I'm just curious since I rarely see any talk of it. Do you make your players write down all the pounds of gear they are carrying, making sure it doesn't exceed their light, medium, or heavy load? For that matter, do you do the "50 gold = 1lb" rule?
For us, we do use the somewhat meticulous recording of equipment weight, but interestingly enough, we don't apply it to gold... we just set a hard limit on the amount you can feasibly carry.
What does everyone else do?
|
We keep track of stuff in detail like that. Though at times during the game we get a bit loose with stuff. A example would be, players start grabbing a bunch of gold and items out of a dragons lair, they hear the dragon coming back. So they grab what they can carry. In those cases we just ball park things to avoid slowing the game down.
I do, but only for PCs with low Strength score and big armor or when the PCs are carrying an uncommon amount of gears, like someone that travels with 15 greatswords so that he can throw them with the telekenesis spell. If you're running around in full plate with a Strength of 12, you should keep track of your weight, because I once made a character like that, and I found out that I couldn't have more than 2 healing potions on my person if I wanted to be able to move. :\
Solution? I bought a donkey! :D
I'm just curious since I rarely see any talk of it. Do you make your players write down all the pounds of gear they are carrying, making sure it doesn't exceed their light, medium, or heavy load? For that matter, do you do the "50 gold = 1lb" rule?
For us, we do use the somewhat meticulous recording of equipment weight, but interestingly enough, we don't apply it to gold... we just set a hard limit on the amount you can feasibly carry.
What does everyone else do?
In the past my group has kept track of weight down to the last coin. This probably came about because I've had some very analytical minded people in my group who like having that small amount of realism in the game.
It also helped though that my groups PCs have somehow managed to land on each other more than once. So... tallying of weight to figure out how much damage you deal as a falling object has become standard operating procedure at my table...
*shakes head*
I don't worry about it until it starts becoming ridiculous. "Wait, how much do you have in your backpack again?" - after one character pulled any sort of tool the party needed "out of his backpack". He was carrying a battering ram, clothes, food, two separate sets of crafting tools, and like a dozen other things, in there. Plus wearing his armor and weapons, in a STR 13 character.
|
|
I think the only thing my group doesn't track is normal coinage weight. If we find a hoard then we figure it out but for "walkin' around money" we sort of hand wave it.
==
AKA 8one6
|
|
I don't worry about it until it starts becoming ridiculous. "Wait, how much do you have in your backpack again?" - after one character pulled any sort of tool the party needed "out of his backpack". He was carrying a battering ram, clothes, food, two separate sets of crafting tools, and like a dozen other things, in there. Plus wearing his armor and weapons, in a STR 13 character.
That's how I shop for a wizard starting at low levels. It's also why a donkey is the best 8gp you can spend.
==AKA 8one6
As a player, I typically track it all no matter how loosely the DM follows the rule. I just tend to think it's important. As a DM, I follow it more closely than my players might like, but since I run campaigns where the environment is often part of the conflict, that's just par for the course.
|
This is one reason why I love HeroLabs. It DOES keep track of things like weight and encumbrance. So, by default we do monitor it. Sometimes we turn off coin weight, but right now most of us have a Handy Haversack or a BoH and weight really isn't that big of an issue. Plus, between the Unseen Servants and phantom steeds and floating discs, we got extra lewts mostly covered. :)
I use them, but only if my players "overstress" their equipment, like someone who loot every armor and weapon.
And at start we clalculated the weight to get a feeling of what we carry.
But Gold never have any weight at our game.
Edit: Most of my players (and myself) also LARP or traveled soemtime with backpack (e.g. army), so they know what it means to carry a 20lbs "armor" and a full backpack. So the equipment is most times "practical" oriented.
Tip: A LARP weekend (with traveling) change your view of what your character needs. One weapon is enough! Then the "common" tools like handaxe, fry pan, more then one pair of cloth etc. came, which are much more important. :)
I usually keep track until i get a bag of holding or handy haversack. After that it kind of doesn't matter.
Our group is a little loosey-goosey on it to be honest. I track everything my character is actually wearing and has access to during combats and such. I think the other players in the group do the same, or at least they did at the start, since I helped with the character sheets of more than half of them. Loot that we're likely to sell, and communal gold just gets written down on a "party treasure" sheet though, and it's never been made clear to me exactly who is carrying all of that gold and loot. Even when we're in the thick of the wilderness. DM doesn't seem to care though, and it works, so meh. :)
If you're running around in full plate with a Strength of 12, you should keep track of your weight, because I once made a character like that, and I found out that I couldn't have more than 2 healing potions on my person if I wanted to be able to move.
How much do potions weigh? I've never noticed this mentioned anywhere, so I thought I'd ask.
I start off keeping fairly careful track of it when I first make my character, then I get more and more lax as time goes on.
|
|
As a group, we carefully track everything except gold early on. However once the party gears up with handy haversacks and bags of holding, it's a moot point.
As for gold, we've always had a convention, for the sack of simplicity, that if you have a large amount of gold, then it's in gems of various types. Spends the same as cash, and saves having to do the constant 50gp = 1lb calculations.
I use a simplified "burden" rule, where a character can carry up to its STR score worth of burden before being encumbered.
I have a more or less specific chart in my houserule folder but as a rule of thumb:
armor's burden = armor check penalty
light weapon = neglectable (up to 10)
1-handed weapon = 1 point
2-handed weapon = 2 points
food = 1 point per week (trail rations)
food = 1 point per day (perishables)
water = 1 point per day
adventurer's kit (bedrolls, cooking gear, torches etc) = 1 point (summer) or 2 points (winter)
etc.
i find its a happy medium between pound-by-pound calculation and pure DM's fiat.
'findel
How much do potions weigh? I've never noticed this mentioned anywhere, so I thought I'd ask.
I think that I used the weight of an alchemist fire / acid flask / vial of holy water for a potion.
Can't be bothered. None of my players pulls anything obnoxious, so I don't make them play bean-counter. We very much wing it when it comes to things like this. So if a PC goes down in combat and the fighter wants to carry their body, we'll ask for a Strength check and improvise a reasonable DC based on the situation. We just don't bother with a mechanic that's so... blatant. "You picked up a shortsword? Ooops, over encumbrance." "You're climbing the mountain and a bird landed on your shoulder. Oooops. Over encumbrance." Meh. We just don't find that a fun sub-set of rules.
Of course we track weight in our game (even coin) and update the numbers after each game. It's cheating otherwise. :P
I've jumped into several other roleplaying groups who didn't track weight in the past. I did the calculations for all their characters (20+) just out of habit. 18 of them were encumbered without realizing it, 10 of which so much so that they could only stagger about.
As such, I don't take it too seriously when people say things like "unless they are obviously encumbered, we don't track it." I'm willing to bet such people's characters are far more encumbered than they think more often then not.
...
16 potions equal 1 lb.
They come in 1 oz. vials so it makes sense that they weigh 1 oz. each. The vials themselves, surprisingly, are weightless.
Of course we track weight in our game (even coin) and update the numbers after each game. It's cheating otherwise. :P
I've jumped into several other roleplaying groups who didn't track weight in the past. I did the calculations for all their characters (20+) just out of habit. 18 of them were encumbered without realizing it, 10 of which so much so that they could only stagger about.
As such, I don't take it too seriously when people say things like "unless they are obviously encumbered, we don't track it." I'm willing to bet such people's characters are far more encumbered than they think more often then not.
...
16 potions equal 1 lb.
They come in 1 oz. vials so it makes sense that they weigh 1 oz. each. The vials themselves, surprisingly, are weightless.
I believe there was a rule somewhere that 10 items with negligible weight equaled a pound.
I believe there was a rule somewhere that 10 items with negligible weight equaled a pound.
That sounds familiar, but I don't recall where it's from, much less whether or not it was applicable to Pathfinder. I'll see if I can track it down. EDIT: I just checked under the carrying capacity/encumbrance rules as well as the weight entry descriptions in the equipment chapter and I can find no mention of a 10 to a lb. rule. This leads me to believe that it does not exist, at least not in Pathfinder.
I believe there was a rule somewhere that 10 items with negligible weight equaled a pound.That sounds familiar, but I don't recall where it's from, much less whether or not it was applicable to Pathfinder. I'll see if I can track it down. EDIT: I just checked under the carrying capacity/encumbrance rules as well as the weight entry descriptions in the equipment chapter and I can find no mention of a 10 to a lb. rule. This leads me to believe that it does not exist, at least not in Pathfinder.
It was more than likely a 3.5 rule then.
I only recall it because I once created a darkwood chest that weighed under 20 lbs so that I could fill it with potions for my masterwork potion belt, and then store the chest in my glove of holding. The rule came into play because it determined how many negligible objects I could store in my darkwood chest.
|
|
I don't worry about it.
It's not that interesting to me.I never saw a Conan novel where he was sitting around, inventorying his rucksack and trying to decide if he needed to only tote three battleaxes instead of four.
I require that the PCs know their weight (both their person and their gear) to within about 10-20 pounds. That means potions and wands don't matter at all unless you're carrying a buttload of them!
I'm a big fan of poisons and debilitating diseases for in-game use. That means a couple points of Str damage against the burly fighter and all of a sudden they have a heavy load and their movement is reduced. Another few points and they no longer get a 5-ft step as it's a full-round action for them now! (Yes, it really works that way.)
I'm a big fan of poisons and debilitating diseases for in-game use. That means a couple points of Str damage against the burly fighter and all of a sudden they have a heavy load and their movement is reduced. Another few points and they no longer get a 5-ft step as it's a full-round action for them now! (Yes, it really works that way.)
Actually... ability damage in Pathfinder does NOT actually reduce the ability score. It's tracked like non-lethal damage, and for every two points of damage, you take a -1 penalty to all affected stats. Once the amount of damage equals or exceeds your ability score, then the appropriate Really Bad Thing happens. The score itself does not reduce however, and thus neither does your carrying capacity. Perhaps this was an unintended oversight of the change from 3.5 to Pathfinder, but that's the RAW. Also note that creatures with an even-numbered ability score are not (immediately) affected by a single point of damage to that score. Again, its only -1 per 2 points of damage.
I do, but only for PCs with low Strength score and big armor or when the PCs are carrying an uncommon amount of gears, like someone that travels with 15 greatswords so that he can throw them with the telekenesis spell. If you're running around in full plate with a Strength of 12, you should keep track of your weight, because I once made a character like that, and I found out that I couldn't have more than 2 healing potions on my person if I wanted to be able to move. :\
Solution? I bought a donkey! :D
I basically do the same thing. My players have a good idea of when they are close to the limit. Then it is time to do the math. If a character has a strength of 18 they are not bothered unless they have a lot of stuff or they get hit with a strength penalty.
On the other side of the coin the person with a 10 should not be trying to get away with wearing full plate. They already know that won't go over.
I generally have people check their weight at character creation. Then, at each level, or each time their equipment changes, they recalc the weight.
I basically do the same thing. My players have a good idea of when they are close to the limit. Then it is time to do the math. If a character has a strength of 18 they are not bothered unless they have a lot of stuff or they get hit with a strength penalty.
On the other side of the coin the person with a 10 should not be trying to get away with wearing full plate. They already know that won't go over.
Yep. In 3.X the main PCs that you needed to watch over, for the matter of carrying capacity, were the clerics, because most of them were wearing full plate without always having a great strength score.
As a player, I track all my equipment weight, but even with the help of a computer, I find it to be tedious. Though equipping them has always been my least favorite part of making PCs.
The reason I bother, even in games when no one else does, is that some class abilities don't work when encumbrance reaches medium or heavy, so not tracking encumbrance feels like cheating. Even when I don't have class abilities to worry about, there's also movement rate.
As a DM, encumbrance isn't usually a battle I choose to fight with the players. Though a system like Laurefindel's I could probably use without too much problem. As a player I know I'd love a simplified system like that.
I've yet to have a DM who was super meticulous about it but I think the entire group I'm with now uses Hero-lab with laptops at the table.. so it just comes part and parcel with it.
That being said- I'm seriously considering using ant-hail to abuse the encumbrance rules somewhat soon, should my current character bite the dust. lv1 spell, 2 hours a level, triples weight allowed?
Yes please!
;p
-S
I use it whenever I DM.
We keep track of it loosely.
Mainly because of a commonly misunderstood rule: the penalties from encumbrance from weight and encumbrance from armor do not stack (one of the few cases in the game where penalties don't stack). That strength 12 fighter in full plate could still carry 80 pounds of gear before the weight had any effect on him whatsoever.
We keep track of it loosely.
Mainly because of a commonly misunderstood rule: the penalties from encumbrance from weight and encumbrance from armor do not stack (one of the few cases in the game where penalties don't stack). That strength 12 fighter in full plate could still carry 80 pounds of gear before the weight had any effect on him whatsoever.
I'm pretty certain the weight of the full plate still counts against the weight of his encumbrance. If the weight of armor wasn't counted, they wouldn't have listed a weight value for any of them.
So if your 12 strength fighter has full plate (50 lb.), a heavy steel shield (25 lb.), a longsword (4 lb.), and a longbow with 20 arrows (6 lb.) he is in a medium load (85 lb. total) from the weight and would normally suffer a -3 penalty to a bunch of stuff.
However, since he is wearing heavy armor, he is considered to be in a heavy load automatically and suffers a -8 penalty instead (the combined penalty of his armor and shield). The penalties from weight do NOT stack on top of his armor penalty (you take the higher of the two).
We keep track of it loosely.
Mainly because of a commonly misunderstood rule: the penalties from encumbrance from weight and encumbrance from armor do not stack (one of the few cases in the game where penalties don't stack). That strength 12 fighter in full plate could still carry 80 pounds of gear before the weight had any effect on him whatsoever.
I'm pretty certain the weight of the full plate still counts against the weight of his encumbrance. If the weight of armor wasn't counted, they wouldn't have listed a weight value for any of them.
So if your 12 strength fighter has full plate (50 lb.), a heavy steel shield (25 lb.), a longsword (4 lb.), and a longbow with 20 arrows (6 lb.) he is in a medium load (85 lb. total) from the weight and would normally suffer a -3 penalty to a bunch of stuff.
However, since he is wearing heavy armor, he is considered to be in a heavy load automatically and suffers a -8 penalty instead (the combined penalty of his armor and shield). The penalties from weight do NOT stack on top of his armor penalty (you take the higher of the two).
Ravingdork is right. I played such a character, and when I got my full plate, I was forced to throw my crossbow away. Also, I fought with a heavy WOODEN shield and a longsword. Beside that, all my stuff was on my horse.
We keep track of it loosely.
Mainly because of a commonly misunderstood rule: the penalties from encumbrance from weight and encumbrance from armor do not stack (one of the few cases in the game where penalties don't stack). That strength 12 fighter in full plate could still carry 80 pounds of gear before the weight had any effect on him whatsoever.
I'm pretty certain the weight of the full plate still counts against the weight of his encumbrance. If the weight of armor wasn't counted, they wouldn't have listed a weight value for any of them.
So if your 12 strength fighter has full plate (50 lb.), a heavy steel shield (25 lb.), a longsword (4 lb.), and a longbow with 20 arrows (6 lb.) he is in a medium load (85 lb. total) from the weight and would normally suffer a -3 penalty to a bunch of stuff.
However, since he is wearing heavy armor, he is considered to be in a heavy load automatically and suffers a -8 penalty instead (the combined penalty of his armor and shield). The penalties from weight do NOT stack on top of his armor penalty (you take the higher of the two).
That's what I said. A strength 12 character can carry 130 pounds of equipment at most and still be effective (their Heavy Load caps out at 130). Full Plate weighs 50 pounds. 130 - 50 = 80 pounds. Thus, a Str 12 fighter in Full Plate can carry 80 pounds of additional gear before the weight has any effect on them whatsoever.
Stuff.
80 is not much. If you try to take your opponent's armor and weapon after having defeated him, then you're probably already overweight.
|
We played by a "be reasonable" guideline for gear... till about 15 years or so ago. Then we found out everyone's definition of 'reasonable' varied greatly when our gnome thief whipped out the stone pedestal from a statue we'd knocked over months before. So he'd basically been carrying around this half-ton stone cylinder through wilderness, up mountains, across rope bridges, while swimming, etc. Obviously, it was ruled that he never had this item... but it prompted a closer examination of his character sheet. While nothing else was quite so egregious, he still had to shed over a hundred pounds. From there on, everyone has had to keep careful track.
Stuff.80 is not much. If you try to take your opponent's armor and weapon after having defeated him, then you're probably already overweight.
True, but a Str 12 fighter in full plate is a pretty extreme example.
True, but a Str 12 fighter in full plate is a pretty extreme example.
For a Cleric or a ranged Fighter with 15 points buy? I guess it's a poor character design, but it's not THAT extreme.
Our group hand waved it till Pathfinder. Now we keep track of it to the coins. I prefer it this way. When I run it though, I allow them to ignore thier clothing type towards the encumberance total. IE the explorer's outfit's eight pounds doesn't apply if they are wearing it. Not sure why, but I am the only one of us that does it. For everyone else, it is down to the coin. :)
Greg
True, but a Str 12 fighter in full plate is a pretty extreme example.For a Cleric or a ranged Fighter with 15 points buy? I guess it's a poor character design, but it's not THAT extreme.
Why would a ranged fighter, presumably with a decent dex, be wearing full plate?
I'm just curious since I rarely see any talk of it. Do you make your players write down all the pounds of gear they are carrying, making sure it doesn't exceed their light, medium, or heavy load? For that matter, do you do the "50 gold = 1lb" rule?
For us, we do use the somewhat meticulous recording of equipment weight, but interestingly enough, we don't apply it to gold... we just set a hard limit on the amount you can feasibly carry.
What does everyone else do?
I always track my weight and carrying capacity. Gold too! I have a halfling with a 7 STR so I make extra sure I don't overdo it. If I get to a point where I can't carry anymore I will ask someone in the party to carry it for me. Got a bag of holding but that has limits too. Ant Haul is a great spell. I reserve a slot for it every day. I have had to leave things behind to make sure that I can carry everything. It sucks, but rules are rules.
Why would a ranged fighter, presumably with a decent dex, be wearing full plate?True, but a Str 12 fighter in full plate is a pretty extreme example.For a Cleric or a ranged Fighter with 15 points buy? I guess it's a poor character design, but it's not THAT extreme.
For the protection of course! Or do your low-level archers have a 28 Dexterity with which to keep up with full plate? :P
In our groups we keep track of encumbrance directly on our character sheets. We count everything except for coins on there since they change so frequently. However, everyone in our group knows that when a situation arises in which encumbrance may play a factor, to check the number of coins you have, divide by fifty, and add the sum to your normal weight values.
|
I use a simplified "burden" rule, where a character can carry up to its STR score worth of burden before being encumbered.
I have a more or less specific chart in my houserule folder but as a rule of thumb:
armor's burden = armor check penalty
light weapon = neglectable (up to 10)
1-handed weapon = 1 point
2-handed weapon = 2 points
food = 1 point per week (trail rations)
food = 1 point per day (perishables)
water = 1 point per day
adventurer's kit (bedrolls, cooking gear, torches etc) = 1 point (summer) or 2 points (winter)etc.
i find its a happy medium between pound-by-pound calculation and pure DM's fiat.
'findel
ooooh I LIKE THIS!!!!!!!!
As a GM, one of the first things I do is pass out bags of holding and handy haversacks for the express purpose that I don't have to worry about it then. :)
As a player, if I don't have one of those I track meticulously. And I do apply the weight to my cash.
As a side note, a lot of people complain about the weight of coins, but a quick check of real gold coins shows that you get about 50 coins per pound, so it is accurate enough. :)
|
|
I believe there was a rule somewhere that 10 items with negligible weight equaled a pound.That sounds familiar, but I don't recall where it's from, much less whether or not it was applicable to Pathfinder. I'll see if I can track it down. EDIT: I just checked under the carrying capacity/encumbrance rules as well as the weight entry descriptions in the equipment chapter and I can find no mention of a 10 to a lb. rule. This leads me to believe that it does not exist, at least not in Pathfinder.It was more than likely a 3.5 rule then.
I only recall it because I once created a darkwood chest that weighed under 20 lbs so that I could fill it with potions for my masterwork potion belt, and then store the chest in my glove of holding. The rule came into play because it determined how many negligible objects I could store in my darkwood chest.
either 3.5 or earlier, and yeah I remember that one too...
|
|
I'm a big fan of poisons and debilitating diseases for in-game use. That means a couple points of Str damage against the burly fighter and all of a sudden they have a heavy load and their movement is reduced. Another few points and they no longer get a 5-ft step as it's a full-round action for them now! (Yes, it really works that way.)Actually... ability damage in Pathfinder does NOT actually reduce the ability score. It's tracked like non-lethal damage, and for every two points of damage, you take a -1 penalty to all affected stats. Once the amount of damage equals or exceeds your ability score, then the appropriate Really Bad Thing happens. The score itself does not reduce however, and thus neither does your carrying capacity. Perhaps this was an unintended oversight of the change from 3.5 to Pathfinder, but that's the RAW. Also note that creatures with an even-numbered ability score are not (immediately) affected by a single point of damage to that score. Again, its only -1 per 2 points of damage.
Holy Tuna Fish! You are right! I have just applied it directly to the ability score, but that is not right. It reduces the skills and the modifier but NOT the score itself! funny the things you find in the fine print. Makes you wonder why they have the chart in the character sheet for modifying the ability scores.... maybe you can buff UP the score but can't damage it down???? weirdness.