D&D 5E Encumbrance rule, do you use it?

[Sacrosanct]

And just how close to reality to you try to model it? One thing that I see that almost always gets overlooked in D&D games is that a typical adventurer looks like this:



That obviously isn't going to work once combat starts. Do you assume the PCs just drop their packs when combat starts? What if they have to flee? Or move somewhere and leave their pack behind? Do monsters grab their dropped pack and run away?

 

[evilbob]

Nope.

5.0 is a bit better on the whole "pick up every piece of armor" situation since there's not really any reason to pick up old swords, armor, etc. because that stuff isn't meticulously statted out on enemies nor considered part of the treasure. So it's easier to hand-wave that it's all junk and not track meticulous stuff.

I considered it a milestone in our gaming lives when our group fought its first 5.0 battle in the latest game and completely left the scene of the battle and it was some time later they were like - oh we didn't even search the bodies! It was immersive enough that they forgot to be murder hobos, and I was proud of them.

To be fair, I also don't track ammo and I let my party convert any gems, art, etc. into gold pieces immediately if they want (which also weigh nothing). Here's my take: none of that, including endurance, is interesting or dramatic in any way. It's bookkeeping. Some people want to be accountants; that's awesome! I don't. And it makes the game go a lot faster to ignore it. The minute power gain is more than made up for in the "oh wait did I have 6 arrows left or 5, I can't remember - can we say I picked up arrows after that last battle, because I forgot to OH MY GOD just typing this out makes me hate it all over again. I'm not even going to close that quote, that's how much I don't want to get into that level of detail.

 

[iserith]

I make a deal of encumbrance when it would be interesting to do so, which is almost never. But sometimes it might be - say, the situation is choosing how much one can safely weigh oneself down in stolen gold panther idols and still escape the rampaging jungle warriors - and that's when I'll make it matter.

 

[Paraxis]

Not normally no, I just let them get away with carrying anything within reason. To that end I almost always place a heward's handy haversack, bag of holding, or portable hole as treasure relatively early on in the campaign.

If I had a Aarakocra in one of my games, I would use the rules if I felt I needed to keep them in check.

 

[Sacrosanct]

So when combat starts, how do you (general you) handle it? That a PC can act as if they weren't carrying all that gear? Do you assume they drop it?

 

[Chocolategravy]

The game allows you to pull out a healer's kit from your backpack, apply it to a person wearing armor who is running around engaged in a fight, and put it back in your pack. One handed. In 6 seconds. No, I don't bother with encumbrance unless there is a specific reason to, like they want to carry a horse or something.

 

[evilbob]

Anime rules. Everyone has a portable hole on them at all times.

 

[DMCF]

On roll20 I do because it is calculated. We generally agree the economy in D&D is retarded, like when they found 3600cp on Tuesday. I even touched on the fact that counting that out would mean an automatic short rest.

Yesterday an 8 str halfling wanted to jack a 40lb empty wooden chest. I enabled encumbrance and when they started calculating I let them go with the big items, armor, greatswords, wooden chests etc. But to prevent the fame from dragging I said "look guys, its a general rule. 5gp isnt going to make or break your decision. Use common sense.

Fortunately I have an awesome encounters group of random guys and they look at these things as a way to make something interesting happen later on. Yeah they're encumbered now but it will be SO worth it later on....and I may even offer inspiration.

 

[Sunseeker]

Loosely. I generally do not bother with encumbrance unless a person specifically wants to carry a ton of stuff or haul a whole other person. I generally don't ask questions for anything breadbox size or smaller.

 

[Ilbranteloth]

Yes, but it doesn't interfere with much on a daily basis.

All of us think that there's a limit to what can be carried reasonably, and the players like to travel light. Having said that, They found a chest in a dungeon and loaded it up. I went back to some earlier rules since they (and I) knew they couldn't just grab it and go. But they also have Tenser's Floating Disk and make use of that fairly frequently when they don't have access to horses or a mule, with or without a cart.

It was rather amusing when they were in the midst of a marsh trying to escape from undead, with the unconscious body of a companion and their chest of loot on the disk and the duration ran out. They didn't go back to recover the chest that sank into the swamp, but they did get their companion.

But my players like to have some semblance of reality. The ranger has been tracking ammunition by his choice, but I've always used character sheets with check-boxes to make that simple. In the other campaign, the ranger is a bowyer/fletcher and makes his own when needed.

Being in the Forgotten Realms, the players are also fond of changing large amounts of coin into trade bars. Of course, the cart, mounts, and attention to coinage and stuff is also partially because two of them are ex-merchants, and a third is a Waterdhavian noble. One of the rogues insists on having his own bed at the very least, but usually requires his own private room while at an inn.

So yes, but not to the point where we're worried about calculating for every last item they are carrying.

Ilbranteloth