Wagon, mule, and overland movement

[GriffinRider]

Hey all, I've been hunting around the rule books and the forums and I still haven't quite gotten a clear answer to my question: How much weight can various mounts pull before it affects their speed? The specific scenario I'm trying to figure out is this: Is it more practical for a mule (speed of 40) to pull a wagon (weight of 400 lbs) with some stuff in it, perhaps a PC riding in the wagon (add another 200 lbs at least) or is it just as fast for the PCs to carry their own stuff and just walk? When does the loaded wagon weigh the mule down so much that it's slower than the PCs going on foot? And how much slower? The rules talk about an animal being able to pull 5 times its carrying capacity, but doesn't say when the load starts to slow the animal down. Would a mule only be able to pull a wagon plus 20 pounds (wagon 400, plus 20 in the wagon equals 420 pounds, which is the mule's carrying capacity) before it starts having it's speed reduced? Seems like you could lose the mule, and the wagon, and carry the 20 pounds - or more - yourself and get as far as fast, if much more than that reduces the mount's speed to your own. I understand the benefit of having an animal do the work is that even if you end up traveling at the same speed as you would on your own you don't arrive tired and footsore. I've got some first level PCs trying to cover a 200 mile distance on fairly level and even road, and there's a chance one of them could get a hold of a mule and a wagon and they're wondering if it's worth the money and/or bother. Thanks, and sorry if this has been covered somewhere else.

[Grear Bylls]

Hey all, I've been hunting around the rule books and the forums and I still haven't quite gotten a clear answer to my question: How much weight can various mounts pull before it affects their speed? The specific scenario I'm trying to figure out is this: Is it more practical for a mule (speed of 40) to pull a wagon (weight of 400 lbs) with some stuff in it, perhaps a PC riding in the wagon (add another 200 lbs at least) or is it just as fast for the PCs to carry their own stuff and just walk? When does the loaded wagon weigh the mule down so much that it's slower than the PCs going on foot? And how much slower? The rules talk about an animal being able to pull 5 times its carrying capacity, but doesn't say when the load starts to slow the animal down. Would a mule only be able to pull a wagon plus 20 pounds (wagon 400, plus 20 in the wagon equals 420 pounds, which is the mule's carrying capacity) before it starts having it's speed reduced? Seems like you could lose the mule, and the wagon, and carry the 20 pounds - or more - yourself and get as far as fast, if much more than that reduces the mount's speed to your own. I understand the benefit of having an animal do the work is that even if you end up traveling at the same speed as you would on your own you don't arrive tired and footsore. I've got some first level PCs trying to cover a 200 mile distance on fairly level and even road, and there's a chance one of them could get a hold of a mule and a wagon and they're wondering if it's worth the money and/or bother. Thanks, and sorry if this has been covered somewhere else.

Mules can PULL 840 pounds (15xStr14x2pullx2beastofburdem). Unless you use encumberance rules, they need to ritual cast, or they have a heavy macguffin to wheel about, they don't really NEED the mule.

Hmmm... that may be confusing. Mules cannot cast rituals, but Mounted casters can

[microstyles]

The rule that says they can pull five times their carrying capacity in a drawn vehicle doesn't say that it affects their speed in any way, so there's no reason to infer that it does. The base carrying capacity refers to how much the animal can carry on their back between riders or saddlebags. The other dragging rules are for pulling things along the ground.

[Demonslayer666]

Mules can PULL 840 pounds (15xStr14x2pullx2beastofburdem). Unless you use encumberance rules, they need to ritual cast, or they have a heavy macguffin to wheel about, they don't really NEED the mule.

Mules ritual casting... man that one got me until I realized you were talking about the party. heh.

[GlenSmash!]

Mules ritual casting... man that one got me until I realized you were talking about the party. heh.

Yeah I thought the same thing.

[Slipperychicken]

"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"
-PHB 155 "Mounts and Vehicles"

Mule is pulling 2100lb, not 420lb.

That's 400lb of wagon + 1700lb of cargo.


The rules talk about an animal being able to pull 5 times its carrying capacity, but doesn't say when the load starts to slow the animal down.

If you're using default encumbrance (i.e. 99.99% of tables running 5e), the mule can pull up to 2100lb. With variant encumbrance, I believe that's 700lb before a speed penalty is incurred (5 unencumbered limit * 14 strength * 2 beast of burden *5 pulling).

If you have just one mule under variant encumbrance, you may be best off getting a cart (200lb wt -> 500lb cargo space) rather than a wagon.

[Lunali]

A single horse cart would typically be roughly as fast or slightly faster than a relatively unencumbered person walking. Such a cart would be pulled by a mule or draft horse and have a speed of 40.

Multiple horse carts would typically use the somewhat weaker but considerably faster riding horses to get a speed of 60.