Weight and Encumbrance

Changes and extensions to the OSE game rules
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Overview

  • These rules are essentially lifted from the excellent Scarlet Heroes RPG by Kevin Crawford
  • The base assumption is that a character of average PHYS (9-12) can carry 60 pounds while maintaining a normal movement rate. This is the character's Carry Weight
  • This base weight is modified by the character's PHYS modifier. Each bonus or penalty point increases (or reduces) the weight that can be carried by 20 pounds (see Characters for a table)
  • Encumbrance affects how far your character can move outdoors or in tactical situations
  • Pack animals also follow these rules, though their base Carry Weight is defined in their stat block rather than being derived from a PHYS score
  • See Phases, Time and Movement for specific rules of how encumbrance affects movement

Purpose and Use of Encumbrance

  • Characters can carry only so much and part of the game is managing limited resources in the face of unknown dangers
  • It is often better to "travel light" - while heavy armor may seem like an obvious choice, it makes many other things more difficult (like some stunts and movement in combat), slows overland travel considerably and makes escape from danger very difficult
  • Encumbrance intentionally provides characters with a set of choices - to what degree will they balance mobility versus protection versus the weight of treasure

Unencumbered

  • A character or pack animal is Unencumbered as long as it is carrying less than or equal to its Carry Weight
  • A character or pack animal carrying above this value is said to be Encumbered
  • While Unencumbered, the character or pack animal moves at its Unencumbered movement rate

Encumbered

  • A character or pack animal is Encumbered whenever is carrying more than its Carry Weight
  • While Encumbered, the character or pack animal moves at its Encumbered movement rate, which is generally at half of its Unencumbered move rate

Maximum Load

  • A character or pack animal cannot meaningfully carry more than twice its Carry Weight
  • Under certain circumstances, it may be possible to carry more than this value, but movement will be limited to an exhausting stagger

Carts and Wagons

  • Carts and wagons are simple machines that act as force multipliers for those needing to carry heavy burdens
  • Carts and wagons are usually harnessed to pack animals though it is possible for a character to use a dolly, handcart or the like
  • Carts and wagons are of course slower (even when unladen) than their respective pack animals, require at least some kind of road or track to be useful and suffer more from bad weather. Still, these disadvantages may be outweighed by the additional weight a group of pack animals can successfully move over long distances
  • The Referee will decide an appropriate max load for the vehicle, its speed and the number and type animals required to move the load