BX DMG Table: Cart & Wagon Encumbrance

The other day, I saw that Erik Tenkar shared a video post about how many mules it would take to haul away the average dragon's hoard (Treasure Type H). It was somewhere in the neighborhood of 15-20 (I won't get into the specific number or how the theoretical average hoard was calculated). That's not what this is about.

What that video did make me realize is, even though I have detailed information for loaded animals in the BX DMG (which is actually something repurposed from RS1: Fang, Faith, and Legerdemain), I did not give information on the amount of weight that could be pulled by beasts of burden hauling carts & wagons. 

That seems like an oversight on my part, so here's a draft of what I'm looking at adding to the "Trained Animals" section of the BX DMG. 

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Cart & Wagon Encumbrance

Certain animals may be harnessed to pull carts and wagons, allowing them to haul considerably greater loads than they can carry. The table below gives the maximum loads and movement rates for common teams. A beast can pull approximately four times its normal carrying load in a wheeled vehicle.

A cart is a two-wheeled vehicle generally drawn by one or two beasts, while a wagon is a larger four-wheeled vehicle drawn by a team of two or more beasts. The cost of a cart or wagon depends upon the weight it is constructed to bear. 

A cart or wagon costs approximately 1 gp for every 10 cn of its maximum load. Thus, a cart capable of carrying 1,000 cn costs 100 gp, while a wagon capable of carrying 5,000 cn costs 500 gp. The amount that can actually be hauled is limited by both the vehicle's capacity and the number and type of animals pulling it.

Beast of Burden	Pulling Speed	Cart 1 Beast	Cart 2 Beasts	Wagon 1 Beast	Wagon 2 Beasts	Wagon 4 Beasts
Elephant	120' (40')	12,000 cn	24,000 cn	—	—	—
	60' (20')	24,000 cn	48,000 cn	—	—	—
Horse, Draft	90' (30')	9,000 cn	18,000 cn	9,000 cn	18,000 cn	27,000 cn
	45' (15')	18,000 cn	36,000 cn	18,000 cn	36,000 cn	54,000 cn
Horse, Light	120' (40')	6,000 cn	12,000 cn	6,000 cn	12,000 cn	18,000 cn
	60' (20')	12,000 cn	24,000 cn	12,000 cn	24,000 cn	36,000 cn
Mule	120' (40')	4,000 cn	8,000 cn	4,000 cn	8,000 cn	12,000 cn
	60' (20')	8,000 cn	16,000 cn	8,000 cn	16,000 cn	24,000 cn
Ox	90' (30')	9,000 cn	18,000 cn	9,000 cn	18,000 cn	27,000 cn
	45' (15')	18,000 cn	36,000 cn	18,000 cn	36,000 cn	54,000 cn

The loads shown on the table indicate how much the animals are capable of pulling; the vehicle must also be constructed to bear the load. Ordinary carts generally carry about 10,000 cn, and wagons about 20,000 cn. Heavier vehicles may be constructed, but loads substantially exceeding these amounts require unusually large and strongly built vehicles and suitable roads.