Encumbrance and the Move Die

This is my attempt to make encumbrance easy to track, character specific, impactful to gameplay, and tangible to the game-players. I think it ticks all those boxes.

I call it the Move Die.

Are these the creepiest dice you've ever seen? Let me know in the comments!

THE MOVE DIE

Characters have twenty slots for items, just like in Knave. Most things take up one slot, some things take up more, and some things you can bundle together. You can stuff 100 coins into one of those slots! But there's a hard limit. Twenty slots.

Unlike in Knave, you can fill up those twenty slots right from the get-go.

But characters have an Encumbrance Limit. This determines how much they can carry without having to step down their Move Die. If I was playing Knave I'd set Encumbrance Limit to the character's CON defense. For more traditional games I'd make it 10+CON bonus, and have it go up by 1 every even numbered level.

Here's how your Encumbrance Limit determines your Move Die:

• Filled slots up to 1/4 Encumbrance Limit, Move Die = d12

• Filled slots up to half Encumbrance Limit, Move Die = d10

• Filled slots up to 3/4 Encumbrance Limit, Move Die = d8

• Filled slots up to Encumbrance Limit, Move Die = d6

• Filled slots over Encumbrance Limit, Move Die = d4 (as punishment)

 If your Encumbrance Limit doesn't divide easily by four, give yourself extra slots at the higher end of the list while still trying to keep the number of slots for each Move Die even.

So let's say you're a level 5 Fighter with a CON of 16. Your Encumbrance Limit = 10+2+2 = 14.

• 0 to 4 slots filled, = d12

• 5 to 8 slots filled, = d10

• 9 to 11 slots filled, = d8

• 12 to 14 slots filled, = d6

• 15 to 20 slots filled, = d4

Of course this is only half of the magic. It's how you use the Move Die that makes it really sing.

This meme may not be funny, but goddamn if it isn't true.

CARRYING STUFF IS TIRING

You know how in some classic games you have to rest every 6 dungeon turns or the GM starts to sulk? Forget that noise. Now at the end of every dungeon turn in which you have taken an action like searching for hidden doors or deciphering ancient runes or banging the dents out of your helmet, you roll your Move Die. If it comes up a 1, you're too tired to move on. You have to spend the next turn resting. This means more time in the dungeon for resources to deplete and random encounters to happen.

This may make rests a lot more frequent, especially with large groups. I'm personally okay with that - I feel like larger groups should be slower and it balances out the advantages inherent to having a bigger team. If you feel like delves are getting interrupted too much, I like this optional rule: a player can ignore the need to rest by spending 1 HP.

I actually like that rule a lot. I think I'm going to make it official.


DESIGN CHECKLIST

1. Easy to track? Draw hard lines on your inventory sheet between the slots where you'd change Move Die, and write the size of the Move Die next to that line. Unlike with a change in movement speed you don't need to communicate the change to the GM - you just roll the new die.
2. Character specific? Now the hearty adventurer can carry more without it wearing him out as much.
3. Tangible to players? This is the big win in this system. An overloaded player will feel that they are slowing the team down every time they pick up that d4.
4. Gameplay impact? This system adds a sort of push-your-luck mechanic to the interesting question of "what do I bring to the dungeon?" It also becomes a question of how much you can afford to bring. Players are also encouraged to be strategic with their delves, to bring more hirelings and to set up camps where they can leave items until they are needed.

So that's the basics of the Move Die!

"But," I hear you expostulate, "what about about combat movement speed!? You've done naught to address this glaring omission!" Well you could roll the die to see how many 5' squares you can travel in a turn. But I don't play with grids or combat maps. I play theatre-of-the-mind. And the Move Die gives you the ability to do dynamic, tactical theatre-of-the-mind combat really easily.

"How!?" You demand, your thundering voice rattling the crystal goblets carefully displayed in your glass-fronted armoire as the firelight glints like shards of molten steel in your narrowed eyes, "How can your puny dice-based movement system ever lift theatre-of-the-mind combat out of namby-pamby, wishy-washy mediocrity?"

I will show you. But there's quite a lot in it, so it's going to have to be the subject of a whole 'nuther post. Instead I'll leave you with an example of the Move Die in use on a home-made inventory sheet.

Please don't comment on my player's tiny handwriting.