[CONAN] Backpack Penalty

[Supplement Four]

Would you penalize a character if fighting with a loaded backpack, even if the character is not considered encumbered by weight?

You've got a strong character. He's got everything he owns and them some attached to his back. Bow, quiver full of arrows, bow quiver attached to the outside of the backpack, water skin, bedroll wrapped atop the backpack, backpack, iron cooking pot, leather drinking jack, spare set of clothes for "town", rolled up travel cloak because it is "hot", silver mirror, a week of trail rations, medical and herbal kit.

Add the weight up on all this stuff, and the character can carry it easily. But, it is bulky. And, it probably slides across his back as he moves, defending himself in melee.

Does he deserve a penalty to attack? Maybe a -1 for Fighter type characters (Soldiers, Barbarians, Nomads, Borderers) and a -2 for all other character types?

Or, should there be no penalty at all until the weight dictates encumbrance?

Your opinion?

 

[The King]

I would say yes, but usually you drop your backpack before the fight unless you are ambushed and don't have the time to remove it. Otherwise, you should also apply penalties to someone trying to move with stealh or a thief trying to unlock a door, for instance.

 

[The King]

Would you penalize a character if fighting with a loaded backpack, even if the character is not considered encumbered by weight?

Or, should there be no penalty at all until the weight dictates encumbrance?

Your opinion?

Thinking about your question, I think you could add the same penalties like those for a breast plate because a full backpack as a whole is a rigid object. I would also cumulate these penalties with any armour worn but it would provide damage reduction from any attack from behind.

But like I said in my post above, adventurers usually put down a backback when involved in a fight, unless they are ambushed.