encumbrance put to the test

[tetramorph]

So, I used to think that PCs carrying untold amounts of equipment and treasure was simply part of the "fantasy" in our "fantastic medieval wargame campaign."

This weekend I went to the Texas Renaissance Festival, which was, by the way, awesome.

I carried:
Around neck:
Astrolabe
Over shoulder:
Backpack
Hanging from my belt:
Broad sword (made of wood, admittedly, but substantially thicker than a blade would be, so, roll with it)
Buckler, steel, medium in size
"Spell book"
All of the normal "modern" contents of my pockets

All under a full cloak. I walked around, up and down, back and forth, all over that fair ground with my adventuring party (wife, sister, 8 and 7 year old kids) and realized that I could have carried a lot more. Sometimes I even carried one of the halflings!

So, maybe carrying around all this adventuring gear is more realistic than I thought!

We had some random monster encounters, but, in the end, we made it back with the treasure: awesome time together with good memories.

Cheers

[Merctime]

Man, that sounds like it was a blast!

You know, I never ever considered the encumbering value of a halfling before

I bet you know what it is now!

[oakesspalding]

That makes sense tetramorph, as under most encumbrance schemes the above as stated seems fairly light. I am of course assuming the astrolabe was not too heavy, as it was hanging from your neck. Indeed under the Zylarthen scheme you would have been able to move quietly or climb a nearly vertical wall (!) If you were a Thief you could even hide in shadows (probably aided by your cloak). One "halfling" might move the category from light to moderate, but that's still fine for fighting and running.

My wife often wears one of our 20 pound younger twins (7 months) on her back while cooking or doing light housework (lighter than a 7-year old, admittedly). Two twins can be carried, one in front and one in back, or even two in the front. A lot of it's about having the proper pack or harness, of course. As you guys may know (and I didn't until a few years ago) there's a whole industry and community about how to comfortably and efficiently wear babies.

According to the SRD, a halfling weighs between 30 and 35 pounds (much less than I would have thought, but it perhaps makes sense). So a strong man could presumably fight while wearing one or even two. Of course, why you would want to wear two halflings (within the game) is another question...

[randyb]

Nov 24, 2014 19:01:59 GMT -6 oakesspalding said:

That makes sense tetramorph, as under most encumbrance schemes the above as stated seems fairly light. I am of course assuming the astrolabe was not too heavy, as it was hanging from your neck. Indeed under the Zylarthen scheme you would have been able to move quietly or climb a nearly vertical wall (!) If you were a Thief you could even hide in shadows (probably aided by your cloak). One "halfling" might move the category from light to moderate, but that's still fine for fighting and running.

My wife often wears one of our 20 pound younger twins (7 months) on her back while cooking or doing light housework (lighter than a 7-year old, admittedly). Two twins can be carried, one in front and one in back, or even two in the front. A lot of it's about having the proper pack or harness, of course. As you guys may know (and I didn't until a few years ago) there's a whole industry and community about how to comfortably and efficiently wear babies.

According to the SRD, a halfling weighs between 30 and 35 pounds (much less than I would have thought, but it perhaps makes sense). So a strong man could presumably fight while wearing one or even two. Of course, why you would want to wear two halflings (within the game) is another question...

Meatshields?

[Merctime]

Muwahahaha.... A devious mind, Sir, a devious mind!

Hmm... I wonder, that is weird enough that one might see such a thing in Carcosa!! Battle-ragers with angry midgets in torso papooses!

[tetramorph]

Meat shield is a possibility. But a bit dark for me.

How about fighting projectiles? Like attack grenades?

I mean, Aragorn did toss Gimli, and he was a fully armored dwarf!

[idrahil]

Oh man. How about like the snow dudes in Lone Wolf? I'll find the pic.

EDIT. Here they are. They went out with their children on their backs.