Troll Lord Games

So making characters for the first time we had a few questions about EV. First why is the diggery do have an EV of -... What an EV of - mean. * means no Ev. I have the 6th printing of the PHB if that matters. Seems like a big instrument like!e diggery do should have a big EV....there are other things like paper that have a - also. Thanks in advance

A dash means that the EV of the item is one of three things.

1. An integral part of the being (e.g. a fist).
2. Variable (e.g. a rock).
3. An item that cannot be picked up (e.g. a sled).

The first and third items should be self explanatory. The second item will require you to calculate the EV of the item using the Ad-Hoc Encumbrance rules given later in the section. So both the diggery do and sheets of paper will have EV calculated by the CK. For paper it sounds strange, but it's necessary given what the asterisk actually means regarding EV. For you see, you are mistaken in that the asterisk means an EV of zero. The asterisk for an item's EV is explained as having no appreciable EV unless carried in bulk quantities of greater than 10, in which case the EV is 1 per ten carried.

500-sheet reams of modern printer paper weigh twenty pounds. That ream of paper would have an EV of 4. EV 1 for the size of the paper, +3 EV for weight. Medieval-era paper may be heavier than modern paper, but not appreciably so. Medieval paper uses hemp, linen, and cotton fibers extracted from rags instead of wood pulp. These materials may influence the weight somewhat, but I don't believe it would be influenced to the point that the EV would change. To put it in absurd terms, if paper had an asterisk instead of a dash, then the paper must be bulkier than any paper ever produced in history.

OK that makes sense...paper ( 10 sheets) has * for EV but - for weight my bad. OK that makes sense so the diggery do is not really meant to carried around. The - is not listed in the equipment area hence my confusion. Thanks for clearing the up

My example of the paper is way off, and I only now just realized it. But it's all good.

FYI, Cotton paper is noticeably lighter than wood pulp paper.

There are other ways to calculate encumbrance. I only allow my pc's to carry a number of items equal to their str. A str 12 pc may only carry 12 items. Some items bundle, ie a quiver of 20 arrows counts as 1 item.

Sure there are house rules galore for encumbrance, but that wasn't the OP's question.