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In my game, the characters have begun carrying multiple items in their arms.
For instance, a druid is carrying a staff, a greataxe. In another campaign a character carries 2 staves and one or two other items.
They do this because all other options for slotting are full. One guy had a carpet of flying which he normally used to transport his stuff. Now that the carpet has been destroyed, he has taken to holding 3-4 items in his arms.
This is highly annoying as I have to track which items he has in his hand as well as which he needs to drop.
I may implement a rule that states if you have both hands occupied with each one carrying a 2-handed weapon and enter an encounter, you do so flat-footed.
I think most characters would get away with being giant pack mules if they could, and who could blame them!
What have you folks done to keep the logistics of carrying stuff realistic, so that these characters are online MMO portable holes?
The 13th-level characters in my game have purchased multiple bags of holding. I allow six items, such as sheathed weapons, quivers, and spell component pouches, to be carried on their clothing in easy reach, and the rest is in their hands or backpacks. Specialized fighting styles, such as an alchemist with his bombs, are assumed to have purchased special tool vests that let many small items hang in easy reach.
At lower levels, each character invested heavily in the best magic items they could afford, so they did not have many items of gear. The party ranger had a horse as his animal companion and trained horses for the rest of the party. Looted treasure was loaded onto the horses.
If a character walked around with arms piled high with items, I would say that the character did not have a grip on his weapon that would let him wield it. Instead, his hands are busy keeping the pile from slipping. He would have to take a move action or a Quick Draw free action to retrieve the weapon from the pile and would also drop the rest of the pile to wield the weapon. That is not the same as flat-footed, but it does deny attacks of opportunity. Perceptive opponents would see that, and would take advantage of the lack of AoOs to flank them.
And I would limit how high the character could pile the items in his arms. Any more and they would drop the extra item. I don't have a number because no-one has tried that in my game.
One two-handed weapon in each hand is not carrying a pile in the arms, so deal with that normally.
I would also point out that experienced adventurers (3rd level or higher or with ranks in Survival) would know how to tie a staff or ax to their backpack and otherwise carry large gear. It would require a standard action to retrieve such a stowed item, but the dropping would cease.