Hi all! A few months ago I answered an LFG post on here and started running a D&D 5e game that was focused on a slow-burn, semi-realistic style of weight gain. We looked at some ruleset options, decided none really fit our needs, so we came up with a custom system. It’s been undergoing a lot of revisions as we play through the campaign but I feel like it’s in a place where it’s finally good to share with the community.
Voila!
Featuring ideas and content from the players and co-creators:
Going into the design process, we had a few goals in mind:
Semi-Realistic: The weight gain should still be exaggerated enough to stay satisfying, but we didn’t want the characters to be 500lbs by level 3.
Weight-Oriented Roleplay: Even if the weight gain element is slow and gradual, just about every session should still have some enjoyable fetish content.
Use 5e Principles: The streamlining of 5th Edition D&D is its best feature in my opinion, so I wanted to make something that used the same low-math toolkit, instead of bolting on new subsystems like crazy. No tracking calories or stomach capacity or anything like that.
Keep It Fun: It’s easy to come up with penalties to stack onto fat characters. Maybe they add some degree of realism, but realism isn’t always fun. We wanted to keep the characters perfectly combat-capable while still having a few mechanical effects in place to enable the fetish content.
Limited Size: Overall we weren’t interested in getting anywhere close to immobility, so there aren’t rules to accomodate that.
I’m pretty proud with what we came up with! It’s been a very fun campaign so far, and I hope others out there can use or adapt these rules to tell similar stories together. Here’s a handful of features you can look forward to:
Uses the Lifestyle rules from the Player’s Handbook, turning them into a big part of the weight gain system
Adds some new downtime activities to help characters manage their weight (in either direction)
Added new uses for certain Tool Proficiencies
Roleplaying reward system: engage in weight-related content, earn Indulgence Points. You can (and should!) customize the list of ways to earn points to emphasize or de-emphasize certain types of content in your campaign.
List of perks to buy with Indulgence Points, which alter and enhance the ways your character can engage with the fetish content
Mechanics for related fetishes such as stuffing, stuckage, and feederism. Did you know the Player’s Handbook has rules for crawling in tight spaces? It does, and now you can get wedged in there pretty good if you’re not careful.
New Feats let you use your newfound girth in a variety of ways
Rules-light method of tracking NPC weight gain
I’ve also been working on a supplement to support adding more types of fetish content to the game in a modular way, so look out for that down the road. But in the meantime, take a look and share your thoughts!
Changelog
Summary
4/19/2022 - v1.0
Initial WeightGaming release
4/24/2022 - v1.1
Revised NPC Feeding rules
Revised weight loss rules
New perk: Double-Check the Scale
New perk: Stretched Stomach
New perk: Persuasive Feeder
New perk: One More Slice
New perk: Imposing Bulk
New perk: Refined Palate
New perk: Soothing Hands
New perk: Expert Feeder
New perk: Neighborly Hospitality
New perk: Explosive Growth
Removed perk: Endemic Rotundity
Reduced effect of Well-Padded perk, for balance reasons
Perhaps a section or two dedicated for certain body types/parts. I only say this as when one gets larger breasts then it may become difficult to use both hands for their weapon, a wider rear could lead to possible penalties for movement (sneaking around, breaking furniture, etc.), or even the belly adding its own spin on the character as they get larger or smaller.
It may require some thought on the player on how the weight settles on them but it could add some variety depending on the effects of the body types.
Perhaps as an optional rule? It could add fun to the right group, but it might also add more crunch, and the major focus seems to be keeping this fast and lightweight.
Yeah that’s the sort of thing we would generally handle through roleplay or narration, for exactly the reasons @Gonkulous listed. Adding a bunch of tables and modifiers like that is against the 5e design ethos, I would say. Which isn’t to say it can’t work, it’s just not what we were aiming for.
We do have a few different body types represented within the group, and it adds some nice narrative flair to certain descriptions. For example, when the pear-shaped fighter gets stuck in a cave, it’s because of her expanded butt and hips getting wedged between the walls. Whereas when the belly-focused warlock started gaining weight, the first way you could tell was because of the way her shirts started clinging to her stomach.
Updated a few underdeveloped systems, much happier with the new versions! Also added some new perks, including a few to take advantage of the new improved feederism system.
NPC Feeding system has been enhanced! Now, it is much easier to increase an NPC’s weight if they are skinny, and it gets progressively harder as they gain weight to simulate having to break through the “plateau”
Weight Loss system has been enhanced! The old system was needlessly arcane, and would result in achingly slow weight loss. This new one should be a lot simpler and more effective.
New Perks:
Double-Check the Scale: Failed to get your favorite feedee NPC any fatter this month? Maybe give the scale another look to make sure.
Stretched Stomach: It may be harder for you to feel full, but think how many snacks you can fit in there now…
Persuasive Feeder: A silver tongue can turn even the wimpiest feedee into an eating machine.
One More Slice: That one extra piece of cake can be just what you need to get someone to their next weight milestone.
Imposing Bulk: Use your newfound bulk to throw your weight around and bully the less-endowed
Refined Palate: Eat fancier food, gain more weight. It’s basic science.
Soothing Hands: Perform a special belly rub to relieve the distress of overeating in others. Just hope they don’t wind up eating even more and ending up right back in the same state…
Expert Feeder: You have a very particular set of skills…
Neighborly Hospitality: What’s more neighborly than plying your neighbors with desserts?
Explosive Growth: For when you really just need to be as big as possible.
Also removed the Endemic Rotundity perk, it’s unnecessary now that the NPC feeding system is much better-developed. Farewell to the dumbest and best name for anything I’ve ever come up with.
Oh well executed! I think you did a good job balancing keeping it simple while still having some substance. Gaining perks via the indulgence points system is a really nice touch.