Rations

What's in your Backpack?

Rations have been a part of the game since the original edition. Rations, whether iron rations for dungeon use or standard rations represent a daily expenditure of resources. Managing limited resources in the form of rations and water, sources of light and daily magic spells is a significant part of how one succeeds at playing the game. Indeed, perhaps nothing defines a preference for old school style of play more than how we approach rations and the other limited resources in our role-playing game system. 

Encumbrance is also a part of the original game, again this is a resource mechanic. Encumbrance limits the character's capacity to carry stuff. It also adds to the overall verisimilitude of your milieu - it makes sense that there would be a limit to what a character can carry about and still run, fight, and do all the things a typical adventure involves. Much like rations, encumbrance tracking is a feature of old school style FRP gaming. 

Managing the books, encumbrance, inventory, even hit points and experience is part of campaign play, if not a necessary part of every session. Devices and digital character sheets can do a lot of the work for us, but to ignore all record keeping requires a change in our approach to the game - certainly possible and perhaps preferred by some. Before we abandon rations, ammo and encumbrance, we should probably be aware of what we are giving up.

Many of the things in our inventory have multiple uses and can foster creative play. In the original three little brown books sacks and backpacks, water and wine skins, torches and other sources of light are all part of an adventurers' gear that are specifically listed on the equipment price list, thereby giving players an enormous hint that such equipment might be useful to have. Dropped edible items will have a small chance of distracting intelligent monsters from pursuit. Semi-intelligent creatures will be distracted 50% of the time, and the non-intelligent beasties will generally stop pursuit in order to eat anything edible. Treasure can have an effect on creatures who are intelligent enough to appreciate its worth. Why fight those orcs if they can be bribed?

When players consider the environment as "in play" a world of possibilities presents itself. Creative use of objects found in the environment or carried on the person of the adventurer can provide solutions to many challenges and be an entertaining aspect of the game. Referees that encourage such imaginative thinking on the part of their players, while enforcing a reasonable amount of realism, are among my favorites. "Do you have it, where is it stored and how long does it take to get to it?" may be questions you do, or don't, care about. Is this a style of play which appeals to everyone, perhaps not, but I certainly appreciate it.