3lb Belt Pouch??

[kengar]

Subject line says it all. Why does a belt pouch weigh 3# and a backpack only 2??

PS- I checked the FAQ & errata and saw nothign about this.

 

[Mr Fidgit]

i believe that's the weight when it's full...

the chart on PH 110 says 1/2 pound

 

[kengar]

So it does!

DUhhhhhhh

I never even looked there since there was a weight written in the price list. Also, since things like the backpack's weight were obviously "empty" weights, I assumed this was as well. Thanks.

 

[Steverooo]

Weights are off!

The weights of many D&D items have no relation to the real world... Things usable as weapons, in particular. I have several handaxes, and none weigh anywhere near five pounds. Four for a longsword isn't too far off, but the 20+ for some weapons is ridiculous.

Personally, I think it nothing more than a WotC "Game Mechanic" to severely restrict the number of weapons PCs carry. Why, I don't know. I guess they like to limit their player's options.

Once you get a magic weapon, though, that "weight" counts only against the maximum, so that helps. At first level, though... Trying to carry a bladed, blunt, missile, and "grabber" weapon (something like a dagger, which can be pulled when you've been caught by a dropper, or somesuch), and ammunition, gets kinda heavy!

 

[Tar-Edhel]

Re: Weights are off!

The weights of many D&D items have no relation to the real world... Things usable as weapons, in particular. I have several handaxes, and none weigh anywhere near five pounds. Four for a longsword isn't too far off, but the 20+ for some weapons is ridiculous.

Your handaxes are modern tools, built with modern components. 5 pounds for a medieval handaxe? Maybe a bit heavy but not that much IMO.

 

[Dakhran the Dark]

Re: Weights are off!

Once you get a magic weapon, though, that "weight" counts only against the maximum, so that helps.

Huh? Where's that come from? AFAIK, magic weapons weigh the same as a nonmagical masterwork weapon would, unless the GM decides that it's made of one of the lighter materials found on DMG 242. Even then, you wouldn't be able to tell the weight difference between magical and nonmagical items of those substances...

 

[Tewligan]

Re: Weights are off!

The weights of many D&D items have no relation to the real world... Things usable as weapons, in particular. I have several handaxes, and none weigh anywhere near five pounds. Four for a longsword isn't too far off, but the 20+ for some weapons is ridiculous.

Personally, I think it nothing more than a WotC "Game Mechanic" to severely restrict the number of weapons PCs carry. Why, I don't know. I guess they like to limit their player's options.

I think that the given values for items are supposed to reflect the general bulkiness and space they would take up as well as the actual weight. After all, you could support the weight of carrying 30 longswords or so, but it's probably going to be pretty awkward getting from point A to point B without tripping over one of them or dropping half your load.

 

[Staffan]

Re: Re: Weights are off!

Huh? Where's that come from? AFAIK, magic weapons weigh the same as a nonmagical masterwork weapon would, unless the GM decides that it's made of one of the lighter materials found on DMG 242. Even then, you wouldn't be able to tell the weight difference between magical and nonmagical items of those substances...

He's probably thinking about a rule that goes something like that from 2e. However, that rule only applied to magic armor, not weaponry.

 

[AuraSeer]

Re: Re: Weights are off!

I think that the given values for items are supposed to reflect the general bulkiness and space they would take up as well as the actual weight. After all, you could support the weight of carrying 30 longswords or so, but it's probably going to be pretty awkward getting from point A to point B without tripping over one of them or dropping half your load.

This is how I've always interpreted it. Maybe a greatsword weighs only 5lb (or whatever), but it's a lot harder to carry around than a 5lb iron ingot.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Re: Re: Re: Weights are off!

This is how I've always interpreted it. Maybe a greatsword weighs only 5lb (or whatever), but it's a lot harder to carry around than a 5lb iron ingot.

But that doesn't explain why it affects spells with weight limits, like Levitate, Feather Fall, Teleport, Heat Metal, etc, differently.

If a greatsword 'weighs' 5 lbs, but has an effective encumbrance of 15 lbs, then I should be able to heat up fifteen greatswords with my 75 lbs of Heat Metal. But since the only figure in the book is 15 lbs, I can only heat up five swords...

-Hyp.