DCC Encumbrance Simplified

[Archade]

Hey folks, new article at my blog, this is a simplified encumbrance system for characters in Dungeon Crawl Classics, but easily ported to any other system ...

DCC Encumbrance Simplified

This is a house rule for Dungeon Crawl Classics, but could easily be adapted over to D&D. It’s a much simplified version of a few encumbran...

archadestower.blogspot.com

 

[Jd Smith1]

What's wrong with measuring it in pounds? I've used that since the early 80s.

 

[Archade]

Because my players tend to lose track of what they are carrying ... suddenly they've looted 16 sets of chainmail, a tapestry, 16 spears, and 12,000 gp ... and don't have an easy explanation of who is carrying what .... This is a simpler alternative to bookkeeping for my game ...

 

[cmad1977]

What's wrong with measuring it in pounds? I've used that since the early 80s.

Because there are better/easier/faster ways of enforcing an encumbrance mechanic than
Ok... this suit of armor is.. 45 lbs.. 8oz...
These spears are all... um... 6 lbs 4 oz...

when you can be

Ok.. my strength let’s me carry X units and all these items add up to Y so... we’re good!

Gaming mechanics from the 80s are basically just... bad. It’s what we had but honestly... unimaginative and clunky design.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Because my players tend to lose track of what they are carrying ... suddenly they've looted 16 sets of chainmail, a tapestry, 16 spears, and 12,000 gp ... and don't have an easy explanation of who is carrying what .... This is a simpler alternative to bookkeeping for my game ...

That what carts and MS OneNote is for. Before that, we had one player tasked as QM, with a calculator, a pencil, and a pad.

And if they lose track, the items are lost. Very simple. The group assigns the greediest b*stard to QM duty. in 40-odd years its never been a problem.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Because there are better/easier/faster ways of enforcing an encumbrance mechanic than
Ok... this suit of armor is.. 45 lbs.. 8oz...
These spears are all... um... 6 lbs 4 oz...

Well, firstly, you round to whole pounds.

Then second, if a player failed to really get a grasp of basic math in school (it happens), he can purchase a calculator (pre-cell phone era), or use his phone (lately).

I mean, we're talking about loads of 80-100 pounds on a person, noted on a form with a column for item weight. It's not calculus (which I never learned, and as I predicted in 9th grade, never needed).

Likewise, bigger loads for a cart. Our current QM has used Excel for year, which really speeds things along.

Pounds or encumbrance points, it is still numbers.

 

[Archade]

Agreed JD, it's all numbers. Smaller numbers are easier to manage by players, easier to adjudicate by GMs, and leaves more time for adventuring.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Agreed JD, it's all numbers. Smaller numbers are easier to manage by players, easier to adjudicate by GMs, and leaves more time for adventuring.

It depends on the player, I suppose. I've never had one that couldn't manage sums of a hundred or less.

 

[Dave Goff]

I think it's pretty good. If I were to use anything, I think something like this would be good.
Honestly, in most games I've played the players will say they're grabbing stuff and the GM will say "I don't think you can carry all that." and then players either work it out or don't.
Luckily, I've mostly played with reasonable people who would rather play the game and stay immersed than argued about these things or keep spreadsheets.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I think it's pretty good. If I were to use anything, I think something like this would be good.
Honestly, in most games I've played the players will say they're grabbing stuff and the GM will say "I don't think you can carry all that." and then players either work it out or don't.
Luckily, I've mostly played with reasonable people who would rather play the game and stay immersed than argued about these things or keep spreadsheets.

I don't know about reasonable, but clever people can use a spreadsheet in seconds. Immersion, IME, is strengthened by adding added challenges.