Encumbrance Explained

[Thuvia]

Since I enjoy this sort of thing, and also since it might be of interest and use to people, I decided to do a little testing of how many items a person can carry in their inventory, as well as how much weight can be carried and worn.

The results have proven to be very interesting and, in some ways, rather unexpected. While this test is complete as far as it goes, I plan to go further into the matter in the future to clear up a few other related topics.

So without further ado, here are the results.


1. Max Items Carried
a large slab of meat: You can't carry that many items.

For players, the max number of items you can carry in your inventory is a function of your Level and Dex stat:

Max Items Carried = Level/2 + Dex/2 + 5

As usual, values of each division are rounded down to the nearest integer. For a Level 1 player with 9 Dex, a measly 9 items can be carried in their inventory, while a player of Levels 50-51 and Dex of 18-19 can carry 39 items.

The same rules seem to apply to Mobs as well, implying that Mobs have either 10 or 11 Dex.

Note: If anyone comes across a mob which does Not follow this pattern, please let me know.


2. Max Weight Carried
a large slab of meat: You can't carry that much weight.

For players, the max weight you can carry in your inventory is a function of your Str and Con stats:

Max Weight Carried = (3.5 x Str) + Con

Since weight is expressed in tenths of a pound, no rounding is needed here. For a player with 9 Str and 9 Con, only 40.5 lbs can be carried in their inventory, while a Trolloc with 21 Str and 17 Con can carry 90.5 lbs.

Once again, for mobs the same rule seems to apply. In the testing I have done so far, all mobs seem able to hold 74.0 lbs in their inventory, regardless of their Level or even Smob status. So, a puny little Level 1 man can carry just as much as a big burly level 60 Smob. This strongly suggests that mobs have 18 Str and 11 Con, further backed up by the information below.

Note: Again, if anyone comes across a mob which can hold more (or less) than this please let me know.


3. Max Weight Worn
a cheap brass ring: You can't wear that much weight.

For players, the max weight you can wear (armor, worn packs, held packs/items, etc) is once again a function of your Str and Con stats:

Max Weight Worn = (5 x Str) + (2.5 x Con)

Once again, no rounding needed here. For a player with 9 Str and 9 Con, only 67.5 lbs can be worn, while a Trolloc with 21 Str and 17 Con can wear 147.5 lbs.

Recent testing performed by Theid has confirmed that mobs can wear a maximum of 117.5 lbs, which again strongly suggests that mobs have 18 Str and 11 Con.

Note: Again, if anyone comes across a mob which can wear more (or less) than this please let me know.


4. Weight Messages
You are carrying 0.0 lbs and wearing 0.0 lbs, peanuts.

If anyone has ever wondered just what those 'peanuts' and 'heavy' type messages mean, here is a rundown. Simply put, they are measures of certain fractions of the Total Weight Allowance:

(PC) Total Weight Allowance = Max Weight Carried + Max Weight Worn

or

(PC) Total Weight Allowance = (8.5 x Str) + (3.5 x Con)

There are 10 messages to be seen, as shown in the following table:

Code: Select all

0 to <20%       peanuts
20% to <30%     very light
30% to <40%     light
40% to <50%     fairly light
50% to <60%     somewhat heavy
60% to <70%     heavy
70% to <80%     moderately heavy
80% to <90%     really heavy
90% to <100%    incredibly heavy
100%            maxed out

Thus, a player with 16 Str and 14 Con, who can carry and wear a total of 185.0 lbs will be wearing 'peanuts' for 0-36.9 lbs, then pass into 'very light' once the total hits 37.0, and so forth for higher amounts.


5. Additional Notes

Two things are worth mentioning. First, it is possible to exceed the Max Weight Allowance shown by various means. Nevertheless, after 100% is reached no new message will be shown past 'maxed out.'

Secondly, I found it rather amusing that mobs either all have very high Str, if they have such stats, or they are simply able to wield most any weapon. A little old Weaver woman wielding a 17.5 lb axe was humorous to say the least.

6. Further Reading

Encumbrance also impacts OB, DB, PB, BMI, and MVs regen. Please reference the following posts for further information:

OB/DB/PB: http://www.wotmudarchives.org/forum/vie ... f=4&t=2347

BMI: http://www.wotmudarchives.org/forum/vie ... f=4&t=2348

MVs Regen: http://www.wotmudarchives.org/forum/vie ... f=4&t=2353

[Madin]

I believe all mobs have (or used to have) 18 str dex and con, though some might have other modifications.

[Thuvia]

I wonder if there would be any way to test that?

It would lead to other questions as well, such as does that only apply to Humanoid mobs, or others? Tree-type mobs, for instance, seem to have much lower defense than Humanoids or Animals of the same level.

Of course, being hard-coded, there is no reason all mobs can't have the same stats, but simply have different governing equations for things like DB and PB by mob-type. Certainly, if Humanoids have 18 18 18 stats, then neither of the equations that govern max items carried and max weight carried for players would apply to them, since the math wouldn't work out. Who knows.

[Thuvia]

I figured out a way to test humanoid mob Str. Since humanoid mobs can wield any weapon humans can, they should have at least 18 Str. Their natural inventory weight limit of 74.0 lbs would then suggest that, if they follow the same equation as players do, their Con should be 11, since (3.5 X 18) + (11) = 74.0.

All things being equal, for every 1 point in Str that goes up, players can carry an extra 3.5 lbs of weight in inventory. I loaded a mob with 74 lbs, verified that it could carry no more, then weaved 'Strength' on it. It was then able to carry another 3.5 lbs. Since the Str weave normally grants +3 to Str (Lvl>30), this strongly indicates not only that the mob had 18 Str, but also that humanoid mobs were/are designed with a max allowable Str of 19, like humans.

Since humanoid mobs seem to follow the same inventory weight limit equation as players, this strongly suggests that humanoid mobs have 18 Str and 11 Con.

I will also go out on a limb and suggest that mobs have 11 Dex as well, for two reasons. First, since mobs do seem to obey the same inventory weight mechanics as players, it seems reasonable that they might also obey the same max #items carried limit. The mob tested was a level 25, able to hold 22 items. This would make its Dex either 10 or 11. 11 seems more likely, based on the second reason, which is a combination of numerical considerations and CircleMUD roots reasoning. Since old-style DnD ranges were 3-18, and 11 is right in the middle, this makes a nice "average" value to give to mobs in general.

If any players with Master status would be willing to help, this can be further verified by testing the max weight worn limit of a leadable clan mob. If, as I strongly suspect, the max weight able to be worn on such a mob is 117.5 lbs, this will confirm that humanoid mobs have 18 Str and 11 Con. If Str is cast on said mob, an additional 5.0 lbs should be able to be carried by it as well.

Help in this is most appreciated.

[Thuvia]

Thanks to testing performed by Theid, it has been confirmed that mobs can wear a maximum of 117.5 lbs. This corresponds to mobs having 18 Str and 11 Con, matching the results of the max carried weight research.

Given that mobs follow the same equations for max carried and worn weight, it seems very likely that they also follow the same equation for max number of items carried, being Level/2 + Dex/2 + 5. This would put mob Dex at either 10 or 11, giving us two choices for mob stats:

Str = 18, Dex = 10, Con = 11
or
Str = 18, Dex = 11, Con = 11

I'm inclined to think the latter, but until a more conclusive method can determine it, we are left with two choices.