Burden

Burden is a tabletop RPG about weight that takes a straightforward and engaging approach to characterization and inventory management. As you play, you will explore a dangerous, uncharted world in search of unimaginable wonders, while dealing with the physical and emotional weight that comes with it.

In Burden, one player takes the role of Game Manager (GM), who facilitates the flow of play and adjudicates "what happens next" when the other players take action. The rest of the players are the adventurers. Their job is to ask questions about the world and take action to find out the answers.

The System

To resolve actions that are risky or where the outcome is unclear, Burden uses a simple dice pool system. The adventurer rolls a set of dice (at least 2, but up to 4 depending on their Skills and Assets) and counts how many show a result of 4 or higher. 

Inventory

Burden employs an easy-to-learn Inventory system to get the adventurers to answer the question: "what do you take with you, and what do you leave behind?" No cumbersome arithmetic, no finicking with exactly how much an item weighs, no ambiguity about what you can carry. If there's space in your Inventory, you can carry the item. If there isn't, you can't. 

Presence

Presence measures a thing’s prominence and control over a space or situation. You have Presence, your enemies have Presence, even the ground you walk on has Presence. Presence serves as a safeguard against harm and danger, but adventurers can also spend their Presence to reroll dice and perform dramatic finishers to single-handedly defeat  looming threats, or join forces with their allies in team finishers.

Modularity in Mind

Burden is designed to be scaled back or expanded to suit you and your group. The book's content is divided neatly into chapters that can be set aside while you learn the game, then incorporated as your group becomes more familiar with the core system. On top of that, it's extremely easy to devise your own new rules and customizations and plug them into Burden's framework. 

If you give Burden a try, as well as if you cook up any modules for the game, please let me know at @jollaffle on Twitter! I would love to hear about your adventures!