Encumbrance
In this campaign, the DM will not generally track encumbrance, food and water consumption, or basic ammunition (non-magical arrows/bolts/etc.) on a regular basis. It will be assumed the players will be carrying enough camping equipment to survive in the wild, or that they have characters competent at hunting or gathering in most situations.
Having said this, it is up to the players to track their equipment in whatever amount of detail they choose. If carefully tracking equipment and encumbrance makes the player feel more immersed, they may certainly do so. Players must still track valuable item consumption such as potions and scrolls. It is not necessary for spellcaster characters to carefully track all their spell components, but if the spell has a component with an enumerated cost, the player must purchase those components and track them in order to cast the spell.
Large, Heavy, and Bulky Items
Occasionally, the players may come across large, unwieldy, or heavier than normal objects that they wish to carry. The following system can be used for this kind of encumbrance, at the DM's discretion. These simplified rules will add realism and immersion, creating interesting decisions, while still maintaining the spirit of simplified encumbrance tracking.
On the PC character sheet, or a separate piece of scratch paper, mark down a number of squares equal to 5 + (STR modifier) + OR - (1/size category from Medium). So Small characters subtract one from the total, Large characters add one, and Medium characters add 0. These boxes represent carrying capacity slots.
Items will be given a "bulk score" based on their size, weight, and unwieldy nature. Most items under ten pounds, or under one cubic foot in area, are considered small and have a score of 0. These items include things like an empty waterskin, 50' of silk rope, daggers, a scroll, a potion, a piece of chalk, etc. Keep in mind, some items may be very light, but still take up bulk because they are so unwieldy, such as a quarterstaff. Items made for smaller creatures may have less bulk. If in doubt, 10 lbs. or 1 cu. ft. equals 1 bulk.
Add the bulk score together and for each point, fill up a slot. Once your bulk score is higher than your capacity slots, your speed is halved. If your bulk score exceeds your capacity slots by 5, treat your character as if they are fatigued. If your bulk score doubles your capacity, treat your character as if they are exhausted. To eliminate these conditions the character must drop enough items to get their bulk score back to or under their carrying capacity. If a character has been over capacity for longer than 1 hour, they must also rest for an hour to alleviate the penalties.
Containers
Without using containers, a character cannot make full use of their capacity slots. Certain items may be worn, such as armor, helms, belts, and items with carrying straps. In addition, a character may carry a single bulky item in each of their hands. Instead, they may load up to their strength modifier in bulk in their arms, but when loaded up in this manner they may not fight, run, jump, climb, or make use of any Dex-based skill.
Containers allow a character to make full use of their capacity slots. Using them does not add to one's overall capacity, nor do they subtract from one's bulk score (unless the container is a magic item such as a Bag of Holding) ; they simply unlock capacity slots that already exist.
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