There's a table in the section labeled "Armor and Encumbrance for Other Base Speeds" that lists encumbered speed for base speeds from 20 ft to 100 ft.
If I might make a suggestion, could we:
(1) make it clear that all (or just about all) bonuses to speed are bonuses to base speed (for this purpose)? For instance, Haste says that your "modes of movement [..] increase by 30 feet", but it isn't totally, absolutely clear whether a hasted fighter in heavy armor moves at 50 ft or 40 ft.
(2) include the actual formula, just in case your speed is greater than 100 ft or less than 20 ft? It's pretty clear (to me) that the formula is "2/3 of base speed, rounded up to the nearest 5 ft".
Thanks!
hogarth
There's a table in the section labeled "Armor and Encumbrance for Other Base Speeds" that lists encumbered speed for base speeds from 20 ft to 100 ft.
If I might make a suggestion, could we:
(1) make it clear that all (or just about all) bonuses to speed are bonuses to base speed (for this purpose)? For instance, Haste says that your "modes of movement [..] increase by 30 feet", but it isn't totally, absolutely clear whether a hasted fighter in heavy armor moves at 50 ft or 40 ft.
(2) include the actual formula, just in case your speed is greater than 100 ft or less than 20 ft? It's pretty clear (to me) that the formula is "2/3 of base speed, rounded up to the nearest 5 ft".
Thanks!
hogarth
Given the multitude of things that affect character speed, and the wide variety of speeds that are achievable (Especially with Splat Book feats and abilities), clarification on this would be appreciated.
So nobody else cares about this, huh? I have seen it come up before...
So there's a variety of different multipliers (1/2, 1/4, 3/4, 2/3), as well as rounding both up or down.
I propose a simple alternative: replace 2/3 with 3/4, declare all rounding to be down (minimum of 5 feet) (so encumbrance at common speeds is the same as before), then say that a combination of two or more penalties gives you 1/4 movement (except 3/4 and 3/4, which gives 1/2).
With that we only need to add a couple more columns to the table on page 124 and we'd be set.
That is a wonderful method of simplifying things. And I agree with you on the "round down" thing... Almost everything else is "round down" so why should any of these be different (in fact, why not just make everything "round down" period?)
So nobody else cares about this, huh? I have seen it come up before...
Indeed you have. The armor movement & encumberance rules have been a peeve of mine for decades. I've posted the following criticism & solution before:
Encumbrance is something that has bothered me, both as a GM and a player, for some time now. The encumbrance system is just completely off. It doesn’t even mimic fantasy well. I don’t like how a movement rate / encumbrance is tied specifically to a suit of armor. A suit of Full Plate armor is about 65 lbs on average. That weight is evenly distributed across your entire body with straps & buckles, etc. That’s heavy, sure, but *it’s made to be used in combat,* and fitted for its wearer. Now let’s apply that suit of armor to our heroic 3.5 Ed Fighter with that 18 Str and we have a little common sense problem. According to the rules, a light load for our hero, let’s call him Joe, is 100 lbs. Impressive. Joe is an incredibly strong human being (or dwarf, or whatever). And yet, in his plate armor, Joe’s base movement rate is 20, and his run is just x3 that. At first glance, that looks fine. But what happens when Joe is unarmored, but picks up his armor (in a large sack or something) and carries it over his back? Well, the answer is, according to 3.5 ed rules, is that Joe has no movement restrictions whatsoever. He can walk 30 feet as a standard move action, and can run x4 that.
That's stunningly counter-intuitive.
So I’ve come up with the following house rules
1) Ignore the Speed Rules listed under Table 7-6: Armor & Shields on page 123 of the PHB (3.5, naturally).
2) Use Table 9-1 (pg. 162): Carrying Capacity for ALL ENCUMBERANCE instead. Just add up the weights and you’re done.
3) If your character’s total weight carried indicates a LIGHT LOAD, then your character suffers no movement penalty whatsoever.
4) A MEDIUM LOAD doesn’t lower your BASE MOVEMENT RATE!
5) INSTEAD, a MEDIUM LOAD lowers your MAXIMUM RUN MOVEMENT to x3!! Unless you’re a dwarf, then you can still RUN with a heavy pack.
6) The rules for HEAVY LOADS remain unchanged. (You suffer both penalties, i.e. your BASE MOVEMENT RATE is reduced to 20, and your MAXIMUM RUN MOVEMENT is only 60.)
Why 3-6? Because carrying a *fairly* heavy weight, like I often did when I was a FedEx Courier, doesn’t slow down the rate you can walk at, only how long you can carry said weight. What you can’t do while carrying, say 45 lbs, is RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN!! Wearing a suit of chain mail isn’t going to affect how fast *you can walk!* But, what it does affect, is how fast you can run!
agree with this proposal, good idea :)
and all posted suggestions, except for part of the last one
if seeking changes to reflect more realism...
disagree with chain armour automatically reducing how fast you can run
it can reduce speed though, by increasing total carry weight
load encumbrance increases the rate of exhaustion, not bulk encumbrance
hence the ability to maintain balance by increasing the rate of muscle fatigue
just as agile, reactions just as fast, but less able to support those adjustments
andso crumple under a heavier load ever sooner
sports training improves balance by increasing strength not agility
agility enables wider balance adjustments and range, but need the strength to support them
strength modified carry weight covers most of this quite well already
fighter armour training could reflect overcoming encumbrance better,
by calculating load as if +1 strength higher
or by just excluding armour weight from load
could add a simple bulk factor
calculate -1 per size rating larger than character, for each object.
the total is a penalty to Strength when calculating load
this penalty also applies to Str and Dex based skill checks
better if load lessened speed, not AC type, and just as easy
heavy load requires a Con check to continue each round,
and max 1x speed or automatically fall prone and exhausted
also 1.5 max carry wt max half-speed, and 2x max carry wt max quarter-speed
no Con check but fall prone and exhausted if attempt faster than...
medium load at max 1x speed overland and 2x speed to run
light load at max 2x speed overland and 3x speed to run
no load and unencumbered at max 3x speed overland and 4x speed to run
Run feat increases max run speeds by +1x as inferred in description
feel the need to clarify
my post referred to adding realism
wasn't implying that be added or changed in the game
just presented one possible way of adding realism for those wanting to
full plate in the game is not the same as reality
in the game it acts more like parade plate according to stats
field plate was custom made, acrobatics quite easy in them, the bulk is not there
that's not AD&D though ;)
just need to make sure the mechanics work