Ye Olde Inn

by **lestodante** » April 18th, 2021, 3:51 pm

I have a nice backpack (or rucksack?) image and would like to create an equipment card.
I ususally don't make my Heroes travel or camp.
What use would you make for the backpack? Can it be useful in some way? And how much would it cost?

This might work well if you are otherwise limiting what heroes can carry. Generally speaking the game does not, except that two specific quests have characters carrying heavy loot which impedes their ability to move quickly. There's this notion that plate armor is somehow so much heavier and harder to wear than anything else (which is bizarre—I see it as primarily a metric to keep from having the heroes all wearing it as soon as they can, except the wizard of course who gets screwed as usual of course… Can you tell I didn't play as the wizard when I was younger? I played the elf with water spells, seemed quite reasonable actually…)

But otherwise … the game technically lets you carry seven weapons and all the treasure you can find unless the quest says otherwise. The only way that's possible is if you've already got a pack of some kind.

I've seen additions for people to have a shield on their back while using a bow (Link style) which … is actually reasonable. I just think it's kind of clunky to describe in HQ terms since a player could argue "Oh, I turned at the last moment so he was swinging at my back, so I get a shield bonus," when that doesn't make any sense at all. If it's not clear how and when it works and when it doesn't, it's not a good addition. Anyway, that's another thread.

A backpack would preclude a shield on the back, of course. But it'd also limit the treasure you could carry to what was in pouches elsewhere or what could be slung. That's fine because people typically find tens of coins or a few gems and jewels which I could comfortably carry in my trouser pockets. (If I'd said that the way any American would without thinking, the British readers would been far more amused than the Americans…)

Anyway, the idea of a backpack giving you the ability to carry far more than you could otherwise makes sense. Notably, in Ye Olde Days(e), clothing typically didn't have pockets. you'd have been carrying things not in your hands in some pouch either worn or carried. I'd imagine if we presume the wizard's craft has some components to it (mixing of potions is a thing and there seem to be alchemist's desks all over the place) we can presume he keeps a few bits of his craft stashed upon his person in pockets sewn in various places—perhaps sachets and vials mainly? (Things an orc might not think to look for when taking a hero's weapons…) But that'd otherwise be an uncommon thing, pockets.

I'd presume that our heroes, traveling to any dungeon, would have a pack horse with supplies. It's not like you can get on the bus and get off at Ulag's place. You'd be careful what you left and where you stashed it before going into a dungeon, but again you'd want a pouch or two with a few rations I'd think.

I can't imagine how a person without a pack or satchel could carry more than maybe three potions, tops in any small pouches they might be wearing. I can only really imagine a couple of weapons being bolted or slung, depending. (I know it's possible to carry MANY knives … mostly because I've known one or two who did.

So yeah … carry more … of things. Hrm.

by **lestodante** » April 19th, 2021, 4:08 pm

So, maybe a quest where you have to carry many stolen items and bring them back to the owner?
A Hero with a backpack will not have any limitations in combat, while a standard Hero with no backpack must employ one arm to carry the item (so no second hand weapons, shields or 2 handed axe...).
What do you think?

by **j_dean80** » April 19th, 2021, 7:45 pm

I got stuck on the part about riding your horse to the dungeon. Who is outside watching it? Perhaps a Quest to kill the Ogres who stole and ate your horses. You need that backpack to carry your stuff to their hideout.

by **arntisdale** » June 22nd, 2021, 12:58 pm

I limit the armor a hero can carry into a dungeon to only what they can wear.
I use the backpack to permit them to carry 2 unequipped pieces of armor.

Backpack2.PNG

This is one of the ways I limit my heroes. It does 2 things for me:
1. It allows them to carry backup armor should their current armor break (I'm working on a breakage system)
2. It allows them to find and carry extra armor out of the dungeon to sell.

by **lestodante** » June 23rd, 2021, 1:35 pm

Another idea shared with Dreyfus is to use the backpack for quests where you can't recover as usual at the end of the quest (against the Ogre Horde or the Dark Company for example).
Need better wording:

"The backback allows you to carry food and other supply that is useful to recover beetween quests.
At the end of each quest roll 4 dice: for each skull you may recover (at your choice) one Body Point or one Mind Point or one previously used spell. You may share the dice among other Heroes or use just for yourself.
Carryng the backpack reduce your movement by -2.
Cost: 800 gold coins"

by **Daedalus** » December 8th, 2021, 2:28 am

I believe I had house-ruled a 100-gold-coin carrying limit without a backpack as purchased equipment. Maybe it cost 75 gold coins.

Some other uses just dreamed up for this thread. . .

Thief security: A backpack is difficult to steal from. A Hero with a Backpack may reroll any movement dice to catch an Ice Gremlin as it first runs away.
Bag of tricks: Thanks to Loretome, Mentor sometimes aids Heroes who are otherwise cut off on multiple Quests. Between linked Quests, a potion may appear in the Backpack as the appropriate cost vanishes. With Mentor's aid, a Hero with a Backpack may purchase potions as if at the Alchemist's shop between linked Quests.
Helping hand: Sometimes Heroes die and their gear is recovered by a comrade. It's kinda difficult carrying a double load (think Prince Magnus' Gold), so movement can be houseruled to one die. A Hero with a Backpack may ignore movement carrying penalties.