D&D Meta Thread

[Alice]

Hey, you're Admin now?

Yes!
woflo popped up yesterday and bestowed this honorable task upon me

[Wofl]

We thought you were this whole time.

[Kashtan]

congrats!now we can blame you for everything that doesnt work

[Τamamo]

Is there a reason Ashley favors donkey over mules?
I admit we had no idea about any equines but as Cat has the Animal Handling skill she showed some rare interest and learned. Also talked to Alice and she's right, a mule is superior to a donkey in everything. Amazing hybrid animals actually! That's why modern armies still use them in rough terrain.

And we didn't get Ashley wants a real fancy carriage. This may be some problem with Cat, good luck convincing her to pilot or ride in something like the noble's carriage that Ashley fancied at the shop. But gameplay-wise, isn't a carriage for people and not cargo? What is the carrying capacity?

We could have easily afforded an 80 gp or even 100 gp carriage but it appears Ashley wants all or nothing? Cat says the hand cart is much better because she can pull it on her own. You can go shopping on any market without the need of an animal and it's easier to conceal. Together with 2 mules we should have enough carrying capacity.

Currently we have a max capacity of 370 lbs for the party.
With Cat being able to tow 1000 lbs, towing a 150 lbs cart leaves 850 lbs. And 2 mules with 420 lbs capacity each we have 2060 lbs total capacity for the party.
If one mule is able to pull 2100 lbs, a 2000 lbs capacity cart weighting 300 lbs leaves 1800 lbs. 420 lbs for the 2nd mule and 370 lbs for the party makes a whopping 2590  lbs! That's over 1t. Still Cat could pull 700 lbs with that cart.
It might be good to invest in a harness for one mule.

Or did I make an Alice-mistake?

[Wofl]

[Ashley] come on Cat, you won't ride in my bad ass black and tan carriage? It's not mahogany and gold and chicky said even a duke wanted something better?!

[Joy]You guys get whatever you want that's why Ashley excluded herself fron this purchase. No, Ashley won't be getting a 500gp carriage but she will likely buy a 100gp carriage or even 150gp for a nicer ride. The really fancy carriages should cost more obviously.

[Ashley] I'll do what I want!

[Joy] as far as donkeys, in terms of handling and capabilities, 5e treats them as equivalent to mules so they're a lighter weight (450 vs 900lbs) and same strength and would eat the same.



[Ashley] donkeys are cuter otherwise I was mostly just being quirky. Bear says I want donkeys so two can breed baby donkeys, he's not wrong, but we're not even keeping them long are we?

[Joy] as far as difficult terrain, I wouldn't treat them any differently but a mule is twice the size so it would have a harder time on unstable terrain, it would have twice the HP and be faster in general. The fully loaded donkey would go 30ft while the fully loaded mule would go 35ft and a fully loaded horse would go up to 40ft. But unless you are all riding it, you are still limited to 30ft for travel (36 miles a day)

The carriage would have less cargo capacity minus passengers but has suspension and is lighter so it's easier to get unstuck and has better reliability. The ride would eliminate the need for the additional half ration a day and you could rest while riding. On a cart you can sleep on it but rest is disallowed because of the noise and rough ride.

[Ashley] I'm getting a fancy one but probably closer to 200 gp with smooth suspension and under carriage cargo. Joy hasn't figured all the options.

[Alice]

I told you about mules, I told you dog!
Ok, you can't breed them but come on! A donkey has 12 months in-game gestation time. How many decades would that be IRL? I'll hopefully reach LV.10 sooner, then I can make them grow on Trees (which would also take at least a week).

I would like a proper carriage with good suspension, rain protection and arrow-proofing but as said this doesn't go well with cargo. So we'd need both. One for people and one for cargo. And then there's the problem where to put it all when we're in the field? I think for now the 2000lbs art is already overkill but still manageable.

I'm still working on the most important part - the mule names!
But if we name them we can't sell them! They'll be part of our party.

[Wofl]

>named animals

[Ashley] ffs we'll be stuck with those boys

[Joy] not to worry, I can just disallow them from Yulya's revive or resurrection. Meaning their bodies would have to be dragged back to a temple and the diamond presented.

[Alice]

Don't be mean to animals, Joy!
I don't like people who are mean to animals and neither do Cat or Yulya

Sooner or later I'll be able to regrow them from an ear anyway.
Sorry but Ashley won't get her princess carriage towed by white horses.
War elephants maybe, that would be cool

There may be a time when we can retire the mules at a nice place but I won't let them die

[Wofl]

[Ashley] Hey! did you ask their gender pronouns before naming them!? I could have sworn they were dudes. Poor ole Mr. B stuck in the middle of all these girls.

[Kashtan]

lol everyone but Mr. B is a girl here he should be happy. i even doubt Alice can tell males and females apart and i dont think the mules care
so we know nothing about horses either but Yulya didnt wanna embarrass herself (even more) and found out the mule needs a full collar harness made of leather that distributes the weight to pull heavy loads. needs to be fitted to the animal. so if the shop doesnt have one we gotta go back to the stablemaster or at least carry the one we get there to make sure it fits one of the mules well. Cat can do that on the way back i think we part after this shop

[Wofl]

Yes, this is very important.

[Τamamo]

Nice work, Yulya!
Looks like we have our cart. We can have Alice treat the scratches
What's the weight of the cart? I assume it can carry 2000 lbs and Cat can pull 1000 - weight (cart+parts)

[Wofl]

According to the PHB's rules: An animal pulling a carriage, cart, chariot, sled, or wagon can move weight up to five times its base carrying capacity, including the weight of the vehicle. If multiple animals pull the same vehicle, they can add their carrying capacity together.

As defined by PHB Base Carry capacity is 15xSTR = 270lbs

Per vanilla rules Cat could pull: 15x18=270x5=1350 lbs.

This is the number we will use and I am no longer negotiating this. The cart weighs 200lbs, Cat will put on the collar like a mule and pull comfortably, the collar and harness is 40lbs, this will not subtract from her tow capacity directly, the cart is 200lbs, the spare parts 50lbs, and other non-removable items like mule feed is 10lbs per day which is 100lbs for 10 days that will feed two animals for 5 days without access to rough forage.

So given the Cart can handle 2000lbs, if pulled by a mule 5x420=2100 a single mule could pull nearly the fully loaded cart. Of which the net load would be 2100-200 (weight of cart) - 350 (other carried items)=1550lbs net.
With Cat pulling the cart, 1350-200-350=800lbs net in addition to what she is carrying on her person, so don't worry about subtracting that.

This is reasonable.

Also keep in mind that the tow capacity is not a constant load, on a straight and level road the actual load is a fraction of the total, the full load Cat or a mule would be capable of pulling would be when the cart is being pulled up a rutted hill at full speed.

So in conclusion, the capacity of the cart is 1550lbs net if pulled by a mule, and 800 if pulled by cat.

Additionally, each mule that is not pulling can carry 400lbs net minus their packs and other accessories. So if a mule is pulling, the total capacity is 1550+400=2050lbs, if Cat is pulling it is 800+400+400=1600lbs.

Make a section on the inventory sheet for what is in the cart + Mule packs out of a total of 2050lbs knowing that if the amount is over 1600, a mule must be pulling.

[Wofl]

My interactions with Sandra and Sophia wasn't in the initial release, Sorry Cat, go read that part after we quote Alice's names.

[Alice]

Yes yes it's fine!
I won't say any more cart things...