Skip to main content

Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells - Encumbrance Rules

Artwork by Louis Glanzman
Yeah, yeah... I know. Encumbrance is boring. But it can be really important sometimes, and can add dramatic weight to the game if used correctly. Imagine being pursued by a big bad monsters and having to decide between dropping all your cool loot and escape, or keeping it and possible being devoured!

So yeah... Here are the draft rules for Encumbrance for Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells.

Encumbrance


Adventurers need all sorts of equipment and gear, so the temptation of carrying as much items as one physically can is understandable. However, the ability to run when danger approaches and to jump out of incoming fire is a must in the perilous worlds of this Universe. That’s when the Encumbrance rules comes in. Characters carrying too much gear won’t be as fast and those carrying just the essential or those that choose carefully what to take with them.

In game terms, each character has an Encumbrance limit equal to his Physique score. This is the number of items with roughly the size of a medium weapon the character can carry. Most objects are assumed to count as one item for this Encumbrance limit (unless the Overlord rules otherwise). Clothes and armor do not count against this limit, as they already calculate their effect on the user’s movement. Backpack and other items used to carry equipment do not count against the limit too and can increase said limit by a few units also.

When carrying more than his Encumbrance limit but less than twice this number, a character receives a Negative Die to all tests regarding movements, reflexes and strength, while also needing to choose between moving or acting in each round. Their overland speed is halved for all purposes. When carrying more than twice the Encumbrance limit, a character can only move a few meters before having to stop and rest. They can’t take actions in this situation.

Kaylia, Alice’s character was exploring an abandoned derelict in the depths of space and collecting all sorts items stored inside it. She was sure she would make quite a fortune selling them. But suddenly her luck went south. A amorphous creature broke out of the ventilation tubes of the ship and was heading toward her. Since she was carrying 18 items in total, beyond the 13 Encumbrance limit (as her Physique score is 13), she was soon losing ground to the terrible creature. She had no option beyond leaving behind some of the objects she found. Dropping 5 items allowed her to make an Agility test and reach her Starship before the monster could put its tentacles around her neck.

If you like what you've just read, check out my books over RPGNow and Lulu.
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

My RPG Zine Trilogy is on Kickstarter!

 I can't believe I didn't post about it here! The Dead are Coming, Screams Amongst the Stars and Running Out of Time are on Kickstarter right now! These are 3 complete games, made using the system of Electric Bastionland and Mausritter as the basis (and with some modifications to fit my vision for each of them). As with my games, they all come filled with many tools and tables to generate gaming content, adventures, locations, NPCs and much more. They are compact, easy to use, and equipped to provide you with years of entertainment! Here's a brief description of each of the games. The Dead Are Coming The first of them is called The Dead Are Coming, a minimalist, OSR style RPG about survival in a post-apocalyptic world where the dead have risen and other survivors can be much worse than the undead. Characters in this game are common people who have been struggling to survive, find their loved ones, keep them safe and just trying to keep living. They all carry resources like
Read more

How to never describe a dungeon!

Artwork by Luigi Castellani I've heard it a thousand times. You probably heard it too. Some people , I don't know why, say that dungeons , especially large ones, are boring . The endless repetitions of rooms and corridors and having to choose to go left, right, north or south depresses them. I don't know why. Actually, I do know why. Because they don't really know how to run a dungeon in play. It seems easy, effortless. Just say what's in the room the PCs are in and where the passages going out of it go. But it's not. They get bored with the "you get to a intersection and there is a door to the north and two passages, one going east and one going west" because that's a terrible way of describing a dungeon environment and gives nothing really useful to the players to choose from. You never describe a dungeon like that . There's a lot more going on that we can initially see. A good referee will take all the context of what the dungeon w
Read more

Dark Streets & Darker Secrets - Complete Game Text

November was NaGaDeMon (National Game Design Month), and I decided to create an Action Horror RPG using my system (updated with all the modifications of Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells). Inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural, X-Files, The Chilling Tales of Sabrina, Grimm and many more TV Shows, comics and books, I quickly worte Dark Streets & Darker Secrets . It is written in a very direct and simple way, similar to Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells originally was, but with uodated rules and a lot of tools and tables to assist the Referee in creating adventures, NPCs, locations, artifacts, monsters and much more. The book itself will eventually be release in partnership with Gallant Knight Games , but the text is already written and ready to be used, so I am sharing it here with you all! There is no official character sheet yet. I am working on it. But a simple Index Card will work just as well! So here it is:  https://drive.google.com/open?id=1QlFYafvxvJAyk
Read more