've found normal encumbrance systems to be either ignored or so vague as to not help the story or the character. I wanted to create a system that helps a player develop a better feel for how their character is hauling gear, and a tool for GMs to interact with characters and their circumstances. These ideas are rooted in the ways that people carry stuff in the real world, but are not strict in their realism.
My solution is a point system that accounts for how you are carrying your stuff. This allows for details that help solidify the character in the player's mind. It better reflects reality, where you can usually carry and move with a certain amount of stuff and if you add more things get bad, but you don't improve with you are carrying nothing. These points are the amount of gear that can be carried before penalties are assessed to Combat, Climbing, and Stealth Skills. All gear has an encumbrance point rating.
Max. encumbrance is the total amount that can be carried by the character. It is calculated as as a combination of Strength and Endurance(...) This is the total marching weight that can be carried all day (resting 15min every 2-3hrs). I considered a system of Light, Medium or Heavy encumbrance and found it lacking. It seems to be that there is more nuance then that. You might not be carrying a lot of weight, but having a bunch of bags slung over your shoulders is going to make moving, fighting and doing active stuff difficult.
Maximum “free” points by location, However total encumbrance applies. If you only have 4 Encumbrance pts then a full Cops belt (6pts) is going to penalize you. Even though it doesn't exceed the 6 pt belt maximum. Only one LBE item may be worn in a location (1 helmet, 1 thigh holster, etc) with the following exceptions:
The six points of belt carry reflect the 6 major spaces that things can be carried on a belt. Front Left, Front Right, Left Hip, Right Hip, Back Left, Back Right. This rule is completely optional, but again it can help you visualize things better.
Load Bearing Equipment, Vests and Body Armor determine chest locations. Generally the number of points is equal to the number of spaces. A Shoulder Holster has 2 points of carrying capacity, Left and Right. Load Bearing Vests have up to 9 points arranged however you’d like. Remember that the encumbrance of armor counts against this location as well as the gear hung off the armor.
While 6pts may be directly attached without additional penalty (by armor or a vest for example), Backpacks and knapsacks are special cases. A framed backpack can carry its rating in encumbrance, but only encumbers 1pt for every 5pts loaded. Knapsacks (a backpack without a frame) encumber 1pt for every 3 loaded. Encumbrance past the 6pt area max encumbers at +1 for every 20 lbs/pts (double what every other location is). The downside is that everything stored in backpacks is unavailable until the pack is removed and dug through. It generally takes 1d4 rounds to find what you want in a knapsack, 1d6 in a backpack, and 1d10 in a Large Backpack. The above rules on total encumbrance and exceeding location encumbrance apply.
This is a list of the locations and their maximum encumbrance capacity for humans. Not all of these slots should be filled. For larger then normal humanoids like Orcs, belts might have 8 "Slots" for stuff as opposed to 6. For Halfling or Goblin sized humanoids a belt might only carry 4 points and limbs max out at one point per limb. Giants and giant robots shouldn't use this chart as anything more then inspiration on how to carry stuff. Generally the theory is these creatures will have their encumbrance modified by their total strength and endurance enough that the variations in location maximums is less of an issue. Obviously discussion and common sense should be used to iron out any questions. (*See the Penalties section)
Elbow pads are worn on the Upper arm, Knee pads are worn on the on the Calf. All penalties are cumulative.
All Encumbrance penalties are cumulative. Exceeding total encumbrance points results in a -1 to hit and a 10% penalty to active skills per 5 points exceeded. Some more specific encumbrance penalties are below.
Encumbrance Notation:
Clothes have pockets, and keeping things in them takes no appreciable tool on your character. While carrying a gun or knife or ammo in your pocket can be encumbering, Pocket items have virtually no encumbrance, but they do take up space, filling the capacity of the pocket equal to their encumbrance. ex. Car keys, .5p, Wallet 1p. All Pocket items are Concealable. A pocket item can be attached to LBE/Gear, taking up slots but not weight. A pocket and LBE can have the same location, BUT the LBE will block the swift retrieval of the pocket item (2 actions to retrieve/draw). Belts do not block pockets.
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