The way I see it there are two real issues when it comes to the reality of your backpack: 1) How much can it hold, and 2) How easily you can grab something out of that backpack in the heat of combat. I have had way too many players push the boundaries of what is actually possible in both cases that I’ve had to introduce a house rule when it comes to equipment the first thing that goes into any character’s backpack is a healthy does of reality.
This month Game Knight Reviews wants to know “What’s in *your* backpack?” as part of the August RPG Blog Carnival. I expect we’ll see a lot of posts where people list off their favourite must-have items. Here at Dungeon’s Master we’ve decided to approach the discussion from a slightly different angle.
Storage Capacity
Eventually any adventurer worth his salt acquires a Bag of Holding or some other receptacle with an extra-dimensional space. This was clearly invented for D&D when the first DMs realized that it was going to be physically impossible for heroes to carry all the fantastic loot they discovered while adventuring. Give them a Bag of Holding and the problems and additional recordkeeping that come with encumbrance are eliminated. Magic trumps physics and we move on. But until PCs get a Bag of Holding they have to rely on the more mundane, traditional way of carrying their wares, on their back.
A lot of players like to believe that as long as an item is recorded on their character sheet it’s safely secured in their backpack. For the most part I’m ok with this interpretation. However, there are some exceptions. After all a typical backpack is, at best 2-3 feet long, so any item that is larger than that is not going to fit inside the bag easily. Now for most PCs the only things they’ll have that are bigger than their backpack (and won’t fit inside of it) are weapons and armor. Big weapons are usually strapped on their person somewhere (over their back or at their hip in most cases). Armor is always worn during an adventure and very few PCs will bring back-up armor, especially if it’s metal simply because it’s too big, bulky and expensive.
A disturbing trend I’m seeing a lot more often than I ever used to, are players who feel that they have to spend every gp during character creation that their PC gets at the beginning of play. After purchasing their weapons, armor, holy symbol, spell book or other adventuring necessities, they start going through the equipment list and taking one or more of anything and everything. This isn’t necessarily a bad idea, but that reality that we put in the bag at the outset limits what you can actually get inside the backpack. In a recent adventure a PC claimed that he’d been carrying around three 10-ft poles since the adventure started. This was three levels later. This same character crawled through narrow fissures, and used disguise to pretend to be a town guard. Neither of these tasks would have succeeded if he had three giant poles sticking out of his backpack. Yet it was on his sheet so he stood fast and said he had it.
I’ll admit that I’m not looking to add unnecessary recordkeeping to the game. I don’t really want to worry about encumbrance, but players have to work with me. They need to apply some common sense and limit themselves to things that actually believe they could fit into a real backpack. You may have it written on your character sheet that you have two suits of plate mail but the reality is that this simply doesn’t make sense.
It’s funny because the carrying capacity by weight or volume never seems to be problematic when it comes to treasure. PCs have gold pieces and gems which I agree will fit into any nook and cranny of their backpack. By the time they have enough coins and gems for weight or storage space to become an issue they either spend the coins or convert them to greater denomination. It’s the regular, everyday, mundane items that always seem to cause the most problem in these fantasy games.
Accessibility
Just because you’ve got a knife in your backpack doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll be able to get to it quickly or easily. I realize that during combat no one wants to waste a lot of action taking off their backpack and routing around for that one specific item they need. In fact I’m usually pretty generous and forgiving when this happens. But again I do still apply a healthy does of reality.
I always assume that a standard D&D adventurer’s backpack is full of pockets and compartments. The idea is that the things you’re most likely to need (potions, scrolls, caltrops, a torch, more daggers) will be stored in an easy-to-get-to pouch or pocket. This is a good way to explain why it only takes a minor action to get at these items quickly when you need them most. But we must never forget the all-important dose of reality that’s also in your backpack.
Items that you use often or are likely to need in an emergency are certainly going to be easy to access, but this doesn’t apply to every single item in your inventory. Something has to be at the bottom of the bag, and it’s usually the larger, bulkier things that are not usually needed in the heat of combat. I’m all for players being imaginative and trying to come up with alternative ways to use mundane equipment, but don’t expect that you can retrieve anything and everything with a minor action.
Reality is Boring
Despite my insistence of having a healthy does of reality in your backpack the truth of the matter is that reality is boring. That’s one of the reasons we play fantasy role-playing games in the first place, to experience the incredible and unbelievable. My preference is that players try to be realistic when it comes to what’s in their backpack, but every now and then – as an exception – I will allow them to stow something that they shouldn’t be able to, carry an item that is obviously too heavy, or just look the other way when they want something outrageous. I make this exception because it’s often these things that will add a dose of humour or unexpected inspiration to an otherwise routine encounter. So as much as I want there to be a healthy dose of reality in your backpack, I know that there should still be at least a little bit of room for the fantastic.
What are some of the most outrageous things you’ve tried to carry in a regular backpack? As a DM what have you allowed that you knew was clearly impossible? How do you handle carry capacity in games where the Bag of Holding doesn’t exist or is not readily available? Should players ever have to worry about encumbrance?
Related reading:
- What’s In Your Inventory?
- Six Items Every Adventurer Should Have
- Make Magical Item Identification Harder
- Even Regular Item Can Become an Adventure Hook
View Comments (21)
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1 2 3 Next »One item that I like to carry around is a Nail of Sealing, for locking down doors to limit room access for tactical reasons or to allow an escape without being followed.
The only unwieldy item that I carry around is 7 javelins. I bought them at 1st level and am now an 8th level Warden and have only ever thrown 2. But I just have this vision of being in a scenario where I'm on the other side of a pit from some baddies and I don't want to be stuck without
The last few months we've really messed up a few battles and have escaped TPK by having everyone (but one) climb or throw unconscious allies into our Handy Haversack and then being carried away by an invisible or high-stealth character.
In our group we are very lenient towards storage capacity.
Characters can carry around heaps of unconverted money or have a bag of holding with a large construct, some bottles of wine and a dead paladin.
Great times :-)
@Taed, thanks for Nail of Sealing, I didn't know it existed.
One of the guys in my gaming group picks up all the loot we find: non-magical axes and armour and swords and anything and everything the people we fight might be carry.
Now, I have gone totally reality based for my entry into this. As long as you accept that zombies are something worth planning for that is...
http://shortymonster.co.uk/?p=147
@Taed
We have a lot of fun with the Nail of Sealing. It’s not as good at higher levels because many monsters have pretty high Strength modifiers, but for heroic tier play it’s a must have if you an afford it.
Regarding those thrown weapons that rarely get used, I usually spring for a +1 version (usually a distance weapon to increase the range) and that way I only need to carry around one. As the DM I give these out early to keep the silliness down (“What do you mean I can’t have 12 throwing hammers? They’re all hanging from loops around my belt; that’s believable.”)
I’ve always ruled that the opening for an extra-dimensional space item like the Bag of Holding or the Handy Haversack are not big enough to stuff a person into. Now a Portable Hole is another story all together. This all goes back to descriptions of the items from previous editions. Really it comes down to how generous the DM wants to be. If the PCs can figure out a way to shrink PCs I’d certainly allow them to stuff their allies inside (Pixie Dust comes to mind).
@Tom Coenen
I gave up tracking the encumbrance for money ages ago – way too many headaches. We play primarily in Eberron so I assume the PCs convert their money to paper notes or leave it in the Kunderak banks.
@funkaoshi
We unusually do the same; one guy tracks everything we collect. However, I usually have him indicate which PC is carrying which items; especially if the items are big, fragile or extremely valuable. Once we get a Bag of Holding this problem goes away. However, I have a hard rule that if it’s not recorded somewhere it’s gone. This has led to some heated arguments over the years.
I like the article in theory but in practice I hand wave all that stuff away. It's not that I don't enjoy bean counting but that the brand are the same no matter the character. Fitting items into a backpack is going to be the same problem no matter whose solving it. I couldn't tell you how many characters I've played in the last 17 years of gaming but if I was asked to solve the same backpack tetris problem for each of them, I'd have quit ages ago.
@Valadil
I'm not suggesting that you give inventory any real time or heavy consideration. Your goal is to play D&D (or whatever your game of choice happens to be) and not "Backpack Tetris" as you so accurately put it. I'm just asking for some consideration of the mechanics. I mean, really, three 10-foot poles? It doesn't take too much thought to realize that's not going to work. I guess the real point of my article is that the players shouldn't try to abuse the DM's hand wave when it comes to inventory. Keep it believable and I won't make you waste time with the bean counting.
Actually my rule is that mundane adventuring equipment isn't even recorded, except maybe at 1st level. If it makes sense that they would have brought it, they have it. If it's odd, then I usually roll a d20 as a luck check. Big items like 10' poles and anvils would have to be recorded until they get extradimensional spaces. After that, it makes sense that they carry that. When they get into paragon and epic, I'll even occasionally let them pull out alchemical and low-level magic items.
Part of this is avoiding bookkeeping and part of it is encouraging creative solutions. If they have a plan that involves a spool of thread, a block of wax, twenty three marbles and a crowbar, then I'm going to let them try it.
I liked this article, and I enforce most of it at my table. My players seen to forget they walk around carrying backpacks full of usefull stuff, they think that all itens they have on their character sheets just simply appear in their hands in a magical fashion whenever they need it. I have to remind then that some thing are impossible. Once, they needed to get inside this building where weapons were not allowed, and the people who worked there would search you for weapons and store it safely in a vault. The rogue suddenly had the idea to roll thievery to hide a couple of daggers in his body, and I think that's completely possible and allowed it. Suddenly, the paladin wanted to do the same... with his greatsword. I mean, it dosen't matter if you roll a 20+ result in the thievery check, I'm not allowing you to hide a greatwsord in your clothes or armor, that's impossible. That's just one of the things I remembered right now, but things like this are common with my table, but overall they agree with me when they try doing things and realize they seem too absurd, even for a role-playing game.
> I guess the real point of my article is that the players shouldn’t try to abuse the DM’s hand wave when it comes to inventory.
I'll buy that. Call it a gentlemen's agreement. Don't pack stupid things in your backpack and the GM won't make backpack tetris for a significant portion of the game time. It might not work with an adversarial table, but I aim to run and play collaborative storytelling games anyway.