precise rules on belt pouches, pockets, straps, and bandoliers


Advice


I’m new to Pf2. We are learning and enjoying the clarity of the Interact action. Whether an item is Worn or Stowed is important in this action economy.

I found some good info here:

Carrying and Using Items / Wielding Items:

https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=186

says: “Worn items are tucked into pockets, belt pouches, bandoliers, weapon sheaths, and so forth”

Given the importance of whether sonething is worn of stowed, i’m surprised there aren’t rules for how many pockets, belt pouches, and straps a character can fit on their body. And how much Bulk those containers carry.

Though sacks have an equipment listing, I don’t see any write-up for pouches (other than a spell component pouch), nor for bandoliers (other than a hand crossbow shootist bandolier ).

Merisiel is even depicted in the Beginner Box as having a back-mounted dagger bandolier, plus various strapped on daggers.

Is there a write-up which I’m missing?

Has anyone reverse-engineered how many pockets, pouches, straps, etc. are visible on illustrations of Pf iconics?


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CRB, pg 272 wrote:

Bulk limits

You can carry an amount of Bulk equal to 5 plus your Strength modifier without penalty; if you carry more, you gain the encumbered condition. You can’t hold or carry more Bulk than 10 plus your Strength modifier.

Encumbered
You are carrying more weight than you can manage. While you’re encumbered, you’re clumsy 1 and take a –10-foot penalty to all your Speeds. As with all penalties to your Speed, this can’t reduce your Speed below 5 feet.

Where you stow all those things you're carrying is irrelevant.


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There used to be more specific rules but they were bad and annoying and largely got removed.


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Pathfinder Way wrote:
Given the importance of whether sonething is worn of stowed, i’m surprised there aren’t rules for how many pockets, belt pouches, and straps a character can fit on their body. And how much Bulk those containers carry.

You can fit however much you want into whatever outfit you want. If you want to slip 40 torches into your belt, you can: the only limits are what you and our DM make. The only containers listed are those with special rules for them: sacks can be held in your hand and dropped as a free action while backpacks allow the first 2 Bulk of these items don't count against your Bulk limits.


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Pathfinder 1st Edition has a rule that weapons were sold with their scabbards and arrows were sold with their quivers, so the characters always have enough storage for their gear.

The 1st printing of the Pathfinder 2nd Edition Core Rulebook had rules for belt pouches, bandoliers, and backpacks, though by mistake it left out quivers. For the 2nd printing, the developers decided to simplify storage. The characters buy pouches, pockets, and sheathes as part of their clothing and always have enough for their gear. The details are left to the player's imagination rather than outlined in the Equipment chapter. Therefore, belt pouches, sheathes, sacks, and similar storage are free. The bulk of the items worn in pouches, etc. simply counts against the total bulk the character carries with no individual bulk limits for containers.

In the 1st printing a bandolier had the special property that a set of tools, such as Healer's Tools or Thieves' Tools, could be stored in a bandolier so that they could be freely accessed during their use, such as Picking a Lock, rather than having to Interact to Draw ahead of use. The later simplification is that 3 bulk of tools can be stored that way: Wearing Tools. Treasure Vault introduced Storage loops that increase that to 3 bulk at the cost of being noisy.

Backpacks have the special property that the first two bulk of items stowed in the backpack do not count against the bulk limit for encumbrance for the character. That rule has not changed, so backpacks are still special storage. Thus, backpacks are great for items such as rations and bedrolls that do not have to be accessed quickly.


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Pathfinder Way wrote:
Has anyone reverse-engineered how many pockets, pouches, straps, etc. are visible on illustrations of Pf iconics?

A lot of official artwork of the iconics shows some characters bristling with weapons like a porcupine. More art at Wayne Reynolds' gallery. But one piece of Wayne Reynolds' art is a parody of that: Deadly Arsenal.


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Mathmuse wrote:
But one piece of Wayne Reynolds' art is a parody of that: Deadly Arsenal.

Hmmm... His head seems to be missing some kind of weapon. If he has to headbutt something, he'll have to use an unarmed attack!

Sovereign Court

Pathfinder Way wrote:
Given the importance of whether sonething is worn of stowed, i’m surprised there aren’t rules for how many pockets, belt pouches, and straps a character can fit on their body. And how much Bulk those containers carry.

Like others have said, there used to be more rules for that, but they were fiddly and unliked. They switched to a simpler system:

* Stuff you carry worn for quick access weighs the full amount.
* Backpacks, magical bags and so forth can give you a discount on bulk weight, but at the cost of making it slower to get the item back in your hands for use.


Mathmuse wrote:
The later simplification is that 3 bulk of tools can be stored that way: Wearing Tools.

2 bulk.

You can wear up to 2 Bulk of tools in this manner; tools beyond this limit must be stowed or drawn with an Interact action to use.


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Don't forget your buckle armor! For that iconic head to toe "I wear belts instead of armor/clothes look".


thanks for everyone’s responses.

why don’t players just say they are Wearing all of their equipment? covered in straps, pockets, pouches, and bandoliers of all sorts? only rules benefit to Stowing is the bonus Bulk a backpack offers.

it’s a huge benefit Action-wise, to be Wearing an item rather than Stowed.

just use Backpack for coins/treasure.

it already came up in our Beg Box sessions: player said they wanted to pull out rope, and i said it would take an Interact to pull off backpack, and then another Interact to take the rope in hand. (Then another Interact to put backpack back on?) Player says: “im wearing my coil of rope at my side.”

Really, rules-wise, every Pf2 PC ought to make sure all equipment that could conceivably be used in Encounter mode is Worn, not Stowed.


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Pathfinder Way wrote:
every Pf2 PC ought to make sure all equipment that could conceivably be used in Encounter mode is Worn, not Stowed.

That would be a very prudent thing to do.

Both in game and IRL, actually.

So what exactly was this player using their rope for in the middle of combat?


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Errenor wrote:
Mathmuse wrote:
The later simplification is that 3 bulk of tools can be stored that way: Wearing Tools.

2 bulk.

You can wear up to 2 Bulk of tools in this manner; tools beyond this limit must be stowed or drawn with an Interact action to use.

Thank you for clearing up my typographical error. I simply hit the wrong key on my keyboard. I would have been embarrassed if I spread misinformation.

Sovereign Court

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Pathfinder Way wrote:

thanks for everyone’s responses.

why don’t players just say they are Wearing all of their equipment? covered in straps, pockets, pouches, and bandoliers of all sorts? only rules benefit to Stowing is the bonus Bulk a backpack offers.

it’s a huge benefit Action-wise, to be Wearing an item rather than Stowed.

just use Backpack for coins/treasure.

it already came up in our Beg Box sessions: player said they wanted to pull out rope, and i said it would take an Interact to pull off backpack, and then another Interact to take the rope in hand. (Then another Interact to put backpack back on?) Player says: “im wearing my coil of rope at my side.”

Really, rules-wise, every Pf2 PC ought to make sure all equipment that could conceivably be used in Encounter mode is Worn, not Stowed.

Yeah it's really precisely that. Worn is the default way. Stowed for efficient bulk is for stuff you don't need at combat-speed short notice.


Pathfinder Way wrote:
why don’t players just say they are Wearing all of their equipment? covered in straps, pockets, pouches, and bandoliers of all sorts? only rules benefit to Stowing is the bonus Bulk a backpack offers.

You've answered your own question: for instance, a Halfling Wizard that never boosts str. That means only 4 bulk you can carry that's ready. A backpack adds +50% more. Or your party found a lot of loot and it's more than everyone's normal bulk carry so they can pass out sacks and everyone can hold them until an encounter where they can drop them to get rid of the encumbered condition.


Pathfinder Way wrote:

why don’t players just say they are Wearing all of their equipment? covered in straps, pockets, pouches, and bandoliers of all sorts? only rules benefit to Stowing is the bonus Bulk a backpack offers.

it’s a huge benefit Action-wise, to be Wearing an item rather than Stowed.

I just asked two of my players. One said that she used to list her items by individual storage locations, but she has not done it for years. The other just lists all her items in a long list.

The Paizo-created characters do the same. For example, the iconic barbarian Amiri has written in her stat block, "Items +2 striking wounding Large bastard sword, +1 resilient hide armor, 80 sp, backpack, bedroll, belt pouches, boots of bounding, chalk (10), flint and steel, grappling hook, greater coyote cloak, javelins (4), moderate elixirs of life (3), rations (2 weeks), rope (50 feet), torches (5), waterskin." She probably has nothing in her backpack, because almost all of the items are light bulk and she has the strength of a barbarian.

Pathfinder Way wrote:
it already came up in our Beg Box sessions: player said they wanted to pull out rope, and i said it would take an Interact to pull off backpack, and then another Interact to take the rope in hand. (Then another Interact to put backpack back on?) Player says: “im wearing my coil of rope at my side.”

Um, what use of rope is so time-critical that a single action matters?

And I think that taking the backpack off, taking the item out of the backpack, and putting the backpack back on is only two Interact actions, because Table 6-2: Changing Equipment says, "Retrieving an item stowed in your own backpack requires first taking off the backpack with a separate Interact action." It does not say that the backpack requires yet another separate Interact action to put it back on the back. Many Interact actions, such as Interacting to Reload a crossbow (which has Reload 1), perform several individual steps. Two back-to-back Interact actions (pun intended) can handle removing the backpack, retrieving the item, and returning the backpack to worn on the back. If the rules get into too much detail, we all will be confused about how the character is holding the item in hand while putting the backpack back on with 2 hands.

Pathfinder Way wrote:
Really, rules-wise, every Pf2 PC ought to make sure all equipment that could conceivably be used in Encounter mode is Worn, not Stowed.

That is the default assumption. In general, when my players have to check their character sheet for a solution to a problem. "Hey, I do have an Alchemist's Fire to throw at the troll." then they assume it is stowed in their Bag of Holding. In contrast, any item they remember off the top of their head is worn.


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Pathfinder Way wrote:
Really, rules-wise, every Pf2 PC ought to make sure all equipment that could conceivably be used in Encounter mode is Worn, not Stowed.

Basically yes.

Unless you're using a special container that reduces the bulk somehow, the game essentially defaults to telling you that you can wear everything (up to your bulk limit). So yeah...do it.


Thanks everyone. Okay yeah, we'll assume that almost everything is Worn, except for stuff like the bedroll. :o)

***

Some of you asked about why a PC was using rope in an Encounter. Well, the party was strung out between the webroom and the crypt-room, and Initiative was called due to actions of the vanguard entering the crypt.

But the rearguard started to do something zany with their rope -- I'm not sure exactly what they were aiming to do...they started to say they were going to tie the rope to a protrusion in the cave wall. (For what reason, I never found out.)

They changed their mind after I said it'd take two Interact actions to get it out of the backpack. Even when I said it was okay for their rope to be Worn, they still had decided to not use rope after all, so I never heard what sort of zany plan they had in mind.

***
RAW seems to say that that it does take yet another action to put a backpack back on after setting it down.


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Pathfinder Way wrote:
Really, rules-wise, every Pf2 PC ought to make sure all equipment that could conceivably be used in Encounter mode is Worn, not Stowed.

Ok, for even more full topic coverage we could mention that Fine Clothing adds another restriction, but only for tools:

You can wear only one tool set of light Bulk with fine clothing, instead of the normal limit of 2 Bulk.
https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=15
Can't be a humanoid-toolset at a ball.


I like the idea of the container rules that I keep hearing about from 1st printing. But I can't find them anywhere. Does anyone know where I should look online? Or since they're outdated rules, can someone post them and the item data from 1st printing? I'm on 4th printing and I just don't have them.


Worm of Hollows wrote:
I like the idea of the container rules that I keep hearing about from 1st printing. But I can't find them anywhere. Does anyone know where I should look online? Or since they're outdated rules, can someone post them and the item data from 1st printing? I'm on 4th printing and I just don't have them.

https://pf2easy.com/tree/index.php?id=19907&name=Adventuring_Gear

Bandoliers, belt pouches and sheaths.

Backpacks also lacked the 2 free bulk element.


The Gleeful Grognard wrote:
Worm of Hollows wrote:
I like the idea of the container rules that I keep hearing about from 1st printing. But I can't find them anywhere. Does anyone know where I should look online? Or since they're outdated rules, can someone post them and the item data from 1st printing? I'm on 4th printing and I just don't have them.

https://pf2easy.com/tree/index.php?id=19907&name=Adventuring_Gear

Bandoliers, belt pouches and sheaths.

Backpacks also lacked the 2 free bulk element.

That link takes me to a blank page, with the adventuring gear header. But I'll look around that site, it's a new one on me. Thank you!


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Found it! Thanks again!

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