I created this system for keeping track of what's being carried by the Astartes. It assumes that unlimited ammunition is NOT the standard. Here we go...

A Space Marine can carry a number of Load Points equal to the sum of his Strength Bonus and Toughness Bonus (SB+TB). Every point of Load in excess of this value applies a -5 Weapon Skill, Ballistic Skill, and Agility. This will adjust movement rate and may cause Talents to become temporarily unavailable if a score is reduced below the Prerequisites.

Load is calculated with the following values:

Back Banner*..........2

Backpack Ammo Supply*..........4

Clip, Basic..........0.5

Clip, Heavy..........1

Clip, Pistol..........0.25

Demolition Charge..........0.25

Grenade..........0.25

Jump Pack*..........4

Melta Bomb..........1

Narthecium..........1

Psychic Hood..........2

Scout Armour..........6

Servo-Arm*..........4

Servo-Harness*..........6

Storm Shield.........2

Weapon, Basic..........2

Weapon, Combat Knife..........1

Weapon, Heavy..........4

Weapon, Melee (One-Handed)..........2

Weapon, Melee (Two-Handed)..........3

Weapon, Pistol..........1

Weapon, Storm Bolter..........3

* Only one of these items may be carried by any given Space Marine.

Note that the Combat Knife and the Storm Bolter have specific values different from most weapons of their type. The Combat Knife is smaller than most Melee Weapons while the Storm Bolter is bigger than most Basic Weapons. Power Armour does not add to Load, and it allows more to be carried by increasing the wearer's SB. Scout Armour is unpowered and thus adds Load. Most other items can be eyeballed and given a Load value determined by the GM.

Using this system, the basic Load of the specialties is as follows:

Apothecary: 11.5 (includes 8 Basic Clips and 4 Pistol Clips)

Assault Marine: 11.5 (includes 8 Pistol Clips)

Devastator Marine: 14.5 (includes Backpack Ammo Supply, 2 Heavy Clips, and 4 Pistol Clips)

Librarian: 12.5 (includes Force Sword, 8 Basic Clips, and 4 Pistol Clips) or 13.5 (includes Force Staff, 8 Basic Clips, and 4 Pistol Clips)

Tactical Marine: 11 (includes 1 Basic Clip of Specialty Ammo, 8 Basic Clips and 4 Pistol Clips)

Techmarine: 14.5 (includes 8 Basic Clips and 4 Pistol Clips)

Since most characters will likely have a Load value of 18-20 at the start, there is still room for customization without the craziness that happens if the limits are imposed simply by the weight of items.

Overall I like what you have there.

The only thing I would question is should a Demo charge be the same as a grenade or slightly larger at .5. I think a Demo Charge would be larger than a standard grenade.

I would also consider making the Jump pack bigger, maybe 6 instead of 4. They are big bulky things after all.

ItsUncertainWho said:

These were just my starting guidelines, so feel free to tweak to the liking of the GM and group. Your values seem reasonable, and they would also help keep everyone from just slapping on a Jump Pack and still lugging about with big weapons. I might also up the Servo-Harness to 8.

Also need to add:

Clip, Storm Bolter..........0.75

Doesn't the Storm bolter normally just use two normal bolter clips?

Although I think I recall seeing some newer sculpts with a single clip.

Good idea with the Servo-Harness

My thoughts were that by adding to the jump pack you put the AsM and Dev at roughly equal load out while leaving the Tac lighter and a little more flexable.

The Storm Bolter Clip has a greater capacity than two Bolter clips, so for simplicity I made it proportionate to the increased Load of the weapon (+50%).

I revised the listings after running some calculations. the old values allowed a bit too much to be carried. These values should work better.

Load is calculated with the following values:

Back Banner*..........2

Backpack Ammo Supply*..........4

Clip, Basic..........0.75

Clip, Heavy..........1.5

Clip, Pistol..........0.5

Demolition Charge..........1

Grenade..........0.5

Jump Pack*..........6

Melta Bomb..........1.5

Narthecium..........2

Psychic Hood..........2

Scout Armour..........6

Servo-Arm*..........4

Servo-Harness*..........8

Storm Shield.........3

Weapon, Basic..........3

Weapon, Combat Knife..........1

Weapon, Heavy..........6

Weapon, Melee (One-Handed)..........2

Weapon, Melee (Two-Handed)..........3

Weapon, Pistol..........2

Weapon, Storm Bolter..........4

* Only one of these items may be carried by any given Space Marine.

I'm not keen on the large weight of grenades, and the increasing use of fractions is making your system less the elegant thing that it should be. If anything I preferred the original, for the sake of streamlining.

Really though; it's not about mass, it's about bulk. Someone on here posted a very nice framework the other week that I prefer, based around a unit of measure called the 'tick'. I'd recommend giving that a look-see.

This is a great mechanic that i very much intend to use, so thank you for posting. I've altered a few things on my list but what i wanted to show you guys is another tool that i am going to use in conjuntion with each other. This explaines how much the marine can carry and where does it go. Im new forums so i hope the link below works.

docs.google.com/viewer