Encumbrance

The official GemStone IV encyclopedia.
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Encumbrance, a factor of the strength raw stat (NOT THE BONUS) and body weight, represents how weighed down a character is. Characters can be weighed down by carrying too much gear, including silvers. Encumbered characters are penalized in many ways, especially in physical combat and movements such as standing, climbing and swimming. An encumbered state will cause characters to move slower and suffer from decreased resistance to enemy combat maneuvers/standard maneuver rolls and a penalty to dodge DS.

Unencumbered Carrying Capacity

Unencumbered carrying capacity is the amount of weight a character can carry or wear before reaching an encumbered state. (Silver coins weigh approximately 1/160th of a pound.) An exception to this is armor, which does not count toward encumbrance when worn if the armor has standard weight. However, armor accessories do count. Armor that is lighter or heavier than standard weight will modify the carrying capacity (see below: #Armor and Encumbrance).

The amount of weight that a character can carry before becoming encumbered is primarily a function of body weight and the strength stat. That amount is:

(trunc to 0.XX((STR stat - 20) / 200) * body weight) + (body weight / 200)

Temporary enhancive effects to the Strength change the carrying capacity accordingly, using the enhanced STR stat. This includes spells such as Strength (509) (which gives +15 STR bonus, corresponding to +30 STR stat or 15% of body weight in carrying capacity).

Example 1 - A human, with a body weight of 207 lbs. and a strength stat of 70, has an unencumbered carrying capacity of:
(((70 - 20) / 200) * 207)) + (207 / 200)
(.25 * 207) + 1.03 = 52.78 lbs.
Example 2 - A giantman, with a body weight of 360 lbs. and a strength stat of 100, has an unencumbered carrying capacity of:
(((100 - 20) / 200) * 360) + (360 / 200)
(.40 * 360) + 1.8 = 145.8 lbs.
Example 3 - A halfling, with body weight 90 and a strength stat of 50, has an unencumbered carrying capacity of:
(((50 - 20) / 200) * 90} + {90 / 200}
(.15 * 90) + .45 = 13.95 lbs.

Training Off Encumbrance

Training in the Physical Fitness skill reduces your encumbrance by 1 pound for every 10 skill bonus. For example, someone with 10 ranks (50 skill bonus) will see a 5 lbs reduction.

Encumbrance Messaging

Each message represents a range of encumbrance. Encumbrance is measured as a percentage of a character's body weight. These messages should be used as a general guide. Penalties, due to encumbrance, are often in 1% or 5% increments. To see your character's current level of encumbrance type ENCUMBRANCE in game.

Percentage First
None You adjust your gear comfortably and feel satisfied that you are not encumbered enough to notice.
>0% to 10% Your load is a bit heavy, but you feel confident that the weight is not affecting your actions very much.
>10% - 20% You feel somewhat weighed down, but can still move well, though you realize you are not as quick as you could be.
>20% to 30% You can't quite get comfortable, and are definitely feeling the effects of the weight you are carrying. Lightening your load could help.
>30% to 40% Your shoulders are beginning to sag under the weight of your gear, and your reactions are not very fast. Time to unload, perhaps?
>40% to 50% The weight you are carrying is giving you a backache. Perhaps you should unload some things soon before you actually have to move fast.
>50% to 65% You are beginning to stoop under the load you are carrying, and your reactions are slow. Hope you don't have to dodge anything.
>65% to 80% It is difficult to move quickly at all, and your legs are strained with the effort of carrying all that stuff. You can probably manage to trudge around town, but hunting would be treacherous.
>80% to 100% You find it nearly impossible to make any fast moves, and you ache all over from the load you are trying to haul around. Hope you're in a safe place.
>100% You are so weighed down with junk you can barely move. You might be able to make it to your locker by summoning all your strength and willpower, but surviving much else would not be a good bet.

Body Weight

The body weight of a character depends on the base weight of their race, plus their Strength and Constitution stats scaled by a race-dependent Weight Factor.

Body weight is an intrinsic characteristic, but will increase with normal STR and CON stat growth, up to a potential maximum weight if STR and CON reach 100. STR and CON enhancives do NOT increase body weight.

Using the WEIGHT verb by itself several times and averaging the results will give a body weight value which is within 1 to 2 lbs of the actual weight. Unless an item is specified (i.e., WEIGHT my shield), the verb ignores any worn or held items including silver, and only measures body weight.

Race Weight Table

Body weight is determined by the formula:

Body Weight = Race Base Weight + ((STR stat + CON stat) * Race Weight Factor)

Note: Use only even number STR and CON stats. If the stat is an odd number, subtract 1 from its value. For example, if the STR stat is 89 use 88 (89 - 1) for the calculations. The formula is accurate when both stat values are 50 or greater. If either stat value is less than 50 the character's actual weight will be slightly higher than the formula's calculated weight.

Maximum weight is 3x the race base weight.

Race Weight Factor Base Weight (lbs.) Maximum Weight (lbs.)
Burghal Gnome 0.40 40 120
Halfling 0.4533 45 1/3 136
Forest Gnome 0.4767 47 2/3 143
Aelotoi 0.6767 67 2/3 203
Elf 0.70 70 210
Erithian 0.7233 72 1/3 217
Sylvankind 0.7233 72 1/3 217
Dark Elf 0.7767 77 2/3 233
Dwarf 0.7767 77 2/3 233
Half-Elf 0.8233 82 1/3 247
Human 0.90 90 270
Half-Krolvin 1.00 100 300
Giantman 1.20 120 360

Armor and Encumbrance

There is a standard weight for each Armor Sub-Group. Any armor that has a standard weight will have that weight removed for the purposes of encumbrance calculations while it is worn. Basically, it has a zero net effect on encumbrance.

For non-standard weight armor there will be either a positive or negative effect on encumbrance. Armor that is lighter than normal will increase unencumbered carrying capacity. Conversely, heavier than normal armor will decrease this capacity.

The amount of unencumbered carrying capacity gained or lost from wearing non-standard weight armor is the product of the weight difference and a race encumbrance factor. Race encumbrance factors are NOT the same as the race body weight factors.

Race Encumbrance Table

Table: Armor Encumbrance Factors
Race Armor
Encumbrance Factor
Burghal Gnome 0.50
Halfling 0.50
Forest Gnome 0.60
Aelotoi 0.75
Elf 0.78
Dwarf 0.80
Sylvankind 0.81
Dark Elf 0.84
Erithian 0.85
Half-Elf 0.92
Human 1.00
Half-Krolvin 1.10
Giantman 1.33
Table: Armor Base Weights - edit
AG ASG Name Base
Weight
Cloth 1 Normal Clothing -
2 Robes 8
Soft Leather 5 Light Leather 10
6 Full Leather 13
7 Reinforced Leather 15
8 Double Leather 16
Hard Leather 9 Leather Breastplate 16
10 Cuirbouilli Leather 17
11 Studded Leather 20
12 Brigandine Armor 25
Chain 13 Chain Mail 25
14 Double Chain 25
15 Augmented Chain 26
16 Chain Hauberk 27
Plate 17 Metal Breastplate 23
18 Augmented Plate 25
19 Half Plate 50
20 Full Plate 75

Armor Encumbrance Formula

The formula used to determine the amount of carrying capacity gained or lost due to non-standard weight armor is:

Modified carrying capacity = (standard armor weight - actual armor weight) * (Race encumbrance factor)
Example 1

Human (encumbrance factor 1.00) wearing 60 lb full plate (AsG 20). Standard full plate is 75 lbs.

(75 - 60) * 1.00 = +15 lbs carrying capacity
Example 2

Halfling (encumbrance factor .50) wearing 60 lb half plate (AsG 19). Standard half plate is 50 lbs.

(50 - 60) * .50 = -5 lbs carrying capacity
Example 3

Giantman (encumbrance factor 1.33) wearing 22 lb brigandine armor (AsG 12). Normal brigandine is 25 lbs.

(25 - 22) * 1.33 = +4 lbs carrying capacity

Armor Accessories

Unlike standard armor, armor accessories will add encumbrance when worn. However, many of these accessories are modified by the race encumbrance factors. E.g., a 5 lb. accessory when worn by a halfling will only add 2.5 lbs of encumbrance while that same accessory will add 6.65 lbs of encumbrance to a giantman.

Dodge Defensive Strength and Encumbrance

There is a 1% penalty to dodge DS for each 1% encumbered body weight. This penalty is capped at 100% when a character's encumbered weight equals their body weight. Use the WEIGHT (verb) by itself for a quick estimate of body weight. Accuracy with this method will be approximately +/- 3% of actual weight.

DS Penalty Example

A character with a body weight of 200 lbs. and a defensive stance dodge DS of +100 will sustain a penalty of -1 DS for every 2 lbs. of encumbered weight. With 200 lbs. of encumbered weight, dodge DS will be zero. There is no additional penalty (negative dodge DS) when encumbrance is greater than total body weight.

Note: This penalty only applies to the dodge DS portion of total DS. There is no block or parry encumbrance DS penalty.

Simucoin Store

Appearance: "A Silvery Blue Potion" | "purchase

  • Works for 30 real life days
  • Reduces your net encumbrance by 100 lbs.
  • Purchase Multiple potions to extend this effect by 30 days each
  • Weighed down by too much gear? Do you find your hunts cut short by your inability to carry all your loot and still effectively fight? Help is on the way! This special brew is sure to lift your spirits, along with your gear! Sipping this potion reduces your net encumbrance by 100 lbs for 30 real life days! Buy as many as you'd like and extend this effect by 30 days per sip! Cost as of 2023/02/03: 750sc

    See Also