Inventory management

[Eiphel]

I was thinking about the stash the other day. I was thinking about the difficulties inherent in an infinite 'loot dump' and the tendency for pack ratting. I was also thinking about what the stash would actually 'be' in roleplay terms in the game world. And my vision of it was a pack mule. The stash is either a mule laden with packs, or a mule pulling a cart or wagon. And that got me thinking about the costs involved in moving large quantities of items from place to place. You have to feed the mule, pay the muleteer, buy/maintain the tack and gear, the wagon, etc. So how would  this be represented in the game? Well, I was thinking that you would have certain capacity thresholds, past which you will need to buy another mule and wagon(this would be handled automatically, so you don't have to micromanage pack mules). For every threshold you pass, you have to pay more in gold every time you travel. It could start out trivial, and increase at a linear rate. Exactly how much it would be would be subject to balancing, but by design I would think that as long as a person manages their stash responsibly and sells after each major adventure, that the cost of using the stash would remain trivial(as in less than what you lose by leaving 100 leather armors to rot on the highway). This would provide a motivation to keep lean, but not outright prevent people from packratting, if they so choose.

 

Edit: and now i'm totally brainstorming. What if your stash gets so ridiculously large, that you've become a complete caravan? What if you get proposals from merchants to join your caravan to the next city in your itinerary? they could offer a gold fee to join(for protection from brigands), and have some adventure opportunities with dealing with a merchant caravan. Maybe even make it a regular thing!

 

Whilst we're starting to diverge pretty significantly from anything likely to appear in PE now, I do like the idea of an RPG where the mechanics of your 'camp' are a full part of the game. That would be really interesting.

Edited June 3, 2013 by Eiphel

[Midas Touch]

Ahh! Inventory management, one of my favorite topics!

Why not have a backpack that has no more interior volume than, say, a hiker's backpack? And why not SEE the backpack rendered on each character? And also consider having a pack mule for hauling items that won't physically fit in or on a character's backpack.

 

Having a pack animal traveling with the party would add a new facet to the experience, actually. I can totally see a group of bandits killing or incapacitating a loaded pack animal, thus putting the player's party into a real bind. If that happens to the animal, the party pretty much has to move on and leave the loot/supplies to the bandits, or risk sending someone for help or a new pack horse.

I'd really like to see a game that treats luggage realistically, and doesn't fall into the old routine of having characters with superhuman strength carrying around enough suits of looted armor and weapons (in an invisible backpack, no less!) to outfit a battalion of troops. Make the players pick and choose what they can take with them! Throw some consequence into the treasure!