Carrying Gear

Hey,

On page 35, under the heading Can Only Carry So Much, Luke says that a mouse can only carry gear that can be written in the Gear space on the character sheet.

Since there are no “slots” to fill in, a player could write really small and carry more stuff than other characters. The poor player that writes big might only carry 3 or 4 things.

Anyway, I’m wondering if any of you have a better system? Maybe a number of items equal to your character’s Health rating? Bad idea?

Ooo, I have a health of 3! I’m carrying a Sword, a Badger and a Deciduous Forest.

(sorry, couldn’t resist)

If you are having problems with players being abusive about gear, I think a better approach would simply be to talk a little bit more expansively about the intent behind the rule:

“Hey, this isn’t a game about managing detailed lists of gear for all possible circumstance. Instead, note down things you have that make your character notable: your dead mentor’s sword with the compass in the stock, your pole lantern, your pipe and pipeweed. For the mundane stuff like rope and torches, and bedding? We’ll either assume you have it, or make a resources roll to see if you remembered to bring it, if there is any question.”

That’s my opinion any way.

You know what, that’s perfect. Thanks.

From what I can tell from reading the comic, mice don’t make use of a lot of gear when traveling, relying on their skills and mousiness to make up for the stuff they can’t carry. Unless it’s gear that can be used in conflicts–which is what really matters–I wouldn’t sweat what the players are writing on their sheets.

Of course, there’s always the unwritten rule of any of Luke’s games, “Don’t be a dick,” which might come into play here, too.

Stored in small magic spheres, obviously. “Deciduous Forest, I choose you!”

Seriously though, people know how much a reasonable amount of gear is: I’d say if most people at the table think a mouse is overdoing it then tell him he can carry his indestructable junk collection, but he will experience the Heavy and or Clumsy penalties from the armor on p119 (without the benefits of course).

You’re right, common sense should be the guide. I’m just so hard-wired to look for carrying capacities and encumbrance mechanics because of the other RPGs I’ve been playing for so many years. The whole game philosophy of Burning Wheel is very novel to me; but I’m really falling in love with it.

Over the last few years I’ve played a lot of small press, improv heavy pseudo-RPGs like “My Life with Master”, “InSpectres”, and “Kobolds Ate My Baby”. Games like those (especially the first two) really shook the up my constant need for an encumbrance chart and to hit table. And MG feels a lot closer to those then a standard “D&D” style RPG…

I mean, we are talking about a game where you have to have a discussion about how much damage was done and in what way, where your character advancement is partially based on votes conducted by the other players, and if the gamemaster is in a mood to just force a story out he can declare every single action a success (which will reduce the poor mice to little pools of negative conditions, but hey, the story got told)… This game is a really different beasty: Nature 14 easily.

it definitely falls into the “don’t be a dick” rule… players should be reasonable.

The Encubrance rule for MG is “You can’t carry more than fits on the sheet”…
Mice are small. They can only carry so
much. You are limited in what you can
carry by the space in the Gear section on your
character sheet. If you run out of space, you
have to get rid of something.
MG, page 35