Hello friends! Recently I ran a twitter poll asking if folks would want to buy playtesting rules for The Sunfall Cycle before they're final- about 35% of folks are interested, but I got the suggestion to instead just publish them on my blog, and then sell them when they ARE final!
So... without further ado... Here we are:
(There are some easy examples at the bottom!)
Slot-Based Equipment and Encumbrance for 5th Edition
Dungeons & Dragons
5e’s standard rules for Encumbrance are based on calculating
your maximum carrying weight, and then adding up the weights of all the items
you have equipped or are carrying- which could be dozens of individual items.
That’s a lot of math.
I wanted a 5e compatible system that:
- Doesn’t ask me to do math;
- Reduces the number of items I have to think about down to ~5-10,
MAX;
- Simplifies Ammo and Resource tracking;
-and-
- Adds meaning to the choices I made when I decided what to
bring with me.
I give you… [NAME REDACTED].
Encumbrance At a Glance
Item Size
Items have a size attribute that determines how they fit
into slots. The general rule is:
- Anything the size of your forearm or larger is Large, and
occupies one slot.
- Anything smaller than your forearm is Small, and fits
three-to-a-slot.
- Anything smaller than your fist is Trivial, and doesn’t
count against slots.
There’s one main exception, which is that “a set of weapons”
(Longsword and Shield, two Shortswords, a Bow and its Arrows, etc) always fits
into one slot.
Carrying Slots
You have about 4-7 “carrying slots” total, depending on your
Strength. You can equip whatever
fictionally makes sense, but when you’re carrying an item, it has to go in a
slot. They are:
- Equipment Slot 1
- Equipment Slot 2
- Equipment Slot 3
- Belt Slot
- May only carry Small or Trivial items, like Healing Potions
- Can be accessed immediately in combat
- Back Slot
- May carry a Backpack, which has STR+1 slots, with a minimum
of at least 2, and a maximum of 6.
- If you carry more than STR+1 (min 2) slots filled, you have
disadvantage on your rolls.
- Requires an action to access a stowed item in combat
- (Optional) Class Slot
- Carries class-required items for free; like a Bard’s
instrument, or a Wizard’s spellbook.
- Can be accessed immediately in combat
Thrown weapons, Ammo, Light Sources
If you’re carrying one slot’s worth of Ammo (eg, a bow and
its arrows), Thrown weapons (eg, Handaxes), or Light Sources, then after every
encounter (for ammo), use (for thrown weapons), or 10 minutes (for light
sources) you make a test. Roll 1d6: on a
1-2, you’re running low and have only one use left. If you’re carrying two slots’ worth of Ammo,
Thrown weapons, or Light Sources, you’ll never run out under normal use. When you buy ammunition, thrown weapons, or
light sources as listed in the Player’s Handbook, rather than buying a set
number, you’re buying “one slot’s worth.”
Equipment Kits
Equipment kits are bundles of items. You can use a normal equipment kit a number
of times equal to your proficiency bonus.
When you mark off one use of an equipment kit, you produce an item from
the kit’s item list; you had it with you all along. Treat this new item as is fictionally
appropriate; rations may be consumed, a rope might or might not get stuck
depending on a skill check, etc. If you
want to bring the item with you, put it in a slot!
Carrying Slots
If you’re fan of video games, you might be familiar with the
idea of inserting items into slots on a “paper doll” of your character, to
equip them. THESE slots, however, aren’t
“equipped slots”- they’re “carrying slots.”
These slots limit what you can carry- not what you can wear or
equip. Fill ‘em all, and then you’re
done! That’s it! If you carry any more, you’re at disadvantage
on everything until you unburden yourself.
You can equip whatever fits in the fiction; if you’re
holding your sword, you have it equipped.
If you have two rings, a necklace, and a magical cloak on, they’re
equipped. If you have fourteen bracelets
on your left arm and your DM doesn’t bat an eye? They’re equipped, and you don’t need to account
for them in your carrying slots.
But… if you’re already carrying: a Longsword, a Bow and its
Arrows, a belt full of Healing Potions, a Holy Symbol, and a Backpack
containing a Climbing Kit, a Medical Kit, and Torches- AND you want to carry
that golden idol you found? Better
shuffle some things around, or hope you’re fairly strong!
The Slots, In Detail
You have the following character slots, and- depending on
your class- might have access to a special Class Slot.
Generally, any slot can be filled with anything, with one
exception- a Backpack can only be worn in the Back Slot. Below you’ll see a list of each of the slots,
and a suggestion for how to fill them- but you can feel free to be creative!
Equipment Slot 1
- Quick build: Put your first weapon set here, such as your
Javelins, or your Bow and Arrows!
Equipment Slot 2
- Quick build: Put a second weapon set here, such as your
Longsword and Shield, or two Shortswords!
Equipment Slot 3
- Quick build: Put a second weapon set here, such as your Longsword and Shield, or two Shortswords!
Belt Slot (Quick Slot)
- Quick build: Put three small items you want instant
in-combat access to here!
- Three vials of poison; Three scrolls; A healing potion, a
portable hole, and a component pouch, etc.
- Items in your belt are freely accessible during combat, and
don’t take an action to retrieve.
Back Slot (Backpack Slot)
- Quick build: Put a backpack here!
- If you put something here that’s not a backpack, it’s freely
accessible during combat.
Bag Slots (Inside Backpack): 1+STR, Min 2
- Items inside your Backpack are Stowed, and must be retrieved
before they can be used.
- In combat, it costs an Action to retrieve an item from your
Backpack, or to Stow it back.
- Make smart use of your Belt Slot for in-combat items like
potions and scrolls!
- A Backpack gives you a number of additional slots equal to 1
+ your Strength modifier, but a minimum of 2 slots.
- Rune Diggler has a Strength of 7, with a mod of -2. His backpack gives him 2 additional slots
(because a backpack gives a minimum of 2 slots).
- Brother Brad Incognito has a strength of 16, with a mod of
+3. His backpack gives him 4 additional
slots (because his Strength modifier is 3… plus 1 for the backpack).
- If you go over this number, you are Encumbered, and have
Disadvantage on everything you do; a Backpack provides a maximum of 6 slots
total.
Class Slot (Optional, depending on Class)
- A “free slot” which can contain one class-required item
while it’s not in use, such as:
- Bard: one musical instrument
- Cleric or Paladin: one holy symbol
- Druid: one druidic focus
- Sorcerer, Warlock, or Wizard: one arcane focus, component
pouch, or a wizard’s spellbook
- DM’s, be a little forgiving with this one. Any one thing that a character MUST HAVE to
do their class thing? That class can put
that thing here, by virtue of their class training.
- Items in your class slot are freely accessible, and do not
take an action to retrieve. You have
learned to keep these items close at hand!
What fits into a slot?
Remember! Generally
speaking, if it’s forearm-or-bigger, it’s Large: one slot. Smaller, it’s Small: three-to-a-slot! Smaller than your fist, it’s Trivial: free.
- A longsword? 10’
pole? Takes one slot.
- Healing potions?
Magical Scrolls? A book? Three to a slot.
- Rings?
Bracelets? Gems? Gold coins?
Free.
Here are some specific exceptions and clarifications on the
general rule. Each of the following can
fit into one slot:
- One usable weapon set.
Any of the following options takes up one slot:
- A single one-handed or Versatile melee weapon and a Shield
- A Two-Handed melee weapon
- Any two melee weapons, if both have the Light tag (ie, two
Shortswords!)
- A single Ranged weapon and a bundle of its ammunition
- See below, under Thrown Weapons, Ammo, Light
- A handful of Thrown weapons
- See below, under Thrown Weapons, Ammo, Light
- A full set of clothes, or a full suit of armor
- If it’s carried, rather than equipped! Remember, these are Carrying Slots.
- An Equipment Kit
- See below, under Equipment Kits
- A Quiver of Ammo or a handful of Thrown weapons
- See below, under Thrown Weapons, Ammo, Light
- A Bundle of Torches, or a Flask of Oil
- See below, under Thrown Weapons, Ammo, Light
- A sizable Treasure
- A priceless Vase
- A jade statue
- A masterwork painting, etc
And of course, some things don’t take up slots at all. They’re free!
- Coins and Gems
- Nobody wants to count coins and gems. These go into your Wallet, into a magical
mystery place that can hold an infinite amount of Coins and Gems.
- Finding a gold statue with engravings of supplicating
dwarves and angry elephants?
Awesome. Finding 5
sapphires? Awesomer.
- Small Jewelry
- Rings, Necklaces, Bracelets, etc
- Small flavor items from Backgrounds, such as:
- A prayer book or prayer wheel
- A lock of hair from an admirer
- A letter of introduction from your guild
- A scroll of pedigree
- A trophy from an animal you killed
- Etc.
Equipment and Resources
Thrown weapons, Ammo, Light Sources
Thrown Weapons, Ammo, and Light Sources have Use Intervals
as follows:
- Thrown Weapons Use Interval: Per Use
- Ammo Use Interval: Per Encounter
- Torch Use Interval: Per 10 Minutes
- Lantern Use Interval: Per 20 Minutes
Two Slots
If you have filled two carrying slots with the same Thrown
Weapon, Ammo, or Light Source, then you effectively have an infinite amount of
this resource for normal use. If you use
these items in a special, unusual, creative, or highly consuming way, you roll
a 1d6; on a 1 or 2, you emptied one of your slots, and must start tracking your
use as indicated below.
Example: Torches
Rune Diggler brought two slots worth of Torches, and will
never run out of torches to light his way.
He wants to burn down a big oak door, so he lights a handful of them and
sticks them at the base. The door
catches a merry blaze, and Rune rolls 1d6 to see if he needs to empty one of
his slots; he gets lucky, rolling a 6!
He’s got plenty of torches left.
One Slot
If you’ve only brought one slot of Ammo, Thrown Weapons, or
a Light Source, then the following rules apply:
- Your first “use interval” of this resource is free. Don’t test.
- At the end of your second and subsequent Use Intervals, roll
1d6. On a 1-2, you’re Low: you have
enough of this resource for one more Use Interval.
- When you spend that final Use Interval, you run out.
Thrown weapons are special; if you’ve run out, you can use
an action to pick one up. At the end of
the encounter, you recover all of your thrown weapons, and start fresh in the
following encounter.
With this, you never track individual items; you always have
at minimum 3 use intervals with you, on average you’ll get 5 use intervals, and
if you’re lucky, much more.
Example: Ammo
Dess Lackle Morny Ny brought a Shortbow and its Arrows-
effectively, she has one slot of ammo.
She fights some orcs, shooting them all.
This is her first Use Interval for her arrows, so she does not
test. She then later shoots some goblins
across a bridge; at the end of this encounter, she rolls a 1d6 to see if she’s
running low. She rolls a 5; she’s
fine. At the end of her third encounter,
slaying some cursed wolves, she tests again, rolling a 2; she knows she has
enough arrows left for only one more fight.
If she’d brought a second slot of Arrows, she wouldn’t have to track it
at all.
Example: Thrown Weapons
Rat likes throwing daggers.
She’s fighting with her friend against some Orcs. She throws one dagger, which is her first Use
Interval, so she doesn’t test. After
throwing her second dagger, she tests to see if she’s running low: bad luck,
she rolled a 1. She has one dagger
left. She throws it, and on the next
turn she ducks down behind a barrel to pick up one of the daggers she threw
earlier.
At the end of the fight, she grabs all of her thrown daggers
and stuffs them back in her bandolier, ready to tackle the goblins. Of course, if she brought a second slot of
daggers, she wouldn’t need to worry about it.
Example: Torches
Rune Diggler brought one slot’s worth of Torches. He lights one, and begins tracking. He gets 10 minutes of light for free. At the end of the second 10 minutes, he tests
to see if his torch is running low, rolling a 3. He’s fine for now. He keeps going, getting lucky- at the end of
50 minutes, he tests, rolling a 2. He
knows he’ll be out of light at the end of the next 10 minute segment; but then,
60 minutes of light from a torch is pretty good. If he wanted, he could bring a second slot of
Torches and not worry about it at all.
Food and Drink
Food, drink, and other pleasantries can be produced from
certain Equipment Kits, below.
Generally speaking, adventurers are highly capable; they can
forage, scrounge, or hunt for what they need, and we don’t track their food or
water intake. However, at certain
moments, a little luxury can make all the difference.
When you take a short or long rest, you may consume rations,
drink water, wine or ale, or share a relaxing pipe together. These items are spent and marked off, and
confer the following benefits:
- Rations: If you share rations over a short rest, anyone who
spent hit dice to heal may reroll the amount healed and take the higher of the
two rolls.
- Drink: If you share water, wine, or ale over a short or long
rest, everyone may gain temporary hit points equal to their level.
- Pipe tobacco, fine liquor, luxuries: If you share pipe
tobacco, fine liquor, or other luxuries over a short or long rest, each of you
may tell a short tale from your past. If
you do, you gain inspiration.
Sharing any of these with folk who enjoy them confers an
advantage on social interactions.
Equipment Kits
When you buy an Equipment Kit, you are preparing yourself
for your journey ahead, by guaranteeing you can do a certain activity. An Equipment Kit is a bundle of items and
takes up one slot.
A Normal Equipment Kit can be used a number of times equal
to your proficiency bonus.
Each Equipment Kit has an associated list of items. Each time you use an Equipment Kit, you can
pull forth a single item on its list of items; you had it with you all along,
and can use it now.
Arcanist’s Kit
Normal: 25gp
+2 Uses: 50gp
- One use of the Arcanist’s kit allows you to pull out any one
of these items:
- Candles (5) (and Tinderbox)
- Chalk
- Hammer
- Manacles
- Mirror, Steel
- Needle, Silver
- Spikes, Iron (10)
- Stakes, Wood (3)
- Vial
Criminal’s Kit
Normal: 25gp
+2 Uses: 50gp
One use of the Criminal’s Kit allows you to pull out any one
of these items:
- Ball Bearings (Bag of 1,000)
- Bell
- Caltrops (bag of 20)
- Crowbar
- Fishing tackle
- Hammer, Sledge
- Mirror, Steel
- Signal Whistle
- String (10 feet)
Dungeoneer’s Kit
Normal: 25gp
+2 Uses: 50gp
One use of the Dungeoneer’s Kit allows you to pull out any
one of these items:
- Block and Tackle
- Chain (10 feet)
- Grappling Hook
- Hammer
- Pick (Miner’s) or Shovel
- Pitons (10)
- Pole (10-foot)
- Rations to share
- Rope, Hemp (50 feet)
Entertainer’s Kit
Normal: 25gp
+2 Uses: 50gp
One use of the Entertainer’s Kit allows you to pull out any
one of these items:
- Blanket
- Cards or Dice
- Clothes: Common, Costume, or Traveler’s
- Flasks or Tankards (6)
- Jug or pitcher of ale or wine
- Rations to share
- Pipe and tobacco to share
- Waterskin
Explorer’s Kit
Normal: 25gp
+2 Uses: 50gp
One use of the Explorer’s Kit allows you to pull out any one
of these items:
- Bedroll
- Hammer
- Hunting Trap
- Rations to share
- Rope, Hemp (50 Feet)
- Spikes, Iron (10)
- Tent, Two-Person
- Waterskin
Scribe’s Kit
Normal: 25gp
+2 Uses: 50gp
One use of the Scribe’s Kit allows you to pull out any one
of these items:
- Abacus
- Candles (5) (and Tinderbox)
- Case, Map or Scroll
- Ink (1 ounce bottle) and Ink Pen
- Paper (5 sheets)
- Perfume (vial)
- Sealing Wax (and Tinderbox)
- Signet Ring
Some Examples In Action:
Armaros
Armaros, a human fighter, has a strength of 18 (+4). His equipment list looks like this:
He has:
- Armor: wearing his Chain Mail armor- this doesn't count against his carrying slots, because he has it equipped and is wearing it!
- Equipment Slot 1: A longsword and shield
- Equipment Slot 2: a Light Crossbow and its Bolts
- Note that Armaros doesn't have a second set of Bolts! Each encounter, he will have to test to see if he's running low... or just buy a quiver of bolts.
- Equipment Slot 3: Empty
- Belt Slots: All empty, are flagged with a reminder that they can only fit **Small** items
- Back Slot: He has a Bag, which has a capacity of 5 slots (Strength bonus of +4, plus 1), and a maximum of 6: 5/6
- Bag Slot 1: A Go set
- Bag Slot 2: Common Clothes
- Bag Slot 3: A Dungeoneer's Kit with two uses
- Bag Slot 4: Empty
- Bag Slot 5: Empty
- Bag Slot 6: Empty, but if he fills it, he'll be Encumbered, and have disadvantage on all rolls
- Trivial Items:
- An Insignia of Rank, and an Ear from an Enemy.
Armaros, being a Fighter, doesn't have a need for a Class slot, so he doesn't have one.
Armaros, being very strong, has lots of extra room for carrying more gear if he wants.
Let's see a different example:
Enkara
Enkara, a wood elf druid, has a strength of 8 (-1). Her equipment list looks like this:
Just to go over the key differences:
- Enkara has a Class slot, because she has a Druidic Focus!
- Enkara uses a Shortbow and Arrows, and doesn't want to ever run out of Arrows, so she's filled her Equipment Slot 3 with A Quiver of Arrows
- Enkara has a strength of 8, so her Bag only offers her 2 slots (Strength Mod + 1 = 0, but a minimum of 2 slots- so she gets 2)
- Notice that, in contrast to Armaros, Enkara is full up; she can't carry anything else major without either dropping something, or becoming encumbered.
What are your thoughts? Please feel free to try this out at your tables, and tell me how it goes!
FAQ:
- How would a bag of holding work in this system??
- This is the most common question I get! The answer is, like this:
- A Bag of Holding costs 1 slot. It contains 10 slots! However, it costs 1dX actions to pull out the item you want, (where X is the number of items in the bag).
- Basically, it lets you carry WAY more than you would normally be able to, but it's not convenient to access!
