D&D 5E Simple Encumbrance system (to make Strength matter)?

[Umbran]

I find the slot based inventory in the 5e darker dungeons suppliment (link) to work very well, the biggest problem in my experience is the same as any other house rule... Namely "OMG!!! DDB doesn't support it or any of WotC's own variant rules and muh subscription must limit your game so I'll fight you tooth & nail at every chance I get".

shrug. D&DB doesn't actually support any encumbrance rules, does it? It puts up some text when you are over your limit, but it doesn't change your speed for that. Nor does D&DB support use of encumbrance-reducing items (like a Bag Of Holding).

So, if you are tracking encumbrance, you are very likely having to do so outside the app anyway, so D&DB arguments are null and void.

 

[tetrasodium]

shrug. D&DB doesn't actually support any encumbrance rules, does it? It puts up some text when you are over your limit, but it doesn't change your speed for that. Nor does D&DB support use of encumbrance-reducing items (like a Bag Of Holding).

So, if you are tracking encumbrance, you are very likely having to do so outside the app anyway, so D&DB arguments are null and void.

It will add up the weight of everything you have carried as far as I've been told by players who insist their subscription is of utmost importance

edit:

 

[Umbran]

It will add up the weight of everything you have carried as far as I've been told by players who insist their subscription is of utmost importance

Yes, it will do that.

But, as I said, as soon as they get a Bag of Holding (or honestly, so much as a saddlebag they typically put on a horse and then throw in a room at the Inn), that total will not be meaningful.

 

[tetrasodium]

Yes, it will do that.

But, as I said, as soon as they get a Bag of Holding (or honestly, so much as a saddlebag they typically put on a horse and then throw in a room at the Inn), that total will not be meaningful.

That's only true if you maintain the moving van carrying capacities. The rules I linked earlier do this for those.

It's kinda silly to change encumbrance to matter and not also change the things that make it irrelivant

 

[iserith]

I would suggest that, if you are running a game where you want to incentivize Strength via variant encumbrance rules, then bags of holding and the like are not available. At the same time, it's a good idea in my view to be prepared for the players to want mounts and hirelings in a way that they might not have before. So some rules on that are probably a good call if you go this route. I tend to limit the number of hirelings the PCs can have to their Charisma modifiers and make Recruiting a downtime activity.

Most importantly, I would say that variant encumbrance rules are best used when they speak to the kind of campaign or adventure you're trying to run, one wherein concern over what to take into an adventure location and what to take out is of some importance to the theme of the game. I wouldn't bother with such rules in anything other than dungeon delves, hexcrawls, or other survival situations. If you're running a standard event-based game that I see is so common these days, I would take a pass on encumbrance rules in favor of including more challenges that involve jumping.

 

[Umbran]

That's only true if you maintain the moving van carrying capacities.

I think you misunderstood. I am not arguing against yoru variant. I am sweeping away an argument against your variant.

I am noting that D&D Beyond functionality doesn't even fully support the normal game rules for encumbrance So, "But D&D Beyond doesn't support your house rule!" is a silly argument in this case. Normal rules, or variant rules, I'm tracking it outside of D&D Beyond.

 

[tetrasodium]

I think you misunderstood. I am not arguing against yoru variant. I am sweeping away an argument against your variant.

I am noting that D&D Beyond functionality doesn't even fully support the normal game rules for encumbrance So, "But D&D Beyond doesn't support your house rule!" is a silly argument in this case. Normal rules, or variant rules, I'm tracking it outside of D&D Beyond.

yes, it's a silly argument that I hear all too often about too many things in the phb & dmg listed as variant & optional rules from wotc along with rules changes of my own. People are quick to point out how easy it is to mod 5e to your needs, but ddb manages to shift that "easy" into "needlessly difficult".

 

[Salamandyr]

Try the thing system. You can easily change the thing to stones or encrumbrance points or whatever you wish. It works like this:

You can carry a number of "things" equal to your strength score. Carrying more than that incurs encumbrance penalties. For every increment of 5 over your strength score (rounding up), you lose 5 feet of movement.

One handed weapons are 1 thing
two handed weapons are 2 things
each quiver counts as 1 thing
100 gp are 1 thing
every 4 small items count as 1 thing
1 day of standard ration counts as 1 thing
1 week of iron rations counts as 1 thing
Light armor counts as 2 things
Medium armor 4 things
Heavy armor 6 things
The logic is-if it's something you can carry in one hand, it's 1 thing, if it would require 2 hands, it would qualify as 2 or more things. So other equipment can be extrapolated from there.
Oh, and remember, spellbooks are minimum 2 things.

so you just count up all your item, and adjust from there. If you want to make it a little harder on the little guys-up the number of things for armor, rope, and such that are truly bulky.

 

[DND_Reborn]

I'm looking for feedback from those who've found an encumbrance system they like (the simpler the better!). We play at the table, so having a computer figure encumbrance is not viable. I've looked at slot systems but have no idea in actual play if people find they work.

Ultimately, simple is the goal. I don't want to hold up the game with micromanagement, but on the other hand, I do aim to reward high STR characters by making that STR matter more than just in combat damage. And, I'd like to hammer home more effectively how little an 8-STR character can actually carry before becoming burdened.

Well, I don't know if this is what you are looking for, but is an idea I've had for a while.

You don't write down standard equipment (anything less than 25 gp or so). Instead, you have your player make a check against a DC for how rare the item is. The DC is modified by STR (yep, stronger can carry more stuff).

A small, common item would have a DC 5 (likely to be in the PC's gear), a larger, uncommon or rare item might be DC 15 or higher.

I'm still playing with the idea but maybe it is something you can work with?

 

[Weiley31]

Nah.