[Old school] I can't deal with inventory

[Scribe]

In games about getting treasure and getting out alive, I think this is super important. What are you taking? What are you willing to leave behind?

I think this is critical. If the game is not about getting treasure, then sure you dont need to worry about it as much, but when the game IS about getting treasure and stuff out of the dungeon, then it matters.

Shadowdark solves it in a way that is not painful book keeping, and just gets you playing.

 

[zakael19]

but I like slot-based encumbrance, as it abstracts it enough to make it easy to manage.

I liked the slot based encumbrance that Dolmenwood's version of OSE (not sure if it's in base OSE as well?) and HMTW used. Easy enough to grasp, made for interesting tradeoffs in the dungeon, didn't have to do math.

 

[John Quixote]

I love me some Tetris, but no, I don’t want to play backpack Tetris.

Oh, I do. That's totally how I handle inventory management on my character sheet.

 

[Jahydin]

My two favorite initiative systems are from LotFP and Hackmaster.

LotFP just uses this simple chart (not affected by stats). The more points, the less you move during a turn.

Character is wearing chain armor* +1 Point
. plate armor* +2 Points
Character is carrying 6 or more different items overall** +1 Point
. 11 or more different items overall** +1 Point
. 16 or more different items overall** +1 Point
. 21 or more different items overall** +1 Point
Character is carrying an oversized item*** +1 Point per item

Hackmaster is on the other side of the spectrum where the GM does full on encumbrance audits (carried out with the seriousness of a tax audit) so careful records are required to avoid punishment :