Encumbrance

Encumbrance defines the carrying capacity of a character and the consequences of being over-burdened.

A character's gear is any asset they wear or carry on their person. As with other assets, individual gear should be significant to the narrative and relevant to supporting a character's actions. By default, mundane personal items like a character's basic clothing and pocket items can be ignored.

Characters can only wear or carry so many gear items at any point in time without suffering consequences from becoming overburdened. These practical constraints are determined by size and capacity.

Size

Size from the perspective of wearing or carrying an item involves a few considerations. These include weight, shape and dimensions, and overall portability. A form-fitting piece of body armor is relatively easy to wear when compared to a lighter item that may be bulky and difficult to carry.

To keep things simple, items are divided into only two sizes, small and large.

SMALL: Items that are lightweight and easily worn or carried. Small items should be carried in a way that is easily accessible such as being carried in a single hand or stored in a small container like a pocket, belt pouch, scabbard, or holster.

LARGE: Items that are heavy or bulky enough to reduce the mobility of a character, and must be carried with two hands, slung over the torso, or carried in a large pack.

TOOLKITS

Toolkits are a collection of related small items combined for a single purpose that are impractical to track and manage individually. For example, a Botanist might require a variety of vials, reagents, and other tools or materials for the collection and testing of samples. A player can define a Botanist's Kit to include all the relevant items as a single gear item. Toolkits can be small or large - use common sense.

Capacity

Gear slots measure how much a character can carry and determine their encumbrance level. A small item takes up 1 gear slot, and heavier items require 2 slots.

A character's encumbrance level is roughly determined by the total number of slots taken up by their gear.

SLOTS	ENCUMBRANCE	DESCRIPTION
5	Light	A character's general mobility and stamina are unimpaired.
8	Moderate	The character's mobility is slightly impaired, and their stamina is partially reduced due to the extra physical exertion required to carry their load.
12	Heavy	The character's mobility is significantly impaired, and their stamina is considerably reduced. Any extra physical activity other than normal movement will almost immediately produce a level of fatigue.

The above numbers are not hard limits and should be considered general guidance provided to help assist in the narrative.

EXTRA CAPACITY

If a character has an asset that represents enhanced physical fitness or strength, for each dice rating step of the asset above Common (D4), they gain an extra 2 gear slots.

Consequences

Following the general rules for determining consequences, when a character's encumbrance becomes narratively significant relative to their situation, the host can impose a consequence by requiring the player to add an encumbrance bane to the performance conditions of a character.