You can carry 6 containers, and each container has 3 slots. You define what each container is - a sack, a utility belt, et cetera. Wearing light armor takes 1 container, medium takes 2 containers, and heavy armor takes 3 containers.
Items are classified by four different sizes: tiny, small, medium, and large. Small items occupy 1 slot, medium occupy 2 slots, and large occupy 3. Tiny items don't occupy a slot unless a character has accumulated a large number of them - 100 coins or averaged sized gems occupies 1 slot.
| Category | Slots | Size |
|---|---|---|
| Tiny | 0* | Smaller than the palm of your hand. You can hold many of these in one hand. A negligible or trivial weight. |
| Small | 1 | Up to a handspan or 9 inches. Can be comfortably held with one hand. Up to 2 lbs. or the weight of a loaf of bread or bag of sugar. |
| Medium | 2 | Up to an arms-length or about 2 feet long. Can be held with one hand. Up to 5 lbs. or about as heavy as a few bags of sugar. |
| Large | 3 | Longer than an arm. Usually can be held with one hand, but is most comfortable with two. Up to 10 lbs. or about as heavy as a large cat or sack of potatoes. |
* 100 coins or average sized gems occupy 1 slot. For reference, 100 spanish Doubloons weighs approximately 1 ½ lbs.
You can carry larger, heavier items but you must use both arms and you gain the Encumbered condition.
The following special purpose inventory slots are exceptions to the general rule outlined above. Each of these slots is dedicated to a specific type of contents and cannot be shared or split with other items.
You may only have one of each type of special slot in your inventory. Each special slot replaces a normal slot in your inventory containers. You are not required to use special slots.
There are two broad categories of Special Slots: Resource Slots and Utility Slots.
A quiver may hold up to d12 arrows, bolts, bullets, or darts. All ammunition contained within the quiver must be the same type. This will typically be mundane ammunition but at higher levels may be Arrows +1 for example.
Special ammuntion, such as Arrows of Slaying, would typically be counted individually and thus be stored in a normal inventory slot.
You choose how this slot is physically manifested. It can hold up to d12 Cantrip Pips. Cantrip Pips represent physical objects and consume an inventory slot. See Spellcasting for information on Cantrip Pips.
Your rations parcel may contain up to d12 food rations.
Your waterskin may contain up to d12 water rations.
Your potion case allows you to efficiently store up to 3 potions. The potions may be different types. Storing potions beyond the 3 granted by your potion case requires a normal inventory slot. Oil flasks, alchemists' fire, holy water, etc may be stored in the potion case.
Your scroll case allows you to efficiently store up to 3 scrolls. The scrolls may be different types. Storing scrolls beyond the 3 granted by your scroll case requires a normal inventory slot.
These items may also be used with Utility Slots. Each item type is its own distinct type of Utility Slot. You may have multiple Utilty Slots but only one of each kind.
Mounts, pack animals, and hirelings can all assist with carrying items. Each additional creature has its own set of containers and slots. The number of containers would be dependent on the type of creature - a packhorse would have 10 containers and a large dog would only have 4.
Keep in mind that your animals or hirelings may not be willing to venture into certain locations. Further, if they're ever scared off, they may flee with your items, never to be seen again!
TopOnce you an object stowed away in your inventory, you must draw it out before you can use it. On your turn, you may use one free object interaction with your inventory to:
To make a second change to your inventory during the same turn - or to interact with another character's inventory - you must take the Use an Object action.
TopA special category of items in the game are called Resources. These include items such as food, water, and arrows. You don't count individual units of these items. Instead, each resource is rated with a Resource Die, also known as a Usage Die, that measures how much of that consumable you are carrying.
Every time you eat a ration of food, shoot an arrow, et cetera - you roll on the Resource Die for that consumable item. If you roll a 1 or 2, you must decrease the Resource Die one step - for example from a d8 to a d6. When you roll a d4 and get a 1 - 2 result, your stash of that consumable is fully depleted.
d12 → d10 → d8 → d6 → d4 → Depleted
For inventory tracking, each type of Resource counts as one small item, no matter what your current Resource Die is. When you lose your last Resource Die for a particular resource, that consumable no longer occupies an inventory slot.
Having a d12 Resource Die means you are carrying as much of the resource as a single individual can. Of course, you might come across loarger stockpiles of a particular consumable, such as a wagon filled with food. These fortuitous finds are measured in units of consumables (See: Finding & Buying Resources).
When you find or buy resources, they are counted in units. A unit of a consumable increases your Resource Die one step.
If you wish to give a resource to another character, you simple increase the recipient's Resource Die as many steps as you decrease your own.
If an item is exceptional or has limited uses - Lembas bread, Fire Arrows, et cetera - don't use a Resource Die. Track each individual item use as you consume them.
TopYour Lifestyle Expenses entitle you to refill certain depleted resources when you reach safety. The following resources are reset to d12:
For the purposes of refilling your Lifestyle Resources, safety is defined as any of the locations listed in the table below. Additional locations will be added as you discover them.
| Region | Location |
|---|---|
| Hommlet | Inn of the Welcome Wench |
You must record all items and currency that you carry. Do not use group inventories except for group stashes, strongholds, or other similar storage locations.
TopIdentifying magic items is not automatic. To identify a magic item a you must use the Identify spell, spend downtime researching the item, or seek assistance from NPCs. You may not even immediately recognize items as being magical without the assistance of spells such as Detect Magic although many magic items may hint at their nature based on appearance.
TopSome magic items bear curses that bedevil their users, sometimes long after a user has stopped using an item. Most methods of identifying items, including the identify spell, fail to reveal such a curse, although lore might hint at it. A curse should be a surprise to the item's user when the curse's effects are revealed.
Attunement to a cursed item can't be ended voluntarily unless the curse is broken first, such as with the remove curse spell. (DMG, pgs. 138-139)
The following inventory-size rulings have been made for the following items. Additional items will be added as rulings are made.
| Item | Slot size |
|---|---|
| Ammunition | 1 (Resource) |
| Arcane Focus | 1 |
| Cantrip Pips | 1 (Resource) |
| Component Pouch | 1 |
| Crossbow, hand | 1 |
| Crossbow, light | 2 |
| Crossbow, heavy | 3 |
| Darts (Ammunition) | 1 (Resource) |
| Handaxe | 1 |
| Iron Spike | 1 (Utility) |
| Longbow | 3 |
| Longsword | 2 |
| Piton | 1 (Utility) |
| Potion (any type) | 1 (Utility) |
| Rations | 1 (Resource) |
| Rope, hempen | 2 |
| Rope, silk | 1 |
| Scroll | 1 (Utility) |
| Shortbow | 2 |
| Shortsword | 1 |
| Spellbook | 1 |
| Torch | 1 (Utility) |
| Two-handed sword | 3 |
| Waterskin | 1 (Resource) |