Handcarts for your treasure

[eggdropsoap]

Despite Exploits page 22 giving detailed load rules for carts and wagons of various wheel counts, there are no two-wheeled carts or wagons in DFRPG's gear chapter! The wheelbarrow is good, but I'm sure my group will aspire to carts and wagons for their treasure-hauling needs. :)

And there's very little in GURPS Low-Tech — only the oxcart, and the vehicle stats aren't compatible with the DFRPG rules for calculating effective load. It does cost $340 though, so that and the wheelbarrow gave me a very rough bracket for figuring a cost.

So naturally I turned to research. It's surprisingly hard to find any information online about medieval handcart weights or load limits, and a trip to the library for this seemed silly… Luckily I did eventually find a documented design that's probably close enough, in the Wikpedia page for the “Mormon handcart pioneers” events of 1856–60, so I went with that as a model.

This is what I came up with:

Handcart. A two-wheeled handcart with spoked and iron-banded wheels. Holds 500 lbs. Can be pulled by hand or yoked to someone. Divide effective weight of load by 10. $100, 60 lbs.

Enjoy!

[martinl]

Given how delving expeditions usually go, wouldn't they prefer a handbasket?

[eggdropsoap]

Originally Posted by martinl

Given how delving expeditions usually go, wouldn't they prefer a handbasket?

(Ha!)

Well yes, for light jobs! If you've got a lot of brimstone to deal with a handcart can get you there a bit faster than baskets. :)

[MIB.6361]

Good write up/research.

And I feel like it's adaptable.


Fen Darrow: "Well, this quest has gone to hell in a handcart."
Bigden: "Don't you mean handbasket?"
Fen: "No. We'll need a handcart. At least."