One of the few things that I didn't see in Fantasy AGE were rules for encumbrance. Now, like most gamers, I normally ignore tracking encumbrance in-game. However, one of my side-projects for Fantasy AGE is a set of wilderness exploration/survival rules, in which I want to include rules for encumbrance.

My goal is for a simple set of rules for encumbrance that meshes well with Fantasy AGE, but also tries to capture the idea of having to deal with a limited carrying capacity, where you must pick-and-choose which items you'd think would best help you. The rules presented here are in a very rough state, with no real descriptive text, but they should be playable. However, they also haven't been properly playtested, so just a note to anyone trying these rules.

These rules were originally written with Fantasy AGE in mind, but I do think they would work for nearly any roleplaying game. The only things that would need changing are how Encumbrance Penalties work and you would need a replacement for Ability Focuses.

With that out of the way, here is a brief run-down my encumbrance rules:

Fantasy AGE Encumbrance Rules

• Items: In these rules, encumbrance is not tracked by weight, but by how many items a character can carry. One piece of equipment is 1 Item. A character's Carrying Capacity determines how many Items they can carry.

• Carrying Capacity: This is how many Items a character can carry. A character's Carrying Capacity is 10 Items.

Variant: Carrying Capacity and Character Race
For those wanting character races to have an impact on Carrying Capacity, use this variant rule.

- Medium character races, like humans and elves (and saurians in Titansgrave), have a Carrying Capacity of 10.
- Smaller/weaker character races, like gnomes and halflings, have a Carrying Capacity of 6.
- Larger/stronger character races, like dwarves and orcs, have a Carrying Capacity of 14.

• Containers: To carry more equipment a character needs something like backpacks, sacks, belt pouches, etc. Any item that allows a character to carry more items is are called a "Container", which grant a +5 bonus to a character's Carrying Capacity. A character is limited to a maximum of four Containers at once (for a total +20 to Carrying Capacity). You also cannot "double up" on Containers; you cannot put one Container in another, but still be using both at the same time.
Some magic items, like the rogue's purse, will allow a character to carry 10 Items without it impacting on their Carrying Capacity, those Items are effectively "weightless".

• Overburdened: Characters can choose to haul then their Carrying Capacity. A character can carry 10 extra Items, but at the expense of speed and dexterity. When a character carries more then their Carrying Capacity, they are Overburdened and suffer an Encumbrance Penalty.

• Encumbrance Penalty: An Encumbrance Penalty is a -4 penalty to Speed and Dexterity, much like Armor Penalty. However, the Encumbrance Penalty and Armor Penalty do not stack with one another, you use whichever penalty is higher.

• Ability Focuses: For each ability focus you possess between Constitution (Stamina) and Strength (Might), you reduce your Encumbrance Penalty by 1.

• Worn/Held Items: Items that are worn and held in the hand are not counted towards Carrying Capacity.

• Stackable Items: Some items are "stackable", meaning you can carry up to six such items and still have it count as 1 Item. However, an item stack is treated as 1 Item even if it is not a full six-item stack. You also cannot mix-and-match different stackable items together in the same stack, unless otherwise noted (see below).

• Coins: Coins now have weight that impacts on a character's Carrying Capacity; 100 coins equal 1 Item. All coins are stackable with each other.

• Ammunition:
- Arrows are stackable in lots of 20.
- Botls are stackable in lots of 20.
- Power and shot are stackable in lots of 10.

• Alchemy Vials: All alchemy vials are stackable with each other.

• Traveling/Adventuring Gear: The following gear is stackable. However, each item is considered a separate stack.
- Candles, Candle clock [stackable with each other]
- Compass
- Cord (any) [stackable with each other]
- Dining utensils
- Fishing tackle
- Hook (climbing)
- Hunter's snare
- Lockpicks
- Mirror (hand)
- Shackles
- Smoke bomb
- Spike
- Stinker
- Tableware (bowls, cups, plates, etc.) [stackable with each other]
- Torch

• Carrying/Storage:
- Bottle [all bottles are stackable with each other]
- Flask
- Locks [all locks are stackable with each other]

• Tools:
- Awl
- Glue pot
- Hammer (iron)
- Knife (skinning)
- Tongs (hand)

• Clothes/Fashion: All clothes/fashion items are stackable with each other.

• Trade Goods/Raw Materials: All trade goods/raw materials are stackable.

• Professional Gear:
- Ink vials (any) [all stackable with each other]
- Paint (pot)
- Paper (mapsheet)
- Sealing wax

• Home/Hearth:
- Brush
- Looking glass (small)
- Oil (pint)
- Tableware (bowls, cups, mugs, plates, etc.) [stackable with each other]
- Wineglass

• Food/Lodging:
- Ale (pint), Wine bottle (any) [stackable with each other]
- All food items are stackable with each other

• Temporary Magic Items All temporary magic items are stackable with other items of the same type (arrows, potions, etc).

• Trivial Items: Some items are so small/trivial that they have no impact on a character's Carrying Capacity; these items are effectively "weightless" and ignored.

• Traveling/Adventuring Gear:
- Chalk
- Dice
- Incense
- Playing cards
- Whetstone
- Whistle

• Carrying/Storage:
- Hasp
- Hinge

• Tools:
- Nails

• Trade Goods/Raw Materials:
- Beads

• Professional Gear:
- Book lock
- Paper (page)
- Quill
- Sealing ring (any)
- Seaing wax

• Home/Hearth:
- Comb
- Pillow
- Soap

• "Non-Item" Items: Not everything that can be carried by a character (such as a dog or chair) should be considered an Item under these rules. What is and what is not an Item is left to the judgement of the GM. Broadly speaking, Items should be things that adventurer's are likely to use or carry with them.