How Carrying Capacity Works in 5e
A Small or Medium hero can carry Strength × 15 pounds and drag, lift or push Strength × 30 pounds, at a Speed of 5 feet while over the first limit. Most tables never weigh a thing. Then the party finds a dragon's hoard, or a dead friend, or a statue the client wants brought home, and someone asks how much a Fighter can lift. The SRD answers in one table. Here it is, worked through for real kits, coins and pack animals.
When the rule applies
The SRD starts by saying you usually don't need it:
You can usually carry your gear and treasure without worrying about the weight of those objects. If you try to haul an unusually heavy object or a massive number of lighter objects, the GM might require you to abide by the rules for carrying capacity in "Rules Glossary."
So weight is the GM's tool for the big haul, not homework for every torch.
The rule
Your size and Strength score determine the maximum weight in pounds that you can carry, as shown in the Carrying Capacity table. The table also shows the maximum weight you can drag, lift, or push.
| Size | Carry | Drag, lift, push |
|---|---|---|
| Tiny | Str × 7.5 lb. | Str × 15 lb. |
| Small or Medium | Str × 15 lb. | Str × 30 lb. |
| Large | Str × 30 lb. | Str × 60 lb. |
| Huge | Str × 60 lb. | Str × 120 lb. |
| Gargantuan | Str × 120 lb. | Str × 240 lb. |
And the one penalty:
While dragging, lifting, or pushing weight in excess of the maximum weight you can carry, your Speed can be no more than 5 feet.
Two things follow:
- Small and Medium share a row. A Strength 8 Halfling carries exactly what a Strength 8 Human carries.
- There is no slow-down below the line. Up to your carry number you move at full Speed. Past it, up to the drag number, you crawl at 5 feet. Past that, it doesn't move. SRD 5.2.1 has no in-between encumbrance steps.
What each Strength score holds
Medium or Small heroes:
| Strength | Carry | Drag, lift, push |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | 120 lb. | 240 lb. |
| 10 | 150 lb. | 300 lb. |
| 13 | 195 lb. | 390 lb. |
| 16 | 240 lb. | 480 lb. |
| 20 | 300 lb. | 600 lb. |
One species bends the table. The Goliath's Powerful Build reads:
You also count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity.
A Strength 16 Goliath uses the Large row: 480 lb. to carry, 960 lb. to drag. That doubles a Human Fighter with the same score.
What a starting kit weighs
Weights from the SRD's equipment tables:
Fighter, kit A: Chain Mail 55, Greatsword 6, Flail 2, 8 Javelins 16, Dungeoneer's Pack 55. Total 134 lb. With Strength 16 (240 lb.) the Fighter has 106 lb. spare. At Strength 13, the least Chain Mail asks for, the spare drops to 61 lb.
Fighter, kit B: Studded Leather 13, Scimitar 3, Shortsword 2, Longbow 2, Quiver 1, 20 Arrows 1, Dungeoneer's Pack 55. Total 77 lb.
Wizard, kit A: 2 Daggers 2, Quarterstaff 4, Robe 4, Scholar's Pack 22. Total 32 lb. plus the Spellbook. With Strength 8 (120 lb.) the Wizard has 88 lb. spare, less the Spellbook.
The packs are the heavy part. The Dungeoneer's and Explorer's Packs each weigh 55 lb.; the biggest item in each is ten days of Rations at 2 lb. a day, 20 lb. Eat the food and the pack gets lighter.
Treasure
The SRD gives coins a weight:
A coin weighs about a third of an ounce, so fifty coins weigh a pound.
| Hoard | Weight |
|---|---|
| 500 GP | 10 lb. |
| 2,000 GP | 40 lb. |
| 5,000 SP | 100 lb. |
| 10,000 CP | 200 lb. |
So 2,000 GP fits in the kit-A Fighter's spare room. A chest of 10,000 copper does not: 134 + 200 = 334 lb., past 240 but under the 480 drag limit. The Fighter drags it at 5 feet a turn. Split it between two people and both walk at full Speed. Change the copper for gold, 100 GP, and it weighs 2 lb.
Mounts and carts
Animals use the same table. The Mule's trait:
Beast of Burden. The mule counts as one size larger for the purpose of determining its carrying capacity.
A Medium Mule with Strength 14 uses the Large row: 14 × 30 = 420 lb., the figure the SRD's Mounts table lists, for 8 GP. A Draft Horse carries 540 lb., a Camel 450 lb., an Elephant 1,320 lb. A Backpack, which holds 30 pounds, "can also serve as a saddlebag."
Hitch the animal to something and the number grows:
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, add their carrying capacities together.
| Rig | Pulls | Vehicle | Cargo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mule + Cart | 2,100 lb. | 200 lb. | 1,900 lb. |
| Draft Horse + Cart | 2,700 lb. | 200 lb. | 2,500 lb. |
| 2 Draft Horses + Wagon | 5,400 lb. | 400 lb. | 5,000 lb. |
An 8 GP mule and a 15 GP cart move nearly a ton. For a party planning to strip a dungeon, that is the cheapest upgrade in the book.
Magic that carries for you
Bag of Holding (Uncommon):
The bag can hold up to 500 pounds, not exceeding a volume of 64 cubic feet. The bag weighs 5 pounds, regardless of its contents.
Five hundred pounds of copper, 25,000 coins, rides as 5 lb. Mind the warning: "If the bag is overloaded, pierced, or torn, it is destroyed, and its contents are scattered in the Astral Plane."
Floating Disk (level 1, Wizard, Ritual): a disk that "can hold up to 500 pounds" for 1 hour and trails the caster once they move more than 20 feet away. As a Ritual it costs no slot. Put more than 500 pounds on it and "the spell ends, and everything on the disk falls to the ground."
A note on Boots of Striding and Springing
These boots say your Speed "isn't reduced by you carrying weight in excess of your carrying capacity." The only reduction the SRD's carrying rule gives is the 5-foot cap while dragging, lifting or pushing. Read plainly, the boots let you drag that copper chest at 30 feet, not 5. Your GM makes the call.
At the table
Players: write your kit's total under your Strength on the sheet once, and only update it when treasure or a body comes along. GMs: call for weight when the haul is big enough to change a choice, carry it, split it, or leave it. And when the party finds a vault, ask who brought the mule.
For what Strength does elsewhere, see Grappling and Shoving and Falling and Jumping. For how far a loaded party gets in a day, see Travel Pace.
This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 ("SRD 5.2.1") by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
