Bulk

You can carry an amount of Bulk equal to 5 plus your Strength modifier without penalty; if you carry more, you gain the encumbered condition. You can’t hold or carry more Bulk than 10 plus your Strength modifier.

Items can have a number to indicate their Bulk value, or they can be light (indicated by an L) or negligible (indicated by a —) for the purpose of determining Bulk. For instance, defiance series armor is 3 Bulk, a dueling sword is 1 Bulk, a knife or spell gem is light, and a credstick is negligible. Ten light items count as 1 Bulk, and you round down fractions (so 9 light items count as 0 Bulk, and 11 light items count as 1 Bulk). Items of negligible Bulk don’t count toward Bulk unless you try to carry vast numbers of them, as determined by the GM.

As a general rule, an item that weighs 5 to 10 pounds is 1 Bulk, an item weighing less than a few ounces is negligible, and anything in between is light. Particularly awkward or unwieldy items might have higher Bulk values. For example, a 10-foot pole isn’t heavy, but its length makes it difficult for you to move while you have one on your person, so its Bulk is 1. Items made for larger or smaller creatures have greater or lesser Bulk, as described in Items of Different Sizes.

You might need to know the Bulk of a creature, especially if you need to carry someone off the battlefield. The following table lists the typical Bulk of a creature based on its size, but the GM might adjust this number. Constructs or many creatures with the Tech trait weigh more.

In some situations, you might drag an object or creature rather than carry it. If you’re dragging something, treat its Bulk as half. Typically, you can drag one thing at a time, you must use both hands to do so, and you drag slowly—roughly 50 feet per minute—unless you have some means to speed it up. Use the total Bulk of what you’re dragging, so if you have a sack laden with goods, use the sum of all the Bulk in it instead of an individual item within.