Carrying especially heavy or unwieldy items can make it more difficult for you to move, as can overloading yourself with too much gear. The Bulk value of an item reflects how difficult the item is to handle, representing its size, weight, and General awkwardness. If you have a high Strength modifier, you usually don’t need to worry about Bulk unless you’re carrying numerous substantial items.

Bulk Limits

You can carry an amount of Bulk equal to 5 plus your Strength modifier without penalty; if you carry more, you gain the encumbered Condition. You can’t hold or carry more Bulk than 10 plus your Strength modifier.

Encumbered

You are carrying more weight than you can manage. While you’re encumbered, you’re clumsy 1 and take a –10-foot penalty to all your Speeds. As with all Penalties to your Speed, this can’t reduce your Speed below 5 feet.

Bulk Values

Items can have a number to indicate their Bulk value, or they can be light (indicated by an L) or negligible (indicated by a —) for the purpose of determining Bulk. For instance, Full Plate armor is 4 Bulk, a Longsword is 1 Bulk, a Dagger or Scroll is light, and a piece of chalk is negligible. Ten light items count as 1 Bulk, and you round down fractions (so 9 light items count as 0 Bulk, and 11 light items count as 1 Bulk). Items of negligible Bulk don’t count toward Bulk unless you try to carry vast numbers of them, as determined by the GM.

Estimating an Item’s Bulk

Generally, an item that weighs 5 to 10 pounds is 1 Bulk, an item weighing less than a few ounces is negligible, and anything in between is light. Particularly unwieldy items might have higher Bulk values. For example, a 10-foot pole isn’t heavy, but its length makes it awkward to manage, so its Bulk is 1. Items made for larger or smaller creatures have greater or lesser Bulk.

Bulk of Coins

Coins are a popular means of exchange due to their portability, but they can still add up. A thousand coins of any denomination or Combination of denominations count as 1 Bulk. It’s not usually necessary to determine the Bulk of coins in fractions of 1,000; simply round down fractions of 1,000. In other words, 100 coins don’t count as a light item, and 1,999 coins are 1 Bulk, not 2.

Bulk of Creatures

You might need to know the Bulk of a creature, especially if you need to carry someone. This table lists the typical Bulk of a creature, but the GM might adjust this number.

Dragging

In some situations, you might drag an object or creature rather than carry it. If you’re dragging something, treat its Bulk as half. Typically, you can drag one thing at a time, you must use both hands to do so, and you drag slowly—roughly 50 feet per minute. Use the total Bulk of what you’re dragging, for instance, if you’re dragging a sack filled with treasure, total the Bulk of everything inside.