D&D General weight of equipment

[delph]

Hi, I'm doing my halfling paladin mounted on mastiff. And when I was watching mastiff carrying capacity, I've started looking for weight of halflings. When I compared it with weight of splint armor, than was just "wait a second! wtf is that?" moment. Armor was heavier than person...

I believe UaW (use as written) things are balanced for medium characters. Do you change weight of things for small characters as halflings and gnomes? Or increas for large?

I've change weight of armor, shield, bedroll, cloths around 1/4 down. Thinking about decrease weight of rations and water, but halflings are know they eat and drink a lot.

And increase weight of halfling from 30 lbs to 50 lbs.

 

[Ancalagon]

This (weight of equipment being reduced for smalle characters) is something that was done in prior editions of D&D - 3e at least - so I would consult that for a guide.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I've change weight of armor, shield, bedroll, cloths around 1/4 down. Thinking about decrease weight of rations and water, but halflings are know they eat and drink a lot.

1/4 weight is a good idea for small equipment.

 

[James Gasik]

Really, you have to take any weights D&D gives you with a grain of salt anyways. I really doubt anyone did any hard research on the equipment chapter.

 

[Oofta]

Personally I wouldn't change the weights since there's no penalty for small size characters and what they can carry. Perhaps things should be half weight, but a halfling with a 20 strength doesn't really make sense either.

Basically I don't worry about adjusting anything. If we're talking tiny characters, that's a different story since their carrying capacity is cut in half.

 

[Bayushi_seikuro]

I'm not sure where I had stumbled across, and it's possible I dreamed it up accidentally, but it seems to me that the question of weight of gear/money wasn't just weight but an abstraction of the BULK of the item in question. So, scale may not actually weigh what it's listed as, but the bulkiness is represented as the coin-weight. YMMV

 

[Clint_L]

Personally I wouldn't change the weights since there's no penalty for small size characters and what they can carry. Perhaps things should be half weight, but a halfling with a 20 strength doesn't really make sense either.

Basically I don't worry about adjusting anything. If we're talking tiny characters, that's a different story since their carrying capacity is cut in half.

But...but...that poor imaginary mastiff!

 

[Oofta]

But...but...that poor imaginary mastiff!

If your small character and their equipment weighs more than 195 pounds (see chapter 5 PHB mounts and other animals) you should consider getting a doggy cart which apparently is a thing.

 

[J.Quondam]

If your small character and their equipment weighs more than 195 pounds (see chapter 5 PHB mounts and other animals) you should consider getting a doggy cart which apparently is a thing.

View attachment 281684

That makes me wish I was smol.

 

[kigmatzomat]

Hi, I'm doing my halfling paladin mounted on mastiff. And when I was watching mastiff carrying capacity, I've started looking for weight of halflings. When I compared it with weight of splint armor, than was just "wait a second! wtf is that?" moment. Armor was heavier than person...

I believe UaW (use as written) things are balanced for medium characters. Do you change weight of things for small characters as halflings and gnomes? Or increas for large?

I've change weight of armor, shield, bedroll, cloths around 1/4 down. Thinking about decrease weight of rations and water, but halflings are know they eat and drink a lot.

And increase weight of halfling from 30 lbs to 50 lbs.

Not going to justify any weights in the books but provide some real world context.

A 6ft human weighs around 4-6x of a 3ft halfling. However the 6ft human's clothing weighs only 2-3x as much as the 3ft halfling's clothing. (I am basing this on clothing patterns for children vs adults). This is the difference between surface area and volume. Double the dimensions and the area could go up by 4x but volume goes up 8x.

This would explain why armor doesn't get as light as you would expect.

Weapons have minimal dimensions to survive contact with the other races which sets a floor. (A car antenna is not a good weapon)

 

[W'rkncacnter]

I'm not sure where I had stumbled across, and it's possible I dreamed it up accidentally, but it seems to me that the question of weight of gear/money wasn't just weight but an abstraction of the BULK of the item in question. So, scale may not actually weigh what it's listed as, but the bulkiness is represented as the coin-weight. YMMV

you might be thinking of pf2e's inventory system

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Personally I wouldn't change the weights since there's no penalty for small size characters and what they can carry.

Did... did I make up the rule that Small creatures have 1/2 the "Carry" loads of medium? Is that really not actually in the rules? (If not, then I guess I just assumed because Large creatures get double. It just makes sense.

 

[Tonguez]

the largest known dog weighed 357 lb - which allowing for a carry of 25% weight allows a rider of 90 lbs = two halflings or a 40lb halfling with 50lbs of armor and gear. I wouldnt change the armor weight, halflings have different musculature rhan humans.

We should probably also assume that in a world where riding dogs is common, they are deliberately bred to be larger and stronger to accomodate small characters

 

[Oofta]

Did... did I make up the rule that Small creatures have 1/2 the "Carry" loads of medium? Is that really not actually in the rules? (If not, then I guess I just assumed because Large creatures get double. It just makes sense.

I believe it was a rule in previous editions. In 5E you have to be tiny to get carrying capacity reduced. See PHB > Using Abilities > Strength.

 

[Oofta]

the largest known dog weighed 357 lb - which allowing for a carry of 25% weight allows a rider of 90 lbs = two halflings or a 40lb halfling with 50lbs of armor and gear. I wouldnt change the armor weight, halflings have different musculature rhan humans.

We should probably also assume that in a world where riding dogs is common, they are deliberately bred to be larger and stronger to accomodate small characters

The weight a dog can carry has more to do with where the weight is carried. In horses the rider is primarily supported by their shoulders, not their backs. You would need a special saddle to distribute the weight while riding on a dog, much like they do for elephants. Still not ideal, of course.

On the other hand, it's a game and you're trying to apply real world logic. There are plenty of animals that are ridden in fantasy depictions that could not support the weight long term.