Encumbrance

A natural desire is to have your character own one of everything. Thus equipped, your character could just reach into his pack and pull out any item he wants whenever he needs it. Sadly, there are limits to how much your character, his horse, his mule, his elephant, or his whatever can carry. These limits are determined by encumbrance.

Encumbrance is measured in pounds. To calculate encumbrance, simply total the pounds of gear carried by the creature or character. Don't count clothing, unless it is particularly heavyweight, such as animal skins or formal clerical vestments. This total is then compared to the carrying capacity of the creature to determine the effects. In general, the more weight carried, the slower the movement and the worse the character is at fighting.

Basic Encumbrance

Encumbrance is divided into five categories: Unencumbered, Light, Moderate, Heavy, and Severe Encumbrance.

To calculate your character's encumbrance category, first figure out the total weight he is carrying. Don't forget the weight of his armor.

To see your character's weight allowance, refer to the Strength Modifiers table.

Next, divide the total Carried Weight by the Weight Allowance, and look in the following table to determine the character's Encumbrance Category Then look across the row corresponding to your character's Strength on the Table below until you come to the column that includes your character's carried weight. The heading at the top of that column shows his level of encumbrance.

Effects of Encumbrance

Encumbrance has two basic effects. First, it reduces your character's movement rate.

The movement rate determines how far your character can move in a round, turn, hour, and day. As his movement rate gets lower, your character moves slower and slower.

Encumbrance also reduces your character's combat abilities.

Character Encumbrance

Carried Weight to Allowance Ratio (E)	Encumbrance Status	Movement Reduced by:	Effect on Attack Roll	Effect on Armor Class
E ≤ 1	Unencumbered	0	--	--
1 < E ≤ 1.4	Light	1/3	--	--
1.4 < E ≤ 1.8	Moderate	1/2	-1	--
1.8 < E ≤ 2.3	Heavy	2/3	-2	-1
2.3 < E ≤ 2.6	Severe	1	-4	-3
2.6 < E	Too much to carry

Clearly, the wise thing for a heavily encumbered character to do is to quickly drop most of his gear before entering battle.

Aside from knowing the weight limits, your character needs to have ways to hold all his gear. The capacities of different containers are given in the Stowage Capacity table.

The values listed in the Stowage Capacity table are for standard-sized items. It is certainly possible for sacks, chests, and backpacks to be larger or smaller than the sizes listed. The weight capacity, however, lists the maximum weight the item can carry, regardless of size. Beyond this point, the material used to construct the item will fail, sooner or later. The volume gives the length, width, and height or depth of the item. Items that exceed the capacity of a container cannot be stored in it.

Stowage Capacity of Common Containers

Item	Weight Cap.	Volume
Backpack	50 lbs.	3' x 2' x 1'
Basket, large	20 lbs.	2' x 2' x 2'
Basket, small	10 lbs.	1' x 1' x 1'
Belt pouch, large	8 lbs.	6" x 8" x 2"
Belt pouch, small	5 lbs.	4" x 6" x 2"
Chest, large	100 lbs.	3' x 2' x 2'
Chest, small	40 lbs.	2' x 1' x 1'
Sack, large	30 lbs.	2' x 2' x 1'
Sack, small	15 lbs.	1' x 1' x 8"
Saddle bags, large	30 lbs.	18" x 1' x 6"
Saddle bags, small	20 lbs.	1' x 1' x 6"

Since all player characters are adventurers, it is assumed they know the best methods for packing and stowing equipment. Blankets are rolled into bedrolls, small items are carefully arranged, rope is properly coiled, weapons are slung in the most comfortable manner, etc. While small items can be easily stuffed into a pack, large bulky things may encumber more than their actual weight would indicate. The DM has the right to rule that an object is more encumbering than it actually appears.

Tarus Bloodheart finds a 5 ft. x 9 ft. flying carpet. He carefully rolls it into a thick cylinder and wisely ties it closed. Even though he has taken this sensible precaution, the carpet is still a large and awkward thing. The DM rules that although the carpet weighs only 20 pounds, its encumbrance is equal to that of an item weighing 50 pounds. Tarus must increase his current encumbrance level by 50 pounds, adding the awkwardness of the rolled carpet slung over his shoulder to his already carefully packed backpack.

Magical Armor and Encumbrance

One of the special properties of magical armor is its effect on encumbrance. Although magical armor appears to weigh as much as normal armor, the weight of magical armor applies only toward the weight limit of the character. It does not apply when determining the effects of encumbrance on movement and combat. In essence, the armor appears to weigh as much as normal armor but does not restrict or hamper the character.

Cwell the bard finds a suit of chain mail +1. Lifting it up, he finds it weighs 60 pounds. Cwell is already carrying 50 pounds of gear. Donning the chain mail, he is now carrying 110 lbs. of gear. Cwell's Strength is 12, which means that he can carry only 30 more pounds of equipment. However, when calculating the effect of all this weight on his movement, Cwell is considered to only be carrying 50 pounds of gear--the magical armor doesn't count. Furthermore, he does not suffer any combat penalties for the chain mail's weight.

Encumbrance and Mounts

The "Base Move" column in the following table lists the maximum amount an animal can carry and maintain its normal movement rate. Animals can be loaded greater than this, up to a maximum of twice their normal load. However, this causes a drop in the animal's movement rate (as indicated by the column headings). When calculating a mount's load, be sure to include the weight of the rider!

Use the Table below to figure out the encumbrance category of your character's mount or beast of burden.

Carrying Capacities of Animals

Mount	Base Move	2/3 Move	1/3 Move
Camel	0-330 lbs.	331-500 lbs.	501-660 lbs.
Dog	0-15 lbs.	16-20 lbs.	21-30 lbs.
Elephant	0-500 lbs.	501-750 lbs.	751-1,000 lbs.
Horse, draft	0-260 lbs.	261-390 lbs.	391-520 lbs.
Horse, heavy	0-260 lbs.	261-390 lbs.	391-520 lbs.
Horse, light	0-170 lbs.	171-255 lbs.	256-340 lbs.
Horse, medium	0-220 lbs.	221-330 lbs.	331-440 lbs.
Horse, riding	0-180 lbs.	181-270 lbs.	271-360 lbs.
Mule	0-250 lbs.	251-375 lbs.	376-500 lbs.
Ox	0-220 lbs.	221-330 lbs.	331-440 lbs.
Yak	0-220 lbs.	221-330 lbs.	331-440 lbs.