Critical Encumbrance Failure: Difference between revisions

[[File:critical_encumbrance_failure_1417.png|frame|link=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comics/namegame/9247-Carry-That-Weight]]

 

 

A video game trope, similar to [[Wafer-Thin Mint]], where you can carry hundreds of kilos of equipment until you pick up one thing that puts you over the limit, either slowing you down immensely or stopping you completely.

 

 

The weight-related version of [[Critical Existence Failure]].

* Same with ''[[ADOM]]'', except when you're Overloaded! adding one more thing can crush you. Normally not a problem if you're in a safe area, but if you picked up the (self-replicating) si - [[The Many Deaths of You|*squish*]].

** Also there's a spell ''Strength of Atlas'', which temporarily increases your carrying capacity. If a heavily-burdened hero lets the spell expire - well, he'll get [[Critical Encumbrance Failure]] and [[Yet Another Stupid Death]] in one flat package.

* ''Furyband'' and ''ToME'' averts the trope. If for example you attempt to lug four Ancient Dragon corpses back to town for artifact-making (a total of 73,000 pounds) you can move, but at a glacial pace.

 

== Mecha Game ==

 

* The ''[[Naval Ops]]'' series does this with ships. While increasing weight will slow a ship down a bit, go just one unit over the hull's weight limit and the ship won't work. Probably because it can't float anymore.

* ''[[Mechwarrior]]'' prevents overweight mechs from deploying but a mech with a single Small Laser and one with a full permitted loadout both move at the same speed if the empty space in the former isn't used for a more powerful engine.

*** [[Skyrim]] is especially notorious with this trope as, assuming an object isn't scenery, furniture, nailed to the ground or [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|cutlery]] (for some strange reason<ref>Only Dwermer cutlery can be picked up, whereas normal is untouchable.</ref>), ''[[The Dev Team Thinks of Everything|it can be carried and will have a value.]]''

** The ''[[Fallout]]'' series plays this trope straight. Depending on just how much over your carry weight you are, you will either move very slowly or be completely immobile. The original ''Fallout'' had an amusing bug where your companions would only check for weight when bartering -- but not stealing or planting items. Thus, NPC followers became pack mules with an unlimited carrying capacity as the player kept planting miniguns and suits of metal armor on their person. It really sucked when they died -- how are you going to move 500 pounds of stuff now?

** New Vegas however has a perk at lets you fast travel while Encumbrance, as well as perks that reduce weight of some of your items.

* ''[[Geneforge]]'' plays it straight, mostly. Once you hit the encumbrance limit, you are slowly drained of AP for every weight unit over.

 

* ''[[Jagged Alliance|Jagged Alliance 2]]'' subverts this trope, by increasing the "fatigue" cost of actions proportionally to the character's total carried weight. Having 134% weight means losing 34% fatigue points more than normal. However, you don't get a bonus for carrying less than 100%...

* In ''[[Makai Kingdom]]'', some equipment (such as heavy armor, large rocks and oversized weapons) reduce your movement. If it reaches 0, the unit can't move. Curiously, the reduction only takes place when you're carrying the item in an appropriate slot - carrying a boulder in your weapon slot doesn't weigh you down at all, while a merchant can carry five gatling guns with no hindrance as long as she keeps them in her equipment slots and not the weapon slot.

* ''7.62mm High Caliber'' averts this by providing a set limit that mercs can easily carry and gradually slowing their movement down the more they carry. However, the game's relatively realistic inventory system will generally prevent them from carrying so much that they're unable to move (trying to make them carry three rocket-propelled grenades and a backpack full of ammunition for their M60 will most certainly turn them into a slug, though). Wearing any backpack will also automatically restrict movement by preventing prone mercs from rolling side to side.

== Tabletop Games ==

 

** Not that it matters, seeing as encumbrance is one of the first rules that a DM is likely to ignore for the sake of a smooth game. No-one likes to have to micromanage the weight of every single coin the party picks up, especially with the prevalence of weightless extra-dimensional storage space.

* In [[GURPS]] progressively heavier loads make you slower and easier to hit (none, light, medium, heavy, extra-heavy). There's even one step beyond that but it costs fatigue every second.