Funny you should mention not hauling crates and barrels..... I know siege of dragonspear wasent OG bg1 but it actually has a quest involving sacks of grain xD not exactly the same as a barrel, but in essence the same. A container that holds other products. They weighed like 20lbs each some of my characters were carrying a dozen or so (yay high STR). At the end of the day, does that matter? In bg1 ive had instances where I was carrying multiple carcasses of Ankhegs around to sell to armour smiths. Sometimes find bodies that you need to pick up and deliver somewhere, etc. If you find the story of a literal son (or daughter) of a dead god lugging around the corpses of fantasy ant-lions is less weird then carrying barrels with varying amounts of things in them then uh....we have very different things of what we think is weird, I suppose.
One of these days, I'll get around to playing those EE versions. That said, carrying 20 lb bags of stuff isn't that weird but of course 2E strength girdles letting a character run around with hundreds of pounds of stuff is. Carrying a bunch of dead insect carcasses might feel weird but I vaguely recall the description to be shells, meaning the squishy bits were presumably removed.
But like I said, the bulk factor was a bit comical in BG1 and 2, but at least there were limits. And the inventory wasn't a magic warpgate that allowed instant transport of matter across large distances. Can you imagine how neat it would have been if you could leave your pickpocket in town and just bring the other 5 out in the field. Then just dump off the stuff at the pickpocket's end of the party and have infinite loot capacity. And if you run really low, the pickpocket can buy a health potion and teleport it out in the field.
Originally Posted by Demoulius
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Climbing a ladder specifically. Not just climbing. Obviously there's a difference between climging regular terrain and climbing up something that is very hard to use without fingers. You would also not expect bears and goats and whatnot to climb up ropes or vines.
Considering there are no seperate rules for climbing a ladder. No. There is no difference. The only rules that excist that might be valid to mention that there are rules for surfaces where you have little to no grip. And even then, you could still climb it. You just need to pass a (IIRC) Athetlics check to do so.
That aside. Have you seen bears actually climbing trees? Seriously a tree has nothing to hold onto aside from bark and maybe very tiny branches but they practicly fly through those things. What makes you think a bear would see a ladder and go 'welp I dont have opposable thumbs. Guess il stay down here!' and be unable to go up there?
Same story for a snake. They can climb up the side of trees and they dont even have limbs.
Ladders do not have seperate rules adressing them how you can climb them to my knowledge and if they do id love it for you to point me in that direction. But as it stands you just keep moving the goalpost because animals climbing things is weird to you...
A ladder is built to be climbable by humans, not so much animals that don't have the right feet to make the steps or the right joints and flexibility to move a foot or a paw out of one step and onto the next. The D&D rules don't specifically mention ladders but then there's a DM around to make sure things do not get out of hand. There are also no rules specifically saying that a druid in bear form with some monk levels cannot go full kung fu panda, as far as I know, but if you try that then the DM will probably have some fun with you regardless.
Yes, bears can climb trees, to the extent that their claws can find purchase. Why wouldn't they be able to? But how does that help them climb ladders that lack the curvature and bark of trees and the width for their limbs to really fit? How would them climbing big round trees with good bark help them climb up vines on which their claws have no grip whatsoever?
As far as snakes are concerned, I suspect they shouldn't have too much trouble with a ladder, depending on species. But how about cows and goats and horses and giraffes? How about various kinds of dinosaurs? And have you ever seen dogs climb ladders? They are not good at that and untrained dogs probably fall off enough times to grow bored before figuring it out.
Originally Posted by Demoulius
-Not a huge fan of the design choice either. But can see why its beeing done. Honestly adding a 'travel to swamp' or 'travel to ruined village' area prompt wouldnt mechanicly add anything. Other then that you could more easily say that its not all literally next to each other. That said, what would it add? Immersion I suppose and considering immersion is a big part of playing an rpg id be all for it. But maybe its alot of work or they dont want to do it. Who can say?
If the swamp had it's own map, it would be a map of purely swamp with plenty of room for just adding swampy atmosphere that doesn't conflict with anything else. And maybe a different nuance of the lighting to indicate either time passing or just a different weather. It would also be a perfect point to bring back the iconic "You must gather your party before venturing forth." message. The same applies to the other major areas of the overland map, IMO.
