A Backpack Encumberance
Reading Rothbard & Gazpys really made me put away my āEncumbranceā questions once and for all. Once again, though not systematic in its usage, Rothbard and Gazpusā backpack and toolbelt suggestion is a sensible philosophy for dealing with encumbrance.Ā
No one likes encumbrance. Most Dungeon Masters and Storytellers do not use it. They allow their players any weight to carry and as many items as they want. This is because, in Dungeons & Dragons, encumbrance calculations, even for the math disposed, are too encumbering in and of themselves to justify. Rothbard and Gazpus come to our rescue by the mandatory backpack usage and the suggested toolbelt.Ā
The Backpack is a simple way of tracking encumbrance and having too many items. How much can you fit in your character backpack? Characters are charged with drawing a literal backpack and sorting their things to scale into it or otherwise creating slots for the backpack within the Almanac. Players must DIY their backpack to fit all of their junk and get good at packing it up to fit all of their junk. When there is too much, they chuck it. It is that simple. But is it really? What about the player who hoards junk? How do we know how much things weigh?Ā
These questions highlight that the problem of encumbrance is not really a problem with the mechanic of encumbrance or how much a character can manage to carry; but with jerk players. The rule of simple reason that Gazpus and Rothbard employ gives a physical and simple way of managing supplies - and for those players who want more, they supply the tool belt, which can carry smaller items as necessary. The question of "how much is too much" is a space question, rather than a weight question - and people pushing those barriers is an honest conversation to have with a player, not a feature requiring mechanics.Ā
It IS just a game, the people and their feelings are the important thing; and other players should respect each other enough to respect the fiction.
