Encumbrance

Encumbrance, a factor of the strength stat (NOT THE BONUS) and body weight, is an expression of how weighed down a character is. Characters can be weighed down by carrying too much gear, including silvers, or wearing armor that requires more advanced levels of armor training. 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 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. An exception to this is standard weight armor which, when worn, does not count toward encumbrance. However, armor accessories do count. Not only is encumbrance a function of body weight and strength, but it can also be modified by non-standard weight armor and spells such as Strength (509) which will increase carrying capacity 15% of the character's body weight.

Carrying Capacity Formula

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 .XX((STR Stat - 20)/200) * body weight] + (body weight/200)

Example I

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 II

The unencumbered carrying capacity of a 360 lb. giantman with a strength stat of 100 is:

((100 - 20)/200)* 360)) + 360/200
(.40 * 360) + 1.8 = 145.8 lbs.

Example III

A halfling with body weight 90 and a strength stat of 50:

((50 - 20)/200)* 90)) + 90/200
(.15 * 90) + .45 = 13.95 lbs.

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.

• You adjust your gear comfortably and feel satisfied that you are not encumbered enough to notice. (no encumbrance)

• Your load is a bit heavy, but you feel confident that the weight is not affecting your actions very much. (>0 to 10%)

• You feel somewhat weighed down, but can still move well, though you realize you are not as quick as you could be. (>10% to 20%)

• You can't quite get comfortable, and are definitely feeling the effects of the weight you are carrying. Lightening your load could help. (>20% to 30%)

• Your shoulders are beginning to sag under the weight of your gear, and your reactions are not very fast. Time to unload, perhaps? (>30% to 40%)

• The weight you are carrying is giving you a backache. Perhaps you should unload some things soon before you actually have to move fast. (>40% to 50%)

• You are beginning to stoop under the load you are carrying, and your reactions are slow. Hope you don't have to dodge anything. (>50% to 65%)

• 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. (>65% to 80%)

• 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. (>80% to 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. (>100%)

Body Weight

Each Race has been designed with minimum and maximum body weights. These min/max limits are functions of the race's base weight, weight factor, Strength stat and Constitution stat. The table below lists each race's weight factor, base weight and maximum weight.

Note: Body weight is an intrinsic characteristic, but will increase with normal strength and constitution stat growth. Str and Con enhancives do NOT increase body weight.

Race Weight Table

RACE	WEIGHT FACTOR	BASE WEIGHT Lbs.	MAXIMUM WEIGHT Lbs.
Burghal Gnome	0.40	40	120
Halfling	0.45	45	136
Forest Gnome	0.48	48	144
Aelotoi	0.68	68	204
Elf	0.70	70	210
Erithian	0.72	72	217
Sylvan	0.72	72	217
Dark Elf	0.78	78	233
Dwarf	0.78	78	233
Half-Elf	0.82	82	247
Human	0.90	90	270
Half-Krolvin	1.00	100	300
Giantman	1.20	120	360

Body Weight Formula

This is the formula that is used to calculate a character's body weight.

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

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.

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., WEIGH my shield), the weight verb ignores any worn or held items including silver, and only measures body weight.

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

RACE	ENCUMBRANCE FACTOR
Burghal Gnome	0.50
Halfling	0.50
Forest Gnome	0.60
Aelotoi	0.75
Elf	0.78
Dwarf	0.80
Sylvan	0.81
Dark Elf	0.84
Erithian	0.85
Half-Elf	0.92
Human	1.00
Half-Krolvin	1.10
Giantman	1.33

Armor Encumbrance Formula

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

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

Example I

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 II

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 III

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.

See Also

• Encumbrance factors (saved post)
• Belt of Kai