Burden
Everything you carry has weight. The more you carry, the harder it is to move, fight, and keep quiet. A heavy load slows down everything you do, not only walking.
How much you can carry
Your carrying limit comes from your Strength, which counts double, and your Toughness, which keeps you going under a load all day:
Limit = 1.5 kg × (2 × Strength + Toughness) × your size
Small folk (halflings and gnomes) carry three quarters of what anyone else does:
| Race | Size | Carries | When burdened |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elf | Medium | ×1 | slowed, louder, less nimble |
| Half-elf | Medium | ×1 | slowed, louder, less nimble |
| Human | Medium | ×1 | slowed, louder, less nimble |
| Dwarf | Medium | ×1 | no penalty at all |
| Halfling | Small | ×0.75 | slowed, louder, less nimble |
| Gnome | Small | ×0.75 | slowed, louder, less nimble |
| Half-orc | Medium | ×1 | slowed, louder, less nimble |
| Goblin | Small | ×0.75 | slowed, louder, less nimble |
| Drow | Medium | ×1 | slowed, louder, less nimble |
| Kobold | Small | ×0.75 | slowed, louder, less nimble |
| Lizardfolk | Medium | ×1 | slowed, louder, less nimble |
| Duergar | Medium | ×1 | no penalty at all |
| Ratfolk | Small | ×0.75 | slowed, louder, less nimble |
The limit uses your scores, not the bonuses they give, so it grows evenly with them. Each point of Strength is worth 3 kg and each point of Toughness 1.5 kg, or three quarters of that for the small. Some examples:
| Character | Limit | Unburdened up to | Burdened up to | Strained up to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Human, St 10 To 10 | 45 kg | 15 kg | 30 kg | 45 kg |
| Half-orc, St 16 To 14 | 69 kg | 23 kg | 46 kg | 69 kg |
| Dwarf, St 14 To 16 | 66 kg | 22 kg | 44 kg | 66 kg |
| Halfling, St 8 To 12 | 31.5 kg | 10.5 kg | 21 kg | 31.5 kg |
| Elf, St 6 To 8 | 30 kg | 10 kg | 20 kg | 30 kg |
Example: a dwarf warrior’s starting load. Thora, a dwarf warrior, has Strength 15 and Toughness 17. Her limit is 1.5 kg × (2 × 15 + 17) × 1 = 70.5 kg. She is unburdened up to a third of it, 23.5 kg, burdened up to 47 kg, and strained up to 70.5 kg. Her starting kit (a long sword, a hand axe, a dagger, a crossbow and bolts, a small shield, a leather jerkin, and the rest) weighs 23.6 kg, so she starts just burdened. Being a dwarf, that costs her nothing until she is strained.
Everything you carry counts, including the armour you wear and the weapon in your hand (see Equipment). Your own body does not. For scale, a leather jerkin weighs 3.5 kg, a chain mail shirt 11 kg, an iron helm 1.5 kg, a short sword 1.1 kg, and a small shield 2.5 kg (see Objects). An average human in mail and a helm, with a sword and a shield, is burdened. A fighter in medium armour usually is.
Burden levels
Your burden compares what you carry with your limit. It rises by thirds of the limit:
| Burden | You carry | Every action takes | Dexterity adds to Defence | Your steps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unburdened | up to a third of your limit | 6 seconds (as usual) | all of it | as loud as ever |
| Burdened | up to two thirds | 7.5 seconds (×1.25) | at most +3 | ×1.25 as loud |
| Strained | up to your limit | 9 seconds (×1.5) | at most +1 | ×1.5 as loud |
| Overloaded | more than your limit | 9 seconds (×1.5); you cannot move | nothing | - |
- Slower: every action takes longer, not only steps. That includes waiting, opening doors, fighting, picking things up, putting armour on, climbing stairs, and journeys on the overworld. A 20-minute road takes 25 minutes burdened. The creatures around you get that much more time to act (see Turns and movement).
- Less nimble: your Dexterity adds less to your Defence. Heavy armour limits it too, and the lower of the two limits counts.
- Louder: your footsteps carry farther (see Hearing).
- Overloaded: you cannot move at all (“You carry too much to move.”), not even a step or up or down the stairs. Everything else still works, as slowly as when strained. Drop something and you can go on. You can always pick things up, even when that overloads you.
Dwarves and duergar have carried loads all their lives. Being burdened costs them nothing: no time, no Dexterity, and no noise. From strained on, they suffer like everyone else.
The Balance skill takes away some of the slowdown. At 100, being burdened slows you by a tenth instead of a quarter, and being strained by a fifth instead of a half.
The burden line, three talents of the Grit tree taken in order, eases all of it a step at a time:
- Pack mule (Strength 11): you carry a tenth more, 60 % of the slowdown is gone (added to what Balance takes away; together they can take it all), and each burden’s limit on your Dexterity in Defence is 1 higher.
- Porter (Pack mule, Toughness 12): a tenth more again, the Dexterity limits 1 higher again, and being burdened costs you nothing, as it costs a dwarf nothing.
- Beast of burden (Porter, level 12): a tenth more again, and being strained costs you only what being burdened costs others.
Some classes are given the first steps: commoners Pack mule at level 1, merchants at 6, and thieves Pack mule and Porter at 25.
Creatures carry by the same rules, using their own Strength, Toughness, and size.
In a heavy hall, a special room, everyone’s limit is halved while they are inside, so the same load is a heavier burden there. You cannot step into one if you would be overloaded inside, but you can always step out.
What you see
- The status bar shows your burden when you have one
(
Burdened,Strained,Overloaded), right after your hit points. On a narrow screen it is one of the last things to be dropped. - A message tells you when it changes: “You are burdened.”, “You strain under your load.”, “You carry too much to move.”, “You are no longer burdened.”
- The inventory (
I) and the character screen (@) show what you carry, your burden if you have one, and the weights at which it changes:Burdened over 15 kg, strained over 30 kg, overloaded over 45 kg.
The game never shows you a creature’s burden or what it carries. Creatures’ carrying limits are listed on Creatures in numbers.
See also: Equipment, Stats, and Turns and movement.