Carrying Capacity or A Question of Stowage

The main reward for completing an adventure in AD&D is not acquiring magic items or even making next level - it is gaining TREASURE (and lots of it). Treasure exists in the game as a means not only of achieving levels (through experience points) but also in training to achieve those levels, hiring henchmen and hirelings to succeed, and as a means of buying necessary items and services (like sage advice, raise dead spells from clerics, NPC casters creating potions or scrolls, etc.). Treasure is also required for the adventurers to build their fortresses when they hit name level, and it requires a LOT of treasure to do so (and to keep the whole thing running, stocking it with food and furniture, paying off servants and loyal henchmen, etc.). Many of the older modules are just chock full of huge treasure hoards, waiting for the brave adventurers to claim as their own. However, just how is one supposed to cart all that stuff out of the dungeon?

Let's take a look at some of the problems involved in looting a classic series of modules - the GDQ series of modules. Now, in fairness, these modules were never really written with a campaign in mind - they were featured as convention modules back in 1978(?) at GenCon. So all those giant treasure caches consisting of huge chests brimming with gold coins, gems, jewels, and magic items were never really meant to all be taken out of the dungeons. Add to this the remoteness of the module locations and you can start to see the problems involved here. Later in the series, the party must travel underground for many miles to arrive at the Vault of the Drow. Where are they stowing all this treasure they've accumulated for the past three adventures? Without bringing the treasure back to a safe place, they characters are cheating themselves of a large portion of their experience points. Rangers wouldn't be able to take all that treasure anyway - they can only keep what they can carry. Bags of holding don't grow on trees either!

The answer is simple - most parties in the "Old School" days were huge! Many consisted of several PCs, a retinue of several henchmen for each player character, and several hirelings, mules, and magical items/servants to assist in the looting. If a typical party consisted of, say, 6 player characters, then each of those would have about 1-6 capable henchmen (loyal by this level of experience), and several men hired on to care for mules, carry loot, and keep camp safe. Each player characters and henchman would be loaded down with adventuring gear, armor, and weapons. They might have some room in backpacks, extra sacks, and pouches for a few coins, but not the hoard of a dragon or giant chieftain! Bags of holding were not THAT common back in the day that everyone had one. So the party has to pick and choose what to carry. Normally this leads to most treasure taken out of a dungeon being in the form of magic items, gems, jewelry, and portable objects of great worth like silks, expensive furs, and rare incense or ivory. Much of that stuff is in the G and D modules. The coin, therefore, is typically left behind as too heavy (although platinum pieces are typically kept - but not in great quantities).

Carrying capacities of containers are left very vague in the AD&D rules - the exact amounts they can hold were given on the back page of the Player Character Record Sheets accessory (and nowhere else!). Pouches can hold very few coins (25-50), backpacks can hold quite a few coins (300), small sacks can hold only about 100 coins, and large sacks up to 400 coins. Chests can hold several hundred coins per cubic foot. Now, one might balk at this, but consider the weight of gold bullion and the resilience of these materials to resist bursting! And don't forget all those adventuring items, weapons, armor, spellbooks, etc. that must ALSO be brought along on the journey.

Consider also, now, the location of most dungeons. They are not located down the road a mile or so - no, they are located in desolate regions far-removed from civilization, usually several miles away from any safe location. All that loot, if it can be carried, must be carted from the dungeon safely and then transported to a safe base of operations. (Many DMs have a different interpretation of the term "safe." I view this as being someplace easily defensible or ordinarily free from encounters.) In the G-series, a number of caves were assumed to be located from which the party can make their forays into the dungeons of the giants. Once they got to the D-series they were on their own. Not only was the underworld a very dangerous place to visit, it was even worse if you intended to remain there for extended periods of time and needed to store treasure! Unsafe locations means no experience gain from the treasure. Not that it matters - without a trainer nearby, experience points and levels are pretty much meaningless.

I think that Gygax understood this conundrum very well.... it seems that his modules are built with this premise in mind. None of the treasures in his modules are easy to locate; all require some amount of effort to find and transport. The "Monty Haul" method of gaming clearly does not apply to Gygaxian adventures (and is probably the reason why such is scorned by Old Schoolers). Even in the lower level modules, large hoards of treasure are rare, and consist mainly of copper pieces in large quantities. Transporting 2,000 cp is problematic for a small party, and would only net them 10 xp split among all the members! A 500 gp gem means much more to a 1st level character than a 10th level character. Requiring 1,500 gp/level to train requires a LOT of treasure. For a party of 8 characters, they would have to locate a treasure total of 12,000 gp just to train everyone to next level! Given that most 1st level characters die before achieving 2nd level, it takes a long time before they are able to survive long enough (and amass enough treasure) to reach a level which allows them to better succeed and find more treasure. However, most of the experience points gained by 1st level characters are from creatures, not treasure located. This leads to long periods of non-leveling (or seeking out treasures to pilfer and plunder with little risk to life and limb). Being stuck at 1st level because you can't make enough coin to train really sucks, but those are the rules. You have to kill MANY kobolds, goblins and giant rats and hope that you can carry back every copper piece in order to achieve that 2nd level. No wonder Tenser developed his floating disc spell - he probably spent many long stretches losing experience while trying to earn enough coin to make next level and needed to take back every copper and silver piece he could find!

Now, add in the abundance of bandits on the roads, and you can see how dangerous adventuring can really be. Loaded down with a lot of treasure, a party becomes an easy mark for a band of 0-level bandits looking to score with little or no danger to themselves. Death would likely take most of a 1st-level party carting back treasure by foot from some dungeon if they were not cautious. This is what makes wandering monsters so deadly - they happen at the most inconvenient times and usually under the worst circumstances. If the DM is particularly nasty, the location in which the treasure is stored could be compromised if the party is not careful. Imagine a large party of adventurers returning from a distant dungeon laden with mules and carts filled with treasure, then retiring at an inn. They then spend the next few weeks resting, researching spells, training, or what have you. Who is to say that others, learning about the fantastic wealth of the adventurers, wouldn't try to steal it from them, possibly while they are otherwise engaged. Thieves sneaking into rooms and making off with what they could carry might lead to am entire guild taking interest in adventurers and where they are staying between forays. And who guards that treasure when the party is off adventuring? Obviously, the reason why name level adventurers build fortresses is to house all their treasures safely! They can't possibly be expected to watch over their treasures all the time, so they build great vaults and hire others to guard it for them (loyalty and well-paid guards are essential here). So, characters have to get through 1-12 levels or so before their treasures can truly be considered "safe." Even then, there's nothing to stop castle sieges while the lord is away adventuring - so "safe" is a relative term.

It seems that there is no easy solution for treasure stowage and security. But then again, without the threat of loss there is no urgency and no conflict. AD&D is therefore built on the premise that you can't always get ALL the treasure, but you can maximize your finds by cautious adventuring and remaining as discrete as possible.