Stormbringer Redux # 6 - Encumbrance & Income

The lack of an Encumbrance system and the lackluster currency & price list of Stormbringer were always a bit of a turn off when I ran the game back in the day. In this post, I’ll propose a simple yet robust system for carrying objects, and punch up the coinage by adding a social class-based wealth system. Once again, my aim is to make simple rules that support gameplay.

 

 

ENCUMBERANCE & MONEY

 

The lack of an Encumbrance system was one thing that rankled my old D&D group when I ran the game. One player, upon learning about the chance of a weapon breaking on a fumble in combat, decided to carry around 10 longswords. “There’s no rule against it” he retorted.

 

Sigh.

 

Rereading the Elric novels, Elric’s strength and how much he can carry does become an issue at times, so I think an Encumbrance system should enhance the game.

 

Originally, I had made an Encumbrance system for use with Call of Cthulhu (available HERE), and thought about polishing that up. However, I found a hidden Encumbrance system already in Stormbringer, and thought I would elaborate that.

 

 

Stormbringer’s Hidden Encumbrance System

 

In the section on demons, there is this rule about demons and weapon size:

 

“Putting points into SIZ establishes the size of the weapon. One point means a dagger-sized weapon, 2 points  gives a broadsword or battle ax size, and 3 points is needed for a greatsword.”

 

It is possible I filched this subconsciously for my encumbrance rules, as the scales are very similar. Regardless, here it is adapted and expanded for Stormbringer.

 

Encumbrance System

 

The weight and heft of items you carry is measured in encumbrance, contracted as ENC. You can carry a number of ENC points equal to your character’s Strength (STR). For every point that ENC exceeds STR, you lose 1 point of movement (MOV, normally 8 for humans according to the rules).

 

For example, if you have STR 14 but are carrying 16 ENC in items, your MOV is reduced by 2 (16-14=2), so your effective MOV become 6 (8-2=6). This can be deadly when running from a fight.

 

The ENC values for different items are as below:

 

 

Weapons

1 ENC One handed, small or light (dagger, hatchet, short sword, light mace / sling etc)

2 ENC One handed, long or heavy (other swords, cudgel / self bow etc) 

3 ENC Two-handed (greatsword, heavy mace, Sea Axe etc / Desert or Bone bow etc)

4 ENC Polearms (quarterstaff, pike etc)

The GM and players should decide exotic or new weapons using these rules as a guide.

 

Armor

1 ENC Cloth (new, 1d4-1 for heavy clothes)

2 ENC Leather

4 ENC Barbarian or ½ plate

6 ENC Full plate with helm (5 ENC without)

The GM and players should decide exotic or new armor types using these rules as a guide.

 

Shields

1 ENC Buckler

2 ENC Target

3 ENC Heater

4 ENC Tower

The GM and players should decide exotic or new shield types using these rules as a guide.

 

Objects

These are for objects held in the hand(s). Besides weight, this means the hand(s) cannot be used for anything else while carrying. The examples include a light source / a scholarly object / a liquid container / a solid container / a tool / a piece of furniture / and a musical instrument for each category.

 

1 ENC One handed, light

Torch / scroll / bottle / jewel case / chisel / stool / flute

2 ENC One handed, heavy

Lantern / book / full jug or pot / toolbox / mallet / chair / lute

4 ENC Two handed, heavy

 Brazier / lectern / barrel / trunk or lockbox / workbench / bench / cello

8 ENC Two handed, unwieldy

Stone lantern / empty bookshelf / cauldron / chest or safe / anvil / divan / harp

 

Example

If we take the sample PC Merak Gren from the old rulebook, he has a STR of 14, and carries a Desert Bow (3 ENC), Sea Ax (3 ENC), broadsword, (2 ENC) dagger, (1 ENC) and Plate armor (6 ENC) for a total of 15 ENC. This means he is geared for battle but moves at MOV of 7. Maybe he’d better leave some of that with his horse…

NOTE: 

1) Tiny or Ultra Light Objects 

Tiny or ultra light objects  (ie coins) count as 1 ENC for every number of the object held equal to the STR score. For instance, if you have 15 STR, you can hold up to 15 coins at no ENC cost, but 1 ENC from 

 

2) Huge or ultra heavy

For huge or ultra heavy things (ie a piano, a casket, a bed) the PC can only drag them around at MOV 1. Up to 3 other people can help move the object, each adding 1 MOV to its speed.

 

3) Immovable Objects

These cannot be moved. Trust me, a player will ask…

 

4) Containers

When objects are stowed away in containers, they are counted as half ENC. If you have STR 15, 15 coins in your hand count as one ENC, but 30 coins if put in a purse.

 

Above all, use common sense and fairplay when deciding on encumbrance not covered by these rules.

 

 

WEALTH & SOCIAL CLASS

 

Money is usually something I handwave in Basic Roleplaying (BRP) games, such as Call of Cthulhu. However, Stormbringer is after all a pulp game, and so the lust for wealth is a huge part of the genre. When Elric and Moonglum inadvertently destroy the Dead Gods’ Book, they still scrabble for the jewels that encrusted it, "each one worth a fortune"

 

As will be explained in a forthcoming section on Professions & Skills, different professions can make income at a rate equal to their intelligence (INT) per month.

 

Note that this introduces inequality into the game, but that also fits well with Moorcock’s fiction, in which beggars and kings fight over their different corners of the Young Kingdoms.

 

 

RANK                                                 CURRENCY                          REAL WORLD         

 

Melnibonean Imperial                         Melnibonean Wheel               500, 000 dollars       

Melnibonean Nobles                           Silver Dragon (MA)               500 dollars                

YK Royalty                                         Large Gold (LG)                     100 dollars                

YK Nobles                                          Small Gold (SG)                     50 dollars        

Clergy                                                 Large Silver (LS)                   10 dollars                

Urbanites (ie Merchants, Rogues)      Small Silver (SS)                    5 dollars                        

Rural Folk (ie Hunters, Farmers)        Large Bronze (LB)                 1 dollar                   

Dispossessed (ie Beggars)                  Small Bronze (SB)                 ½ dollar                   

 

In this system, a Beggar of INT 10 makes a paltry $5 a month, a cleric of the same intelligence would make $100 (but have room & board covered by the church), and a Melnibonean noble would rake in $5000, mostly in trade and investments. This inequality gives characters of lower social status a motivation  to adventure in the hopes of gaining wealth and increasing their status. It also explains why characters of differing social levels to adventure together - the higher ranked employ the lower. This adds a pragmatic angle to character relations that encourages roleplaying through negotiation of risk and reward.

 

 

NOTES

Dispossessed – Of course, this is not enough to live on, so these folk turn to crime or scams by necessity. A dispossessed person could impersonate a higher class to make more income, but would be vilified or imprisoned if found out.

Rural Folk – This represents the money they can save, but most live largely for free off the land.

Urbanites – If they don’t work, they lose 10% of their savings per month. City life isn’t cheap.

Clergy – Clerics generally have room and board covered by their church, but only make money when performing their duties.

Nobles –  Nobles have all types of legacy investments and savings, and thus working for them has a more leisurely meaning.

Royalty – Although their income may seem exorbitant, this represents the money they take in as head of state, and so much of it is poured back into the state coffers and infrastructure. A head of state absconding with this total amount would bankrupt his nation and be both reviled and hunted.

Encumbrance Rules

So Tenkar asked what we do about encumbrance.

I've used this in BRP and if running D&D again, I'd port it to D&D in a sec.

You can carry as many Items as your STR score.

Item size is indicated on the chart below. A character can carry a number of ready to use Items equal to their Strength score. For every Item over the Strength score, reduce the character’s Move by 1. They also lose any Dex bonus to AC or missile weapons. Characters can carry up to 2 STR in Items.

Description	Light 1 handed	Medium 1 handed	Heavy 1 handed	Light 2 handed	Heavy 2 handed
Ancient weapon	Knife, brass knuckles	Short sword, machete, pistol	Sword,	Staff, greatsword	Polearm
Damage or damage reduction	D4	D6	D8 or 2D4	D10	D12 or 2D6
Modern weapon	Derringer	Pistol	Submachinegun	Rifle	Rocket launcher
Clothing example	Hat	Shirt or shoes	Greatcoat or suit of clothes	Diving suit or animal costume	Suit of armor
Encumbrance	1 Item	2 Items	3 Items	4 Items	5 Items

 Packing - If Items are packed away (i.e. not ready to use but requiring a minute or two to ready), they count as half size.

Coins & Bullets – For tiny objects such as old coins or bullets, a number of objects equal to the character’s Strength equals one Item.

Call of Cthulhu Advanced?

With the successful Call of Cthulhu 7^th Kickstarter behind us, we can expect a huge paradigm shift in a game that has hardly changed over its long history. The inclusion of decks of cards for Phobias and Unfortunate Events, to me, reflects both a reaction to the success of Lovecraft-inspired boardgames such as Arkham Horror, as well as a nod towards to the success of Wizards’ Gamma World. Likewise, the plethora of customized products such as goatskin bound editions are probably reverberations in the wake of WotC’s reprints of D&D’s early editions.

With this upcoming change in Call of Cthulhu on the horizon, I thought I’d put out how I would revamp CoC if given the chance. Here then are my houserules for CoC, or as I like to call them, Advanced Call of Cthulhu.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘ADVANCED’?

One major beef I have BRP as with all RPGs old and new is that they introduce rule elements then fail to make the most of them. The most noticeable example of this to me is the underuse or misuse of attributes in older games. D&D and BRP are both guilty of this, but in different ways. Early editions of D&D started off on the right foot, slowly ramping up what attributes affected (see my post on Charisma), but quickly fell into the trap of rulesbloat, namely the escalation of Proficiencies and Feats that made attributes themselves a moot point. Chaosium went the other way, starting with skill bonuses based on attributes (see the original Stormbringer for a decent example) but quickly scrapping any relationship between attributes and skills in favor of lumpsum point buys.

Rolling attributes in BRP is basically an exercise in futility, as they are only ever used in the rare attribute check. Although at some point I hope to start setting out how I would use stats for my D&D heartbreaker, today I’d like to outline how I would houserule BRP to make attributes worth the work of rolling dice and writing them down. This would entail stealing a few subsystems from other games, but these are so intuitive and useful for roleplaying inspiration I think it worth the effort.

ATTRIBUTE BASICS

Each attribute should affect two things:

1) A Value useful in gameplay. For example, Con also determines Hit Points.

2) A Modifier to a roll determining something affecting the gameworld. For example, Str and Siz are added to get a physical damage modifier.

Of the attributes of BRP (Str, Con, Dex, Int, Pow, Siz and Cha, plus Edu in Call of Cthulhu), none have a dual effect.The following rules are an attempt to balance out attribute usefulness and give more mechanical support to roleplaying.

STRENGTH

Value: Equals the number of Items that can be carried (see Encumbrance below for details of what constitutes an Item).

Modifier: Modifies physical damage as usual.

CONSTITUTION

Value: Hit Points

Modifier: Modifies damage from Poisons, Acid or Disease. Weaker folk take more damage, stronger less…

DEXTERITY

Value: Base defense score (i.e. starting score for Dodge, Parry, etc)

Modifier: Modifies Inititative roll.

INTELLIGENCE

Value: Multiplied by 10 for Personal Interest Skills, as per usual.

Modifier: Added to SAN loss for studying spells. The smarter you are, the more you understand how horrible things are…

POWER

Value: Sanity as per usual.

Modifier: Modifies damage from purely magic or mental attacks. Weaker folk take more damage, stronger less…

CHARISMA

Value: The number of Contacts a character can have. See Contacts below.

Modifier: Modifies Reaction Roll in informal or unofficial situations. See Reaction Roll below.

SIZ

I never saw the use of this attribute. She’s gone!

EDUCATION

Value: Multiplied by 20 for Occupational Skills, as usual.

Modifier: Modifies Reaction Roll in formal or official situations. See Reaction Roll below.

UNIVERSAL MODIFIERS

Here is my table for modifiers for all attributes:

Below 3	3	Inferior 4-5	Below Average 6-8	Average 9-12	Above Average 13-15	Superior 16-17	18	Superhuman
- 4 to 0	- 3	- 2	- 1	0	+ 1	+ 2	+ 3	+ 4 / 5 points

REACTION ROLL

Although for most situations the Keeper will have an idea how NPCs will react, for when characters talk to minor NPCs, when the Keeper has run out of ideas, or just to add spice to a game, roll 3d6 to determine an NPC's reaction. In formal or official situations such as at scholarly meetings, talking to police or officials, use Edu modifier. In informal or unofficial situations such as at a speakeasy (bar), talking to townsfolk or rogues, use Cha modifier.

Below 3	Violent. NPC attacks character offhand. Roll for initiative!
3	Threatening. Unless the character backs off, there will be blood.
4-5	Unhelpful, dismissive. Not worth talking to this one.
6-8	Uninterested or busy. Might need a bribe or some flattery.
9-12	Neutral, polite. Will answer rudimentary questions, but not go out of his way to help.
13-15	Interested. Will give information they have, might need a bribe or flattery to go out of their way.
16-17	Helpful. Will give information, introduce to the right person, or show characters the way.
18	Friendly. Will go out of their way to help. Character may make a Contact with a gift or some other reciprocal token.
Above 19	Instant bond. NPC wants to become a Contact, will provide support to the best of her ability.

CONTACTS

See my previous post on Charisma, switch the word Allies for Contacts.

SKILLS & ATTRIBUTES

To make attributes more relevant to skills and make skill default percentages themselves less arbitrary, skills are categorized as  either Natural or Learned.

Natural Skills – These skills come naturally to the character based on their character concept and setting. The default percentage is equal to the most relevant attribute, which means a character has a base chance equal to the relevant attribute, and if Skill Points are distributed to the Natural Skill, they are added on top of the attribute to get the final percentage. Man this is really hard to describe well…

Learned Skills – These skills are impossible to succeed at without training as indicated by character concept and setting. Default is zero, but if Skill Points are distributed they add on top of the relevant attribute for the final percentage. If Skill Points are distributed as Personal Interest, they are added to 0.

Note that the difference between Natural and Learned skills will also vary depending on the setting, and the character’s place in it. For example, in the 1930’s Drive Car would be a Natural skill for people from industrially or technologically developed countries (USA, UK, etc), but it would be Learned for characters from regions with less industrial development. Conversely, Climb would be Natural for people from a mountainous region but not for a scholarly city dweller. Keepers and Players should discuss which skills are Natural and Learned for characters during character creation.

(My first CoC was the above book, which is  1000 times clearer than the artsy 6e I now own)

ENCUMBERANCE

Whew, almost done! Encumberance is measured in Items, as indicated on the chart below. A character can carry a number of ready to use Items equal to their Strength score. For every Item over the Strength score, reduce the character’s Move by 1 and Dexterity based skills (i.e. Dodge, Kick, Punch etc) by 5%.

Packing - If Items are packed away (i.e. not ready to use but requiring a minute to ready), they count as one Item, double if there are no holders (i.e. bags, backpacks, holsters, straps, bandoliers, etc). Item size is determined as follows.

Coins & Bullets – For tiny objects such as old coins or bullets, a number of objects equal to the character’s Strength equals one Item.

Description	Light 1 handed	Medium 1 handed	Heavy 1 handed	Light 2 handed	Heavy 2 handed
Ancient weapon	Knife, brass knuckles	Short sword, machete, stick	Sword, club	Staff, greatsword	Polearm
Damage or damage reduction	D4	D6	D8 or 2D4	D10	D12 or 2D6
Modern weapon	Derringer	Pistol	Submachinegun	Rifle	Rocket launcher
Clothing example	Hat	Shirt or shoes	Greatcoat or suit of clothes	Diving suit or animal costume	Suit of armor
Encumbrance	1 Item	2 Items	3 Items	4 Items	5 Items