why does my heavy crossbow have more give me a heavy burden when I am holding it then when I am wearing it?

<<why does my heavy crossbow have more give me a heavy burden when I am holding it then when I am wearing it? >>

I read that like 5 times....what are you asking?

Starkad

Because the system does not differentiate. Any item which is worn gets multiplied by a racial factor. This factor is 55% for everyone except dwarves, halflings and gnomes who get 27%. The reduction itself is because things don't encumber as much when worn, just like FONTAINED2 said. The difference between the two is to represent the difference in the race's sizes.

Granted, I would like to see it reworked to be a bit more "realistic", from an Elanthian point of view not necessarily a RL one. Which for one thing means spreading the range a bit: 75% for gor'togs, 20% for gnomes and the rest spread out in between. For another thing, Items inside containers should add to the containers' weights and then the container figured appropriately. And, finally, different body locations should have modifiers. Some get bonuses, other penalties based on how little or how much they would affect general movement.

Maybe someday.

I remember reading about this a while back. . .
The reason there's a difference when items are worn is to factor in that the clothing and the like a halfling is wearing is a lot smaller than the clothing of a gor tog. if an item is in a backpack, its considered to be the normal weight reguardless of whose backpack its in. If you take off your armor, it will be considered the normal weight since a gnome holding armor could still give it to a human to wear (and then would be considered heavier than gnome armor). Sure, its sort of a weak system, but it does the job O.K. I think. Hope I could clear that up a bit.
-Iseye