You're Missing Out On These Inventory Systems!

Comments · 104

• WH

  @WhatisTabletop · 5 months ago · pinned

  What’s Your Favorite Inventory System? Let Us Know, Down Below!

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• KE

  @kendiamond7852 · 5 months ago

  I&apos;ve never had a problem with encumbrance. I just put everything on my horse then put my horse in my horse pocket.<br>😀

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• IR

  @IrateVagabond · 5 months ago

  I&apos;d argue that to what degree you simulate &nbsp;logistics is one of the most important design decisions. It has a massive effect on every pillar of a game and can drastically alter what type of game it becomes.

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• TK

  @TKDB13 · 5 months ago

  One thing I think is absolutely criminal is that, for systems that do use straight up weight-based carrying capacity, they never have a big, top-level line on the inventory section of the character sheet for &quot;total weight&quot;. A huge part of the headache in those systems is that when the question of &quot;can I carry this?&quot; comes up, the answer requires going through your entire list to total things up, at the moment. It&apos;s like if, instead of having your HP total written down and updating it whenever you take or heal damage, you wrote down each instance of damage and healing and had to add all that up on the spot to find out your current HP. Treating carrying capacity more like HP, with your total weight calculated when you set up your loadout and updated on the (actually fairly infrequent) occasions you pick up or use/lose something would surely make it far less cumbersome to track.<br>Perhaps still not as easy as slot-based inventory (which I generally lean toward preferring), but if you&apos;re playing D&amp;D or another system with carry weight, do yourself a favor and write a big ol&apos; &quot;total weight&quot; line at the top of your inventory section. Because for some bizarre reason, the publishers of those systems never seem to do it for you.

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• SW

  @Swooper86 · 5 months ago

  I kind of like an idea I first came across in MCDM&apos;s next game, Crows (it&apos;s not out yet obviously but James Introcasso talked about the inventory system in a Patreon post), but I&apos;ve heard other OSR games have done something similar before. You have some slots on your body (hands, neck, belt, boots etc), and then your backpack has 10 numbered slots. To retrieve an item from your backpack, you need to roll the number of the slot it&apos;s in or less on a d10. If you fail, you can spend the round rearranging your backpack instead. It&apos;s especially important because Crows has no classes, many of your abilities instead come from equipment, so you may need to dig out that spellbook to be able to cast the spell you need right now!

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• PA

  @panwall1327 · 5 months ago

  My favorite is Mouseguard, which is you can carry whatever you can draw on your character

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• TH

  @thedapperdm-nyc · 5 months ago (edited)

  When gold pieces were XP the inventory system was called Henchmen and Hirelings.<br><br>Carrying capacity is the limit.<br>Encumbrance is the penalty or condition caused by approaching or exceeding that limit.<br>Simple version:<br>Carrying capacity answers: “How much can I carry?”<br>Encumbrance answers: “What happens when I carry too much?”<br><br>Practical TTRPG version:<br>A character might have a carrying capacity of 10 slots. They can carry up to 10 slots normally. At 11–15 slots, they are encumbered: slower, noisier, worse at climbing, worse at fighting, or easier to exhaust. Above that, they may be overloaded and unable to travel effectively.<br><br>Design distinction:<br>Carrying capacity is usually a measurement system.<br>Encumbrance is usually a consequence system.<br><br>Inventory slots and AD&amp;D gold = XP solve different parts of the same old-school design problem.<br>Inventory slots create logistical pressure.<br>Gold = XP creates player motivation.<br><br>Together, they turn treasure into a real game decision.<br>Simple distinction<br>Inventory slots are a constraint.<br>They limit what characters can carry.<br>Gold = XP is an incentive.<br>It tells players what the game is really about.<br><br>So:<br>Slots make treasure heavy.<br>Gold = XP makes treasure matter.<br><br>The big behavioral difference<br>Modern combat XP teaches players:<br>Fight things to advance.<br><br>Gold = XP teaches players:<br>Get value out of danger and survive.<br><br>Inventory slots then add:<br>You cannot take everything. Choose.<br><br>That changes the table culture dramatically. Players start caring about carts, sacks, hirelings, mules, secret exits, portable wealth, gems, jewelry, maps, and safe retreat routes.

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• TS

  @tslfrontman · 5 months ago

  Video games helped improve my system, despite the common differences in experience: Each PC has a limit of: 6 different pieces of equipment worn, <br>3 consumables (potions, scrolls, special arrow bundle, etc), <br>and 3 of any other items.

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• JE

  @JeffSteffeniscool · 5 months ago

  “Look em’ up buddy” dropping that wisdom

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• FI

  @FirenotesIRL · 5 months ago

  In the TTRPG called Exalted they only care about important items that go onto your person. The mundane items that your character uses is determined by your skills. If you have points in sailing then you can pull out sailing type items like maps and spyglasses or whatnot. It&apos;s up to the DM to determine if you have it. It&apos;s similar to Schrodingers Inventory.

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• XE

  @xero989 · 5 months ago

  I used a homebrew thing in one of my D&amp;D games where people had a gear usage die like Forbidden Lands or the black hack. They roll it for like setting up camp and toruches, but if they needed something very specific like a grappling hook,, they can downgrade their die size. &nbsp;I paired it with a slot inventory system so you where instivied to plan ahead, but if you really needed something, you had a way to Schrodinger&apos;s it from your pack as long as you had a gear die.

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• JA

  @JaegerK · 5 months ago

  I love exploring the cross-section of Inventory with all the other facets of gameplay, which is why I went with Inventory Slots for the system im designing. <br><br>Inventory Slots in this system represent not only your equipment you might have, but can also be occupied by Wounds and Fatigue - limiting how much you&apos;re able to carry while remaining effective. <br><br>I went with a Classless design, emphasizing that your character &quot;build&quot; is what you choose to bring with you; your equipment determines what you are capable of doing. Thieves tools? You can pick locks. Healers kit? You can patch up wounds. <br><br>Casting Spells gives you a slot of Fatigue, which puts a hard limit on the number of spells that can be spammed before the caster requires a rest. <br><br>For each character, taking damage results in a WOUND being created, which also takes up an inventory Slot. Accumulate enough Wounds, and your character begins dying.

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