HELP! Reduce ENC @ Level 3?

[Steverooo]

Starting a new campaign, at level three. Long trip coming up. Gear = ENC, and my PC can't carry what he needs. I have a horse, but the GM seems set against allowing a pack horse. My PC's gear puts him into Medium ENC, reducing AC, skill rolls, and reducing movement.

My solution, so far, is to carry what's light and most necessary on my PC, and toss the rest into a pack... When I toss the pack, however, I lose all my food except one meal, all but one waterskin, all my ropes, grapnel, bedroll, blankets, clothes, gallon pot (for purifying water), mug, instrument, soap, extra weapon, and whetstone. Most of that I can probably live without (and my PC is smart enough to have extra food and water on the mount, as well), but being too weak to have food and water with my PC worries me...

So, my horse and I are about as loaded as we can be... No "Magic Shoppes" in sight, and less than 500 GP to spend... What (if anything) is a poor, weak, wimpy li'l' ol' Adventuer to do? Is there any cheap way to decrease ENC? I can't afford a Heward's Handy Haversack, and won't be able to, for a long time... I don't think I can afford the Material Components for a Leomund's Tiny Chest, either, even if I can find someplace to get it cast... I also don't know what spells the party Wizard has, yet, or if we even have a Druid/Cleric in the party, or not.

So, any helpful suggestions? Can my PC avoid being bogged down, slowed with gear, and have to take his first action to "Dump Pack"?

 

[BobROE]

Starting a new campaign, at level three. Long trip coming up. Gear = ENC, and my PC can't carry what he needs. I have a horse, but the GM seems set against allowing a pack horse. My PC's gear puts him into Medium ENC, reducing AC, skill rolls, and reducing movement.

My solution, so far, is to carry what's light and most necessary on my PC, and toss the rest into a pack... When I toss the pack, however, I lose all my food except one meal, all but one waterskin, all my ropes, grapnel, bedroll, blankets, clothes, gallon pot (for purifying water), mug, instrument, soap, extra weapon, and whetstone. Most of that I can probably live without (and my PC is smart enough to have extra food and water on the mount, as well), but being too weak to have food and water with my PC worries me...

So, my horse and I are about as loaded as we can be... No "Magic Shoppes" in sight, and less than 500 GP to spend... What (if anything) is a poor, weak, wimpy li'l' ol' Adventuer to do? Is there any cheap way to decrease ENC? I can't afford a Heward's Handy Haversack, and won't be able to, for a long time... I don't think I can afford the Material Components for a Leomund's Tiny Chest, either, even if I can find someplace to get it cast... I also don't know what spells the party Wizard has, yet, or if we even have a Druid/Cleric in the party, or not.

So, any helpful suggestions? Can my PC avoid being bogged down, slowed with gear, and have to take his first action to "Dump Pack"?

What's weighing you done so much? And what's your str?

 

[Steverooo]

What's weighing you done so much?

Doesn't really matter, does it? Nothing I can really afford to be without... The biggest weight is armor & shield, then weapons, then a few items of equipment that I can't afford to be without (Everburning Torch, map-making gear, etc). Anything I can live without (short-term, anyway) has been put in the saddlebags, or backpack...

Heward's Handy Haversack will cost me 2,000 GP, which is more than I will have... Leomund's Secret Chest would run me even more, and is one-use (5,000 GP for the chests, alone, plus the cost for casting a fifth level spell).

Other ideas?

 

[Trainz]

Give us a detailed rundown of what you say is your "essential" gear. When I say detailed I mean if it is made of special materials, and if it's magical, masterwork, the works.

Also, please specify if you can still trade in stuff or not "Yeah, George, I've been thinking, and I want to swap that plushtwo full plate for a plushone mithral breastplate...".

 

[Steverooo]

Heh! We're THIRD level, Trainz! I have two magic items (the armor and Everburning Torch), and three MW items (bow, I forget what else). I don't see how any of that has anything to do with decreasing ENC.

No special materials (you can't afford them, at third level; can barely afford the bow)! Don't know if trade-ins are allowed, but I doubt it.

I have the best armor that I can afford/use. Can't have better for several levels... Since everyone is getting bogged down in mundane minutia, I assume there's nothing else I can do, until I can raise STR (next level), and/or get enough gold for the HHH or other magic.

 

[Silveras]

First, are you sure you need to detail the Encumbrance ? "Standard D&D" typically goes by the armor, shield, and weapons only, unless you are carrying a lot of stuff.

Encumbrance rules determine how much a character’s armor and equipment slow him or her down. Encumbrance comes in two parts: encumbrance by armor and encumbrance by total weight.

Encumbrance by Armor: A character’s armor defines his or her maximum Dexterity bonus to AC, armor check penalty, speed, and running speed. Unless your character is weak or carrying a lot of gear, that’s all you need to know. The extra gear your character carries won’t slow him or her down any more than the armor already does.

If your character is weak or carrying a lot of gear, however, then you’ll need to calculate encumbrance by weight. Doing so is most important when your character is trying to carry some heavy object.

Weight: If you want to determine whether your character’s gear is heavy enough to slow him or her down more than the armor already does,
...snip...

If your character is wearing armor, use the worse figure (from armor or from load) for each category. Do not stack the penalties.

Second, if all of your group is in the same boat, you may need to start with a mutiny. Tracking weight is great, but not letting people take reasonable steps to deal with it (ie., buy a pack horse) is not fair to them, unless there is some campaign-logic reason not to allow it.

If your PC is unusually weak, though, this encumbrance problem "goes with the territory".

 

[BobROE]

What sort of armor are you wearing? Cause the penalties from armor and encumbrance don't stack.

 

[WayneLigon]

Starting a new campaign, at level three. Long trip coming up. Gear = ENC, and my PC can't carry what he needs. I have a horse, but the GM seems set against allowing a pack horse.

Sounds like a GM problem instead of an encumberance problem. Has he explained why? Pack horses and mules are essencial for long trips; that's what they're for, is to carry all that stuff you need but don't really need on your back: extra food and water, shovels, things like that. Most characters I have will store almost everything (save for armor and weapons and a couple belt pouches of gear) on the horse or mule. The mule is perfect for most dungeons, as well; it's sure footed and unlikely to panic.

I usually play very mobile characters, so I try to keep encumberance down to the Light catagory as much as possible.

 

[Nifft]

Any half-orc barbarians you could get to take part of your stuff? They're like pack mules, but different.

-- N

 

[Steverooo]

Answers

Don't know the party, yet... I think we have a Wizzer, Monk, and Bard, but I could be wrong...

I have a warhorse, and have gear on him, but with my PC and his gear, the horse isn't able to carry much else. The GM's objection to pack animals is that (he says) you couldn't control both, so the pack horse will just run off, in battle. I disagreed, saying I'd buy a warhorse, anyway, but he says that looping the reins of the rear mount over the saddlehorn won't work (I didn't ask why, I just gave up the idea, at that point). In any case, disparaging the GM's decisions isn't really going to be any help... I still have the ENC problem!

The armor is also no problem. With weapons, armor, and worn/belt gear, I have Light ENC. I also have one (and a half) meal, one waterskin, and no rope/grapnel. This makes me a bit uncomfortable, going down into the ruins...

So, the only thing I can see to do is just be encumbered. Even if my PC had a pack horse, the pack would still encumber him.