I'm not sure I like the whole "you can never carry more than STR Supply (even if you use encumbrance)" combined with the "equipment costs gp/5 Supply".
If you need one pricey item (which you can't buy with gold since "you do not use the gold value of mundane gear any more") you suddenly have "lost" food for a week.
This keeps the average wizards (with a STR from 8-10) from ever getting a reserve of food if they ever want to use some costly item.
I agree here, although maybe Morrus is assuming everyone uses pack animals, carts, or henchfolk to carry things?
...I forget (and can't seem to find an exact answer) if being able to lift more, like Orcs can, also means you can lift more Supply. If yes, that would help to alleviate some of the issues here. So even if the wizard is a scrawny human or elf, the orc in the party can help to make up for their lack. If no, then if you use this new Supply rule, the orc could.
Also because you only pay 1 gp per Supply (but get a worth of 5gp per 1 Supply spent) you have even less need for money (as you can only spend it for weapons/armor/tools/magic items/mounts/vehicles)
Also daily expenses. If the party decides to stay at an inn, they're still going to have to pay for their food and lodging. There's also bribes, tolls, crafting expenses, and a few other things like that.
I would imagine that you can still buy specific items--or at least, that's what I would do--and those items stay items. So if you really wanted a crowbar, you could buy a crowbar. I would also say you couldn't turn Supply into personalized items. For instance, in the D&D game I'm in, we have spent part of a session clothes shopping (there was a high-class Event), and we all got clothing, jewelry, and masks that fit our personalities. I wouldn't let Supply create anything that wasn't completely generic.
Anyway, this might be a reason to give smaller cash rewards. Monsters don't have to have hoards of hundreds or thousands of gp but instead could have more
stuff. Including more Supply.
So here's a few things I would suggest,
@Morrus:
Supply is disposable. If you make a crowbar, it lasts the scene. If you make a tent, it lasts the night. It doesn't poof out of existence after that, but becomes damaged, and you have to spend some time maintaining it if you want to use it again. Bought equipment doesn't do that, unless you deliberately buy cheap junk.
You can't later sell or trade Supply, except possibly at an incredibly reduced price (1 cp, maybe).
Supply can't be used to make any sort of material component, including components that don't have a cost. If you lost your spellcasting focus, you're outta luck.
You can't use Supply to create anything worth more than, say, 10 or 20 gp--this is in addition to the 1 Supply/5 gp. You could use multiple Supply to make a more expensive item, though, just like you could use multiple Supply to make a heavier item. So you couldn't turn one Supply into a spyglass.
You could also say that Supply can't be used to make anything with multiple moving parts anyway, since it's hard to imagine using Supply to make a spyglass in the first place.
