D&D 5E Too many weapons?

[MechaPilot]

Encumbrance is one of those little items that feels like it doesn't pay any real dividends to keep track of to any real degree (though there are certainly corner cases, such as suddenly being thrown overboard and being concerned with how fast you might be sinking, or the potential DC of the Str checks to swim back to the surface). Except for determining whether a character is exceeding their maximum carrying capacity, I don't really bother it.

The same thing is true of whatever weapons the players want their characters to have. As long as it fits the weight limit and the player can reasonably explain to me how the character is wearing the items she isn't carrying in her hands, it's not worth my time.

 

[Sunseeker]

The RAW don't say anything about big weapons, or many weapons impairing a player's ability to do anything provided they don't pass into higher stages of encumbrance.

 

[robertwheater]

I am a hunter. My primary rifle is 7 lbs. My pack weighs about 60 lbs. In 5th Edition Strength's carrying capacity stat is unrealistic. Most people today would probably have a 4 strength. A 60 pound pack over terrain is probably above average.

My answer... depends on your game. I prefer a lot of realism in my game but I also try to say yes to my players. So... carrying capacity is the maximum. Carrying max means they can no longer move. I just use a flat penalty. At half carrying capacity travel capacity is half.... dex and str are half.

When I was younger I hunted a lot. My day pack weighed about 30 lbs. My total gear of just over 100 pounds was never carried by me. No way. Just too heavy hiking through brush if you wanted any chance to get game. I used a quad to get to camp. One 7 lb. Rifle carried on hand gets heavy... so... I am 6 foot 1. Athletic. I have seen new hunters try to carry more than 60 lbs and quit a trail. Carrying 80+ lbs. and being able to fight is a joke... it will sap strength.

But... they are heroes.... if you are playing a heroic game keeping track of everything could destroy the theme.... play it like you want.

 

[Kreinas]

I'd allow it. That's a primary melee weapon, primary ranged weapon, and a few small tools. Seems perfectly reasonable to me. If you're really concerned, you can use either of the options in the Player's Handbook, page 176. Make the player do the math, but check his work.

I am a hunter. My primary rifle is 7 lbs. My pack weighs about 60 lbs. In 5th Edition Strength's carrying capacity stat is unrealistic. Most people today would probably have a 4 strength. A 60 pound pack over terrain is probably above average.

My answer... depends on your game. I prefer a lot of realism in my game but I also try to say yes to my players. So... carrying capacity is the maximum. Carrying max means they can no longer move. I just use a flat penalty. At half carrying capacity travel capacity is half.... dex and str are half.

When I was younger I hunted a lot. My day pack weighed about 30 lbs. My total gear of just over 100 pounds was never carried by me. No way. Just too heavy hiking through brush if you wanted any chance to get game. I used a quad to get to camp. One 7 lb. Rifle carried on hand gets heavy... so... I am 6 foot 1. Athletic. I have seen new hunters try to carry more than 60 lbs and quit a trail. Carrying 80+ lbs. and being able to fight is a joke... it will sap strength.

But... they are heroes.... if you are playing a heroic game keeping track of everything could destroy the theme.... play it like you want.

I'd hesitantly agree, except for saying 60 lbs is above average. For an adult male, this is about the weight you could comfortably carry while backpacking. For someone of my size (6'4", 240lbs), 80lbs is what I would max out on a 3 day hike over rough terrain.

Take into account the fact that other races may not be as limited as humans (half orc for example) and that your typical adventurer is far superior in their strength, 80 lbs before encumberance sounds perfectly reasonable.

 

[Unwise]

Or you could get wholly ridiculous:

I actually briefly played a character just like this. He was a dwarf who's family was killed while he was unarmed and he could not protect them. He went mad and became a Battlerager. He only felt OK when encumbered with too many weapons, and putting them down was unthinkable to him. His "Spiked Armor" was just normal mail, the spikes were all the extraneous unsheathed weapons he had all over him. Imagine trying to grapple the guy in the picture.