Hello all.

I am not the GM of the game I play in, but an interesting rule was brought up, and if like some clarificationsort on it due to RAW and RAI.

So the GM of my game has introduced the encumbrance rule of if your encumbrance is equal to or greater than your raw brawn stat, you no longer get your free maneuver and suffer 2 strain to move.

I'm more or less fine with it but read up on it anyways, the wording is super confusing as I read it its the following formula.

ET = Brawn + 5

Carrying over your ET = 1 setback dice to agi/brawn.

Carrying over ET + brawn = 2 strain on maneuver.

So is this your calculated ET (brawn +5) + Brawn again?

For starters the encumbrance threshold should never even come into play unless there's a narrative reason for it to do so. What that means is if your group is on the long Trek through the desert or the jungle and you need to be carrying a bunch of equipment and food and water, then you go ahead and you calculate it. When it just comes to the day-to-day stuff where you're walking around the Cantina with your gun belt and your comlink with your blaster pistol maybe a pair of binoculars some handcuffs and a grenade or whatever, you shouldn't even be doing the math. That's precisely what the rules tell you.

To your specific question about the math, yes it's your Brawn + 5, plus any gear bonuses for things like a utility belt backpacks etcetera.

Okay good, what about situations like in combat, currently if we are carrying anything over our Brawn stat in Encumbrance, we suffer 2 strain to move, and do not get the free move.

Which led me to question the clarity of the rule.

So let's say my character has a Brawn of 2, let's say I have backpack and load bearing gear (not sure what ET is off hand for that as I am away from books) but let's say the gear I'm carrying is less than the ET, but equal to or more than my Brawn.

Am I losing my free movement and having to suffer 2 strain to move at all? Or am I moving normally?

I read a little more I think where he's getting confused is when it refers to brawn.

So you add your brawn rating, + 5, plus whatever gear you have to assist you, and that's your encumbrance rating. If you go more than your original Brawn over that number, that's when you start losing your free maneuver. So for example say you have a 3 Brawn, and your total encumbrance rating with your gear is 10, if you went to 14 encumbrance that's when you'd lose your free maneuver.

Like I said previously, the first couple paragraphs in the encumbrance section are just text, and a lot of GM's don't read it to their own detriment. Unless players are trying to carry a stupid amount of gear that would just look ridiculous stacked up on top of somebody, you shouldn't be fiddling with encumbrance. A pistol in a gun belt, a comlink, a pair of binoculars, a grenade, and maybe a knife in your boot, and you're just not encumbered. There is no need to do the math.

Fair enough, it's appreciated. Currently I think he's using it as a sort of strain tax, as before my guess is strain wasn't nearly a concern as it is now with the way it's being used.

I'll point him to this thread so he can read it.

Thanks for your time.

3 hours ago, 2P51 said:

I read a little more I think where he's getting confused is when it refers to brawn.

So you add your brawn rating, + 5, plus whatever gear you have to assist you, and that's your encumbrance rating. If you go more than your original Brawn over that number, that's when you start losing your free maneuver. So for example say you have a 3 Brawn, and your total encumbrance rating with your gear is 10, if you went to 14 encumbrance that's when you'd lose your free maneuver.

Like I said previously, the first couple paragraphs in the encumbrance section are just text, and a lot of GM's don't read it to their own detriment. Unless players are trying to carry a stupid amount of gear that would just look ridiculous stacked up on top of somebody, you shouldn't be fiddling with encumbrance. A pistol in a gun belt, a comlink, a pair of binoculars, a grenade, and maybe a knife in your boot, and you're just not encumbered. There is no need to do the math.

It might be better to say "Your Encumbrance Threshold is Brawn +5. It can be further modified by talents and gear." If somebody knows how to track Wounds against the Wound Threshold, they can then track Encumbrance against the Encumbrance Threshold.

Yeah, that is way too harsh: the way your GM ruled it, a human with Brawn 2 can't carry a heavy blaster pistol without losing his free maneuver. The rule needs some reconsideration; it is overly punitive.

You have the formulae correct, except that if you are carrying a total encumbrance equal to or greater than 5+Brawn+Brawn, that's when you lose your free maneuver (not just greater than).

So at what exact point do I start requiring to take 2 strain to move?

GM rules it equal to or greater than Brawn stat regardless of ET.

If I have an ET of 10 (example) and I'm carrying let's say 6 Encumbrance total, below my ET but above my Brawn (2)

Do I lose my maneuver and require 2 strain to take a move action?

No, you're not encumbered when you're under the encumbrance threshold. The penalties are for when your encumbrance exceeds your threshold. in your example, you would need 12 points of encumbrance before you get any penalties.

5 minutes ago, Stan Fresh said:

No, you're not encumbered when you're under the encumbrance threshold. The penalties are for when your encumbrance exceeds your threshold. in your example, you would need 12 points of encumbrance before you get any penalties.

Sadly it doesn't clearly state that, the second paragraph throws it off and makes the assumption of being a separate mechanic. Which is causing the confusion as to how it's to be interpreted or intended.

45 minutes ago, Avalon2099 said:

Sadly it doesn't clearly state that, the second paragraph throws it off and makes the assumption of being a separate mechanic. Which is causing the confusion as to how it's to be interpreted or intended.

"A total encumbrance value over the threshold means the character is "encumbered""

In other words, you are "encumbered" by the rules of the game when you exceed your threshold, not before.

"Further, if a character is encumbered by an amount equal to or greater than his Brawn rating..."

That "encumbered" notion in the second paragraph tied to the notion of encumbrance in the first paragraph. Also, that word "further" is key in understanding that this is an extension of the previous mechanics. In other words, if while encumbered, you are further encumbered by an amount equal to your Brawn score, then the free Maneuver is lost. Do note that you can convert your Action into a Maneuver, and this wouldn't cost 2 strain; it just costs 2 strain to buy a Maneuver, but you can buy 2 instead of the normal 1(or buy 1 and convert your Action to a Maneuver). Key is, its always limited to 2 maneuvers a turn.

Also, see the example at the end. Brawn 2 means an Encumbrance Threshold of 7. So having 9 encumbrance points is ET + 2 (Brawn rating). Otherwise it would say having 4 encumbrance points is causing a problem.

Finally, common sense should prevail. This ruling would mean that pretty much every character is in violation, and that most characters are not given free maneuvers.

I think it's super clear. The first paragraph defines what it means to be encumbered, and the second tells you a further thing that happens when you're encumbered. It's not a separate mechanic - it says "further". Look, there are even quotes around the term encumbered in the first paragraph. Why would the second mention of encumbered not be referring back to the just given definition for being encumbered?

1 hour ago, Avalon2099 said:

Sadly it doesn't clearly state that, the second paragraph throws it off and makes the assumption of being a separate mechanic. Which is causing the confusion as to how it's to be interpreted or intended.

If your encumbrance number with Brawn, +5, and backpacks and such is 14 for example, and your Brawn is 3, when you hit 17+ encumbrance item total, that's when the loss of the free maneuver and Strain kick in.

To put it another way, if your encumbrance total is equal to or lower than your encumbrance threshold, you are "unencumbered." You are only "encumbered" when you exceed your encumbrance threshold.

That should make the second paragraph easier to understand.