"Bulk" rules are needed

[Plane Sailing]

I don't really have a problem with the character having an almost unlimited supply of arrows. His character concept is an Archer... it is what his character is built around. Limiting him would be like taking a Fighter's only weapon away. I just want some consideration given to "reality".

One game that I played in had an archer ranger, and he used to carry two quivers of arrows and had another two quivers of arrows strapped to his animal companion dog (one of whose 'tricks' was 'carry quivers of arrows). This was a nice in-game solution which meant that he had 80 arrows around (and I do think that ammo limitation is an important balancing factor for 3e archers, considering their ease of getting full attacks, less risk, ease of getting more attacks in a full attack and ease of getting one weapon enchanted and having multiple DR piercing arrows).

It also meant that the PC had to deal with getting low on ammo which was a useful RPing which he enjoyed too.

Cheers

 

[Ktulu]

I just stated that ammunition is part of the "player tax" I charge on all players. Every time they enter a town, they pay 10gp for every week they haven't been in a town. This covers lodging, food, ammunition, stabling, etc.. and the players don't have to calculate any copper/silver costs.

Thus ended my players carrying around a ton of quivers, and it also means they don't quickly spend every penny as they realize that enterying a town w/o the required 10gp means they can't afford staying at an inn, no trail rations (going w/o food for a day = lose one healing surge and no extended rest healing).

It's actually improved the realism in the game as we never have pennyless characters, and players actually keep track of how long they travel somewhere.

I'd track ammunition, but too often players "forgot" to check them off anyway.

 

[the Jester]

This reminds me of an old pewter miniature I used to see in hobby stores. It was a guy, hunched over with so much gear it looked like he had a house on his back. The overall effect looked like the peons who followed King Arthur and the knights around in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The miniature was called: "The Adventurer".

To this day, I have this miniature. It's one of the few pewter ones I have (relative to the plastic, anyhoo) and one of the few that one of my players hasn't yet painted.

Thanks for reminding me of this- I'm gonna offer him xp to paint that one for me next, though he's currently working on the 'two dudes carrying a chest' mini.

 

[the Jester]

Look at the Magic Item slots and use that for reference. It pretty much covers the Bulk issue you describe. Have players assign their equipment to slots, and create a few extra ones if necessary.

This is absolutely brilliant.

+xp for you, sir.

 

[howandwhy99]

OD&D uses "coin" as it's measure for Encumbrance. You have 3 Coin totals and your current Coin/carried weight. If you have something that is heavy and small, use the weight 10 coin to 1 lb. If you are carrying something bulky, ask the Referee for a coinage. There are systems out there for determining this and a good Ref will have an easy one in place to answer you.

 

[CleverNickName]

Look at the Magic Item slots and use that for reference. It pretty much covers the Bulk issue you describe. Have players assign their equipment to slots, and create a few extra ones if necessary.

This is an awesome idea. Totally yoinked for my home games.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

I regularly hand out/acquire magical endless quivers for the archery based characters.. its just easier.

Regarding encumberance systems, my favorite is based on Super Dan's system that uses the 'Stone' weight {about 14 pounds} as the baseline.

[sblock]
A characters 'Encumbrance score' is equal to their Str score + Str mod in Stones.

The total weight in Stones over your Base CON score counts as an armor check penalty

A Light load is under half that amount.
A Medium load is up to 3/4 of that amount and causes a loss of 10' off your base move.
A Heavy load is up to the full amount and causes a loss of 20' off your base move.
An Extreme load is up to 1 1/4 the amount and causes a loss of 30' off your base move

Weights are mostly eyeballed, within the following guidelines:
Armor counts as 1/2 their non-magical AC bonus
Shield count as thier full non-magical AC bonus
light weapons and small pouches count as 1/2 stone
one-handed weapons, quivers, and large pouches count as 1 stone
two handed and heavy weapons and backbacks count as 2 stones

An example is your typical muscle-bound fighter wearing plate (AC 8 = 4 stones), heavy shield (AC +2 = 2 stones), and longsword (1 stone).
A Str of 18 + mod of 4 = encumbrance of 22, making his light load = 11 stones.
His baseline fighting gear totals up to 7 stones, leaving 3 stones worth of gear he can carry before becoming encumbered.

Your typical weakling wizard, Str 10, would have a light load of 5 stone, making it not likely that he will be carrying much more than a pack and a dagger.

[/sblock]

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

This isn't an edition rant but...

...But it was anyway. Anyone who thinks D&D 3.5 has a rule for everything either hasn't played it for very long, has done nothing other than the same cycle of combat actions (say, charge, full attack, full attack, withdraw, beg for healing, repeat) ad nauseum, or had a pushover DM. In the latter case, the player should at least be aware that he was allowed things that should not have been, even if he couldn't pick out any specific examples.

I don't really have a problem with the character having an almost unlimited supply of arrows. His character concept is an Archer... it is what his character is built around. Limiting him would be like taking a Fighter's only weapon away. I just want some consideration given to "reality".

20 is excessive, but he should be able to have a half dozen or so easily. How? Not all of them are out at all times. Nothing's stopping him from keeping all but two (replenished between fights to remain full) quivers inside his pack. Of course, I also don't ask players to track ammo unless it's magical/pricey.

 

[Tewligan]

20 is excessive, but he should be able to have a half dozen or so easily. How? Not all of them are out at all times. Nothing's stopping him from keeping all but two (replenished between fights to remain full) quivers inside his pack. Of course, I also don't ask players to track ammo unless it's magical/pricey.

Do you know how long an arrow is? I don't see how you could cram ONE quiver filled with arrows into a pack, let alone four or five.

 

[Tewligan]

Maybe the OP's player should just hire someone to haul all his equipment for him, perhaps someone like this 'adventurer,' heh! Dragging this NPC around could lead to all sorts of fun for the DM.

And lo, 1e shall lead them! That kind of chump is called a "hireling". Need some temp help to carry your equipment? Get a hireling! Need someone to hold the lantern so you can see where you're swinging that sword? Get a hireling! Need someone to watch the horses while you head into the tomb? Yep - you need a hireling!