D&D 101: Backpack vs. Sack

[missmvicious]

Really, aside from the price, what is the difference? I always buy a backpack when I build a character, but I'm starting to wonder if I'm just wasting GP on fluff.

Backpacks are made of leather, so they have better hardness and HP, but who Sunders a backpack, srsly?

I know that Bags of Holding can only carry so much weight, and can't carry pointy things; would a sack have the same kind of problems: limited payload and "pointy thing" weakness?

The PHB doesn't really clarify this, and I wouldn't know where to look in the DMG. Is there anything in the RAW that clarifies the difference between backpacks and sacks, or is all that up to the DM?

[Flickerdart]

The Explorer's outfit has many pockets, so just carry things in those.

[missmvicious]

True... But I imagine the Explorer's Outfit looking a lot like cargo pants and a trench coat... all pockets and zippers, but nothing too big.

In other words, I couldn't store a tent and a bedroll in Explorers Outfit, or scrolls for that matter. I can carry all of my weapons and ammo well enough, and probably the rations, some rope, etc. But for the big and bulky stuff, I'm still going to need a sack or backpack. I'm just wondering which.

[nedz]

A Backpack keeps your hands free. So if you have to move and fight, and you can't come back for the sack you dropped, Backpack wins.

[Inferno]

I'd say its mostly a flavor thing, however a sack does not have straps or anything so i would think it requires a hand to hold while it's slung over your shoulder. A disadvantage when you want that hand free for your fighting/adventuring needs. That said, dropping is a free action so as long as your Dm doesn't have some opportunistic goblin grab all your gear while your stabbing things (all I've encountered eventually would) you should be fine with a sack.

[Mockingbird]

Handy Haversack for the win.

[Mooncrow]

To answer your original question, no there isn't anything written that goes over the differences.

[missmvicious]

Thanks everyone.

I think I see the inconvenience of a sack now. I wasn't picturing a "Santa Claus" sack so much as a messenger bag or purse... basically a sack with a leather strap that you sling across the chest and over the shoulder. Now that I know what I'm supposed to be envisioning, that does make the sack kind of suck. Swimming, climbing and fighting would all be impossible with it.

[Baroncognito]

My latest character has neither. He didn't even have pockets at character creation, just a belt to stick his dagger in and tie his bedroll to.

Now he has some pockets, largely empty.

[Lapak]

To be fair to the sack, if we were trying to simulate the encumbering effects during combat you'd want to drop either one before battle was joined if at all possible. Trying to fight with a full-sized traveler's backpack on your shoulders would be... difficult. And the sack would be easier to get rid of as you moved to attack or defend.

But since the game doesn't make that distinction, yeah, the pack keeps your hands free.

[Anarion]

If you're in the pre-handy haversack world you shouldn't have all that much stuff anyway (although it's terribly frustrating to accurately track encumbrance without a computer program). And so long as you're carrying a light load, the game rules don't care that a bed roll and a 10-foot pole slung over your backpack would be extremely unwieldy. Overall, it's not that far off from realistic except for 1-3 particularly unwieldy items.

That said, I would recommend buying a sack or two once that amount of gold becomes unimportant. They're very useful for quickly stuffing things into them, like treasure, food, or gnomes.

[KillianHawkeye]

Page 110 of the 3.0 version of the Player's Handbook has a table which details the cost, weight, and carrying capacity of various containers. I really wish this table had been included in the 3.5 PHB, since it seems pretty handy. Anyway, the backpack and the sack are both listed as being able to carry 1 cu. ft. of dry goods.

[Deophaun]

Sack + a few feet of rope + basic stitching = what you were envisioning.

However, I've always envisioned the backpack as being something more than just a leather bag with shoulder straps. Something more along the lines of what a modern-day soldier would wear, to keep the weight distributed and allow for greater balance and freedom of movement than what a 13-year-old kid walking to school would experience. Not everything would be stuffed inside, but the backpack would have hangers and bindings outside it to accommodate common gear. The bedroll, for instance, wouldn't actually be in the backpack, but strapped to the top. A 10'-pole would be broken down into 3 or 4 attachable pieces and tied to the side.

Still, there's no mechanical difference between the two.

[Hand_of_Vecna]

I often find myself player 1st level characters on a tight budget either from playing 0-level or from having a non standard must have item. I find having a few sacks very useful for carrying my meager gear. I usually also grab a roll of twine which is only a copper or two to tie off sacks and attach them to belts backpacks etc. I also find empty sacks an absolute necessity for once the party gets a decent amount of treasure.

[Gavinfoxx]

Sack on a quarterstaff / stick!

Hobo it out!

[Gullintanni]

Forget Sacks and forget backpacks. Buy a Cart and have the Barbarian pull it :smalltongue:

[Rubik]

Forget Sacks and forget backpacks. Buy a Cart and have the Barbarian pull it :smalltongue:Or forego a barbarian and buy a few mules instead.

STAMPEEEEEDE!

[Inferno]

Forgo a cart and just tie the sacks to the mule, have it drag a few sacks around.

[Rubik]

Forgo a cart and just tie the sacks to the mule, have it drag a few sacks around.I have something I could say to that, but it's NSFW.

[Diefje]

Yo dawg, I herd u liek sacks, so I put some sacks on yo sacks, so you can carry stuff while you carry stuff


Sacks are for putting kittens gnomes in and tossing in the river. And you can beat people with it too (also works without kittens gnomes).

[Chronos]

I find that there are a lot of cheap but heavy things I like having available, just in case, so at low levels, I always get a mule. If the mule gets lost or stolen, no big deal, it's just a bunch of pots and pans and the like. But if you're in the middle of an adventure and you find that you do need some cheap mundane item, and you still have the mule, great.

[Leon]

Sack + a few feet of rope + basic stitching = what you were envisioning.


A Sackpack

[Diefje]

I find that there are a lot of cheap but heavy things I like having available, just in case, so at low levels, I always get a mule. If the mule gets lost or stolen, no big deal, it's just a bunch of pots and pans and the like. But if you're in the middle of an adventure and you find that you do need some cheap mundane item, and you still have the mule, great.

That's brilliant, leave some loot for the DM so he won't go looking for the REAL stash. Even have a monster with it so he'll never suspect a thing!

Plus, when the going gets rough, you can't eat a backpack.

[brujon]

That's exactly why Craft: Basketweaving is such an OP option. It's basically pun-pun levels of power. Instead of a sack or a backpack, you have baskets... WEAVED BY YOU. WATCH OUT! I HAVE A MASTERWORK BASKET!

But, seriously, if you wanna be cheap, do it the right way... Craft checks can be made untrained. For simple things like sacks, backpacks and the like... The craft DC isn't going to be too high (10~15 tops). With respectable INT, and the aid of some much-needed competence bonus (You can argue that your character spent some time watching the local seamstress doing her work, and asked for some pointers in how to do it yourself... Kind DM's would give you a +1 for that.), then you have books, which can be read in a public library, and arguably should give at least a +2 competence bonus. If you can garner something like a +6 bonus between competence bonus and int, you can almost completely avoid the possibility of failing to craft the stuff you need. (Basically, you need to be able to not-fail by 5 or more. Because that means waste of money. 4 or less is still a waste... of time only. and it's downtime so it's ok.)

It's good from a roleplaying perspective, too... Means your character actually spent some downtime before starting to adventure, preparing for it as best as he could with the money he was given. For items with DC's <=10, a 16 int plus 3 competence bonus (be creative and inventive), you can avoid completely the chance of wasting raw materials. If the party already knew each other before the adventure began, you can even spare some skill points into specific crafts, like armorsmithing or weaponsmithing or bowmaking, and have even your weapons & armor be made at 1/3 cost. (Friends don't charge for service! ;) )

[faceroll]

Go with the Jack Bauer man purse:
http://thesatchelpages.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/jack-bauer-in-action.jpg

That thing's like a handy haversack and a robe of useful items, combined into one.

[Larpus]

Is there any rule for, if you're a necromancer, you can raise a zombie/skeleton and modify it to be a walking wardrobe?

Even if there isn't, I don't think it's also impossible, so why don't necromancers live it large with undead furniture?

[brujon]

Is there any rule for, if you're a necromancer, you can raise a zombie/skeleton and modify it to be a walking wardrobe?

Even if there isn't, I don't think it's also impossible, so why don't necromancers live it large with undead furniture?

Constructs are better for this type of thing... There's even the Living Vault for your epic spellcasting needs!

[vitkiraven]

Go with the Jack Bauer man purse:
http://thesatchelpages.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/jack-bauer-in-action.jpg

That thing's like a handy haversack and a robe of useful items, combined into one.

Also known as a Rucksack in 2nd Edition's Aurora's Whole Realms Guide.

[Darrin]

I think this obligatory link (http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=984) kind of settles the obvious superiority of the backpack.

[Diefje]

http://www.motivationalmine.com/wp-content/uploads/tdomf//6052/encumbrance-550x439.jpg

[Ledeas]

I am way late into the conversation and my info is 2nd ed. BUT what they heck, why not.

A small sack was 200 coins of weight (20 pounds), backpack was 400 cns (40 lbs.) and large sack was 600 cns (60 lbs)

Balance that with the info that everyone else mentioned of the ease to carry things and I think you can see why the backpack is a good idea.

Though the Mule or Cart is an excellent idea.

[AMFV]

Is there any rule for, if you're a necromancer, you can raise a zombie/skeleton and modify it to be a walking wardrobe?

Even if there isn't, I don't think it's also impossible, so why don't necromancers live it large with undead furniture?

What you actually do is deck out your undead minions in various outfits, that way you not only keep them in good order, but you can see various combinations and the like, and with it's important for the self esteem of your minions that they look good.

[nedz]

This thread is 2 years old.

[Norin]

http://gal.patheticcockroach.com/var/albums/humor/thread-necromancy/thread_necromancer_card_3.jpg?m=1380634402