Equipment Limit

[Zarm R'keeg]

On another thread here, Ral_Brelt said:

[garhkal]

The best i have seen was in rules of engagement the spec force handbook..

First method was that you get a set list of gear you can carry, such as 1 set armor, clothes, backpack, belt, 2 weapons, 3 weeks rations, and each full D of str added one additional item.

2nd was that for each pip of strength, you got one medium item you could carry. Some items might cost 2, such as a full suit of armor.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[griff]

I have always tried not to be too heavy handed with the players about their characters and the character's equipment. As long as the player was being reasonable with their character's equipment being carried and what they might have in another location. I always tried to stress that what you have at home and what you take with you when being gone for the day. task at hand for the character and the character's profession makes a big difference. What a bounty hunter would carry and an engineer would carry day to day would be very different.
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"EXECUTE ORDER 67. Wait a minute, that doesn't sound like order 67..... No, wait. Yes, yes it does. EXECUTE ORDER 68" Palpatine's last moments - robot chicken.

[CRMcNeill]

Something I've considered in the past is offering free dice in skill specializations when dealing with a specific piece of equipment that they use on a regular basis, such as a particular ship or weapon, like Han Solo's heavy blaster pistol or the Millennium Falcon, or Mara's holdout blaster. This is something with which the character is intimately familiar, knowing where all the controls are without having to even think about it. In game terms, that familiarity grants an additional bonus of 1D or 2D (or more, if you prefer), and gives the player an incentive to keep his standard equipment. Yes, that new blaster may do an extra D in damage, but the character will take a 2D penalty in Blaster when he uses it. Characters may use weapons other than their standard (such as Han and Chewie using blaster rifles on the Death Star) but out of necessity instead of upgrading.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[garhkal]

A while back i proposed a subset of specialization just for that sort of familiarity.
IE Space transport operations - specialization YT-1300, Familiarity (or double spec) in Millennium Falcon.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[cheshire]

My current GM is not imposing encumbrance rules on me, though at some point he probably should. My character tends to do looting that's... well... unconventional.

One time we were searching the penthouse of a recently incarcerated crime boss. I took it upon myself to take a comfortable-looking satin pillow. On some other adventure when other people were collecting things such as lightsaber crystals, I took a smooth purple stone and kept it in my inventory. The party took down a tarentatek, I kept a tooth.

One of these days my GM is going to look at my inventory and say, "WHY do you even HAVE these!?!?!"

I'm still trying to remember where I picked up the six-inch marble statue.
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Before we take any of this too seriously, just remember that in the middle episode a little rubber puppet moves a spaceship with his mind.

[jawa1138]

I hope that I do not run into a problem in my campaign with overloaded characters, but if I do I will just try to use common sense as to what you can really carry and still expect to be useful.

As for players trying to constantly upgrade gear, I have realized that this is a big problem with the current video game generation. Even many table top rpgs lately have been ruled to the video game mentality.

I like the idea of specialization for a specific item but perhaps also give the characters a pipp or two at character creation to add to thier equipment as free upgrades. That would create a bond from the start and perhaps motivate them to use "Vera" over another blaster rifle just because its the newer model.

[Thx1138]

I would think that most of the equipment a character would need to carry could be worn on a utility belt. I mean characters aren't Vietnam soldiers who carried around 30 to 40 pounds of equipment. They are mostly operatives.

[evilnerf]

I was so proud of my players. I gave them a prime chance to loot some dead smugglers. They decided against it out of respect for the dead.
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His eyes are shifty. That's how you know the nerf did it.

[CRMcNeill]

Something to remember as far as looting armor; according to the RAW, if a character wearing armor is killed, the armor is effectively destroyed...
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[griff]

If it ever was needed I thought that using the lifting difficulty chart would be the best answer.
_________________
"EXECUTE ORDER 67. Wait a minute, that doesn't sound like order 67..... No, wait. Yes, yes it does. EXECUTE ORDER 68" Palpatine's last moments - robot chicken.

[CRMcNeill]

[Savar]

[CRMcNeill]

[Whill]

I don't think the problem is a player wanting to upgrade to a better blaster, so I don't see any need to give away specialization (or familiarity) dice to incent them to just stick with the blaster they have. The real problem is player greed sometimes making players think their PCs needs three blasters, etc. I despise the D&D (or video game) mentality that makes players think their Star Wars PCs need to carry a ton of weapons and equipment around. Are the film heroes overly encumbered by material things on their person? No, so the PCs shouldn't be either.

It is no secret to my players that I take the anti-technology theme of SW to heart in my game. With the exception of PC-owned starships, droids and lightsabers, no possessions have any sort of special considerations. Most PC equipment and weapons can easily be damaged, confiscated or stolen, and it happens from time to time. If you can loot a better blaster than the one you have and toss yours, then great. But the same thing can happen to you so don't get too attached to it.

I like the SpecForce rule garhkal mentioned as a guideline, but I've never felt the need to get too crunchy about it and use any hard rule. What a PC carries on their person should be reasonable for the character. If it's too much, it will become a burden in one way or another, and the universe has a way of lightening your load.
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