ANDAER’S ALTERNATE

ENCUMBRANCE RULES

For Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

Written by Max Cannings

Design by Julia Klein

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Andaer’s Alternate
Encumbrance Rules
Wait a minute, just how many
greataxes are you carrying?
—Every DM at some point, probably
Introduction
These rules have been designed to give players
and Dungeon Masters a quick, easy and visual
way of tracking the number and weight of items
that player characters are carrying. Rather than
having to note the weight of every gold piece or
arrow, or ignoring encumbrance completely, these
rules do away with the math involved and simplify
the process of tracking encumbrance. Additionally,
they take into account the bulk of items: a
quarterstaff and a greatsword weigh different
amounts, but both take up a lot of space when
carried on the body.
General Rules
The following page can be used as a part of a 5e
character sheet. Items that characters carry are
divided into five categories: Large, Medium, Small,
Backpack and Currency.
Large Items. Large items include weapons such
as polearms or greatswords, all armor (except
breastplates) and any other items particularly
heavy or bulky that must be carried or strapped to
a character’s back.
Medium Items. Medium items include weapons
such as longswords and rapiers, spellbooks and
quivers, and items that normally can be worn on a
belt but are still somewhat heavy.
Small Items. Small items include weapons such
as daggers, potion vials, bolt cases or bullet
pouches, i.e. things that can be worn on a belt or
bandolier, or can be put in a pocket.
Backpack Items. Backpack items are any items
smaller or lighter than small items that are so light
that they can be considered weightless, as well as
the items normally carried in backpacks as per the
rules in the Player’s Handbook.
Currency Items. Currency items, such as coins
and gemstones, are assumed to be practically
weightless, being carried in gold pouches (except
in special circumstances, such as if a dragon’s
hoard of over 5000 gold pieces must be carried).
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There are examples given on the encumbrance
sheet to guide players as to what item falls into
each category. However, the final decision of
which category an item falls into is ultimately up to
the Dungeon Master.
If there is further dispute, or if a Dungeon Master
is unsure, the following ruling may be of help: The
disputed item takes up a larger size category, but
another item of this size category may fit in the
same slot. For example, an item that could be
considered between Small and Medium is a
shortsword. In this case, the shortsword counts as
a Medium item, but one can fit two shortswords, or
a shortsword and another item that falls between
Small and Medium into a single Medium slot.
A player may put an item into a slot that is larger
than its category if they have run out of space. For
example, a player could put a dagger into a
Medium slot if they have run out of Small slots. A
player may not put an item into a slot that is
smaller than its size category, for example, a
greatsword could not be carried in a Medium slot.
Players can write or draw in the slots to represent
the item carried.
Number of Item Slots
The number of slots a player character has is
based on their Strength score. The encumbrance
sheet shows the slots of a player character with a
Strength score of 8. The outlined boxes represent
the base slots, and the boxes with the dashed
lines represent possible additional slots.
For every two points a player character has above
8 in their Strength score (i.e. the number of their
Strength modifier plus one), they get 1 point to
spend on extra slots.
For example, a player character with a Strength
score of 10 has 1 point to spend, one with 12 has
two to spend, and so on.
The cost of extra slots is as follows:
2
Slot Cost
Slot Type Point Cost
Afterword
I hope these rules prove useful in your games and
Small Slot 1 help your players manage their inventories. These
rules have been playtested and I have found
Medium Slot 2 players engage quickly with the logic of the slots,
and add inventory management as part of the
Large Slot 4 challenge of the game without slowing it down.
Any feedback or comments are welcome!

A player may upgrade 2 slots of one size

category to make 1 slot of the size category above.
For example, 2 Medium slots can be spent to
create 1 Large slot. A player may also choose to
downgrade 1 slot into 2 slots of the smaller size
category. Thereby, 1 Large slot could be
downgraded into 2 Medium slots.
A player may buy or rearrange their slots only in
the following instances: when they first create their
character, when the character levels up, or when
the character receives a permanent increase or
decrease to their Strength score (such as when
given a Belt of Giant Strength). When a player
gains a slot, they may fill in the outline of one of
the dashed boxes to represent the new slot. If they
lose a slot, they must cross out on of their existing
slots.
Slots may not be upgraded or downgraded
beyond the categories shown. If a player character
wishes to carry an item they do not have slots for,
then they are considered encumbered, according
to the encumbrance rules on page 176 in the
Player’s Handbook. If a player character wishes to
carry two or more items that they do not have slots
for, then they are considered heavily
encumbered.

EXAMPLE
Mary creates a character with a Strength
Score of 10. With her 1 point to spend,
she buys 1 Small slot, but then upgrades
2 of her Small slots to make 1 Medium
slot, outlining 1 additional Medium and
crossing out one of her base Small slots.
When she levels up her character, she
decides to downgrade 1 of her Medium
slots back into 2 Small slots, erasing
the outline of the previously marked
Medium slot. Later in the game, she
receives a magic item which increases her
character’s Strength score to 18, giving
her 4 points to spend, with which she
immediately buys 1 Large slot and
outlines it accordingly.

Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only . 3
Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only . 4