, must be brought back to town and spent or otherwise ostentatiously displayed. I'm considering an additional award for other actions, probably a variant of the rule I've proposed before: base ability score x10 xp for extraordinary acts to impress others.

Sack Size

Has anyone noticed how small sacks are in OD&D?

I just realized this yesterday, when we were trying to figure out how the PCs were going to retrieve a nice-sized treasure hall. A small sack holds 50 gp or 5 pounds (less than a grocery bag;) a large sack or pack holds 300 gp or 30 pounds. Thus, the large sack, when full, looks like a sack of potatoes; it's not quite as big as a sandbag. The small sack is more like how I imagined a large coin pouch. I'm guessing this is an artifact of the original equipment lists being "gold pieces only"; the cost for a small sack -- actually, a pouch -- should be about 3-4 sp; the 1 gp small sack should be about half the size of a large sack, maybe about the size of a bag of fast food, but sturdier.

Clone Project: Equipment List

I've been putting off the equipment list for the potential clone project because it seems relatively easy, but tedious, and because there are a couple things on the list that will need to be detailed at some point. However, I'm getting close to more or less finishing the conversion of material in Volume I, so I can't really put it off any longer. I'm going to cover the portable items first (weapons, armor, miscellaneous equipment) because I can deal with encumbrance values as well; later, I'll deal with animals and transportation.

Despite the presence of a price list, Men & Magic clearly states that the price of most items can be set by simple comparisons to other items; most of the weapon prices are the same, for weapons of the same length/weight, and items that weigh about the same will cost the same, if they are of the same rarity and complexity as well. Metal items cost more than wooden/leather items of the same weight, generally. Based on this, here are some simple price rules:

simple wooden items: 1 gp/25 coins weight

• x 1.5 if crafted in detail
• x 1.5 for additional feature (iron tip, etc.)
• x 2 for fine detail
• x 3 if iron/steel
• x 4 if silver tipped/edged
• x 5 if complex (triggers, gears)
• x 6 if all silver

metal weapons: 10 gp/yard (or meter) of length

• +1 gp/foot of wooden shaft for pole weapons

armor: standard clothing = 10 gp

• x 1.5 for fitted leather armor
• x 3 for metal (chain, scale)
• x 5 for complex (jointed metal plate)

Weights in coins are pretty simple:

• small tool: 20
• ordinary weapon or helm: 50
• heavy weapon: 100
• two-handed weapon or shield: 150

AC 3, plus a light load (750 coins) is a heavy load (1500 coins,) making plate armor 750 coins. AC 5 is 2/3rds of that, and AC 7 is 1/3rd (250 coins.) A smal bundle of miscellaneous gear is treated as 80 to 100 coins weight altogether.