Swords & Wizardry House Rules: Encumbrance

Swords & Wizardry Complete addresses encumbrance in a fairly incomplete fashion (see pages 32-33 of the rulebook). It does not provide any weight values for armor, equipment, or weapons. So calculating encumbrance is not really possible on a by-the-book basis. Thus, I have supplemented the rules with additional information from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

Encumbrance

Swords & Wizardry's encumbrance rules are very generous. They assume that standard adventuring equipment is a mere 10 pounds, excluding armor and weapons (see page 32). I generally stick with this assumption for ease of computation. This is Dungeons & Dragons, not Audits & Accountants; detailed spreadsheets tracking encumbrance are not my idea of fun. So I usually guesstimate. But reasonable people sometimes disagree and it may be necessary to calculate encumbrance with greater precision if, for example, an adventurer is carrying a lot of equipment, or it is necessary to determine how much treasure may be carried away from a large hoard. Here are guidelines for doing so:

• 300 pounds ordinarily is the maximum encumbrance for normal adventurers (see page 32); strength scores of 12 and above permit adventurers to carry more weight (see page 7)
• for purposes of encumbrance, every 10 coins or gemstones is one pound unless exceptional in some regard (see page 32); for armor, equipment, and weapons consult the encumbrance tables below

Armor and Clothing

Type	Weight in Coins	Weight in Pounds
Plate Mail	700	70
Chain Mail	500	50
Ring Mail	400	40
Leather Armor	250	25
Clothes	30	3
Robe or Cloak	25	2.5
Large Shield	100	10
Small Shield	50	5
Helm	45	4.5
Boots, Hard	60	6
Boots, Soft	30	3

Equipment

Item	Weight in Coins	Weight in Pounds
Backpack	20	2
Bedroll	30	3
Bottle or Flagon	60	6
Candle	5	0.5
Flask, Empty	5	0.5
Flask, Full	20	2
Grappling Hook	100	10
Hand Tool	10	1
Lantern	60	6
Mirror	5	0.5
Potion	25	2.5
Rations, Iron	75	7.5
Rations, Standard	200	20
Rod	60	6
Rope, 50 feet	75	7.5
Sack, Large	20	2
Sack, Small	5	0.5
Scroll Case	10	1
Spike or Piton	10	1
Tinderbox (Flint & Steel)	2	0.2
Torch	25	2.5
Waterskin, Empty	5	0.5
Waterskin, Full	50	5

Weapons

Weapon	Weight in Coins	Weight in Pounds
Arrow or Quarrel	2	0.2
Axe, Battle	75	7.5
Axe, Hand	50	5
Bow, Long	100	10
Bow, Short	50	5
Club	30	3
Crossbow, Heavy	80	8
Crossbow, Light	50	5
Dagger	10	1
Javelin	20	2
Mace	75	7.5
Sling Stone	2	0.2
Spear	40	4
Staff	50	5
Sword, Bastard	100	10
Sword, Short	30	3
Sword, Long	60	6
Sword, Two-Handed	250	25
Warhammer	60	6

• the tables are not intended to be comprehensive; for any gear not specified in the preceding tables, formulate a weight in coins and pounds based on the values provided above as necessary
• for reference: plate mail, large shield, longsword, dagger, and standard equipment is 97 pounds with a movement rate of 9; substituting chain mail for plate would result in 77 pounds but the same movement rate