Carrying Capacity

Lifting and Dragging:

A character can lift as much as his or her maximum load over his or her head. A character can lift as much as double his or her maximum load off the ground, but he or she can only stagger around with it. While overloaded in this way, the character loses any Dexterity bonus to AC and can move only 5 feet per round (as a full-round action). A character can generally push or drag along the ground as much as five times his or her maximum load. Favorable conditions can double these numbers, and bad circumstances can reduce them to one-half or less.

Bigger and Smaller Creatures:

The figures on Table: Carrying Capacity are for Medium bipedal creatures. A larger bipedal creature can carry more weight depending on its size category, as follows: Large x2, Huge x4, Gargantuan x8, Colossal x16. A smaller creature can carry less weight depending on its size category, as follows: Small x3/4, Tiny x1/2, Diminutive x1/4, Fine x1/8. Quadrupeds can carry heavier loads than characters can. Instead of the multipliers given above, multiply the value corresponding to the creature’s Strength score from Table: Carrying Capacity by the appropriate modifier, as follows: Fine x1/4, Diminutive x1/2, Tiny x3/4, Small x1, Medium x1-1/2, Large x3, Huge x6, Gargantuan x12, Colossal x24.

Tremendous Strength:

For Strength scores not shown on Table: Carrying Capacity, find the Strength score between 20 and 29 that has the same number in the “ones” digit as the creature’s Strength score does and multiply the numbers in that for by 4 for every ten points the creature’s strength is above the score for that row.


Carrying Capacity

Strength Score Light Load Medium Load Heavy Load
1 3lb or Less 4-6lb 7-10lb
2 6lb or Less 7-13lb 14-20lb
3 10lb or Less 11-20lb 21-30lb
4 13lb or Less 14-26lb 27-40lb
5 16lb or Less 17-33lb 34-50lb
6 20lb or Less 21-40lb 41-60lb
7 23lb or Less 24-46lb 47-70lb
8 26lb or Less 27-53lb 54-80lb
9 30lb or Less 31-60lb 61-90lb
10 33lb or Less 34-66lb 67-100lb
11 38lb or Less 39-76lb 77-115lb
12 43lb or Less 44-86lb 87-130lb
13 50lb or Less 51-100lb 101-150lb
14 58lb or Less 59-116lb 117-175lb
15 66lb or Less 67-133lb 134-200lb
16 76lb or Less 77-153lb 154-230lb
17 86lb or Less 87-173lb 174-260lb
18 100lb or Less 101-200lb 201-300lb
19 116lb or Less 117-233lb 234-350lb
20 133lb or Less 134-266lb 267-400lb
21 153lb or Less 154-306lb 307-460lb
22 173lb or Less 174-346lb 347-520lb
23 200lb or Less 201-400lb 401-600lb
24 233lb or Less 234-466lb 467-700lb
25 266lb or Less 267-533lb 534-800lb
26 306lb or Less 307-613lb 614-920lb
27 346lb or Less 347-693lb 694-1040lb
28 400lb or Less 401-800lb 801-1200lb
29 466lb or Less 467-933lb 934-1400lb
+10 x4 x4 x4

Base Speed while Carrying a Load

Load Max Dex Check Penalty Base Speed 30 Base Speed 20 Run
Medium +3 -3 20ft 15ft x4
Heavy +1 -6 20ft 15ft x3

Armor and Encumberance for Other Base Speeds

Base Speed Reduced Speed
20ft 15ft
30ft 20ft
40ft 30ft
50ft 35ft
60ft 40ft
70ft 50ft
80ft 55ft
90ft 60ft
100ft 70ft