Encumberance

Notes about Encumbrance raw from my unpublished works:

Determining Encumbrance Points for U5D and White Wolf rule sets: (STR+END)x2=Encumbrance Pts
Example: (STR 3)+(END 3)=6×2=12 encumbrance points
These Pts are the amount of gear that can be carried before penalties are assessed to Combat, Climbing, and Stealth Skills. All gear has an encumbrance point rating.

Maximum Encumbrance:

Max. encumbrance is the total amount that can be carried by the character. It is calculated as (STR+END)x4. This is the total marching weight that can be carried all day (resting 15min every 2-3hrs). STRx80 is the maximum lifting ability and can be carried/dragged for ENDx4 minutes.

Encumbrance Locations:

Maximum “free” points by location, However total encumbrance applies as well. If you only have 4 Encumbrance points then a full "Cops belt" (6pts) is going to penalize you. Even though it doesn't exceed the 6 pt belt location maximum. (*See Penalties)

• Head: 1pt(Helmet is +1)
• Chest: Special
• Back: Special
• Belt: 6pts
• Thigh: 3pts each
• Calf: 1pt each
• Forearm: 1pt each
• Upperarm: 1pt each
• Slung: 5pts*
• Inhand: STRx2

Elbow pads are worn on the Upper arm, Knee pads are worn on the on the Calf.

Encumbrance Penalties:

All Encumbrance penalties are cumulative.

• Exceeding total encumbrance points results in a +1 per 5 points exceeded. ex: 10 total pts, 6pts belt, 9 pts slung, 5 pts In Hand= +2 difficulty ToHit, Climbing, Etc. Exceeding 4pts on Back, +1 per 20pts/lbs.
• More than 1 Slung Item= +1 difficulty per extra item. EXCEPTION: 1 Bandoleer may be (Slung) and 1 may be (Chest) w/o special penalty. ex: a 2pt SMG and a 3 pt bag are both Slung=+1
• Clothing and LBE/Gear only encumbers when carried not when worn (the encumbrance of the +clothes/gear itself, NOT any attached/carried items)
• All armor encumbers when worn and when carried.
• Unless concealable, LBE is the always top layer.
• Carrying a person/animal/item over your shoulders (fireman’s carry) is considered Back location and encumbers 1pt for every 5lbs. HOWEVER, at least one hand is occupied with the load.
• Swimming: ALL Encumbrance pts are counted toward the negative Swimming Modifer +1 for every 10 pts.

Encumbrance Notation:

• Item A, 1; A standard item
• Item C, 1c; A concealable item, standard encumbrance
• Item P, 1p; A pocket item, .1 lbs encumbrance, number is for pocket encumbrance (see below)

Pocket Encumbrance:

Clothes have pockets, and keeping things in them takes no appreciable tool on your character. While carrying a gun or knife or ammo in your pocket can be encumbering, Pocket items have virtually no encumbrance, but they do take up space, filling the capacity of the pocket equal to their encumbrance. ex. Car keys, .5p, Wallet 1p. All Pocket items are Concealable. A pocket item can be attached to LBE/Gear, taking up slots but not weight. A pocket and LBE can have the same location, BUT the LBE will block the swift retrieval of the pocket item (2 actions to retrieve/draw). Belts do not block pockets.

Only one LBE item may be worn in a location (1 helmet, 1 thigh holster, etc) with the following exceptions:

• Chest; Bandoleers can be combined with any chest LBE; Shoulder/Chest Holsters may be combined with Suspenders.
• Back; A Buttpack may be worn with a knapsack but NOT a framepack.
• Belt; Two (2) belts may be worn without additional penalty, a third belt means that Belt 1’s items are no longer accessible:

Belt Locations:

The six points of belt carry reflect the 6 major spaces that things can be carried on a belt. Front Left, Front Right, Left Hip, Right Hip, Back Left, Back Right. This rule is completely optional, but again it can help you visualize things better.

Chest Locations:

Lode Bearing Equipment, Vests and Body Armor determine chest locations. Generally the number of points is equal to the number of spaces. A Shoulder Holster has 2 points of carrying capacity, Left and Right. Load Bearing Vests have up to 9 points arranged however you’d like. Remember that the encumbrance of armor counts against this location as well as the gear hung off the armor.

Back Location:

While 6pts may be directly attached without additional penalty (by armor or a vest for example), Backpacks and knapsacks are special cases. A framed backpack can carry its rating in encumbrance, but only encumbers 1pt for every 5pts loaded. Knapsacks encumber 1pt for every 3 loaded. Encumbrance past the 6pt area max encumbers at +1 for every 20 lbs/pts (double what every other location is). The downside is that everything stored in backpacks is unavailable until the pack is removed and dug through. It generally takes 1d4 rounds to find what you want in a knapsack, 1d6 in a backpack, and 1d10 in a Large Backpack.
The above rules on total encumbrance and exceeding location encumbrance apply.