Keeping your things
Chests, barrels, crates, crocks and a strongbox for your gold, and what each one will take.
Your pack only holds so much, and anything you leave on a pile out in the open can be picked up by whoever comes along. Anything you build to keep things in is yours wherever it stands, and only you and the people you trust can open it. The one exception is the strongbox, which only you can open.
| Store | Where | Holds | Liquids | Who can open it | Costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Root cellar | Outside | 300 kg | Yes | You and the people you trust | 6 logs, 4 stone |
| Icehouse | Outside | 600 kg | Yes | You and the people you trust | 9 logs, 4 planks |
| Barrel | Outside | 120 kg | Yes | You and the people you trust | 8 planks, 1 iron fittings |
| Crate | Outside | 150 kg | No | You and the people you trust | 3 planks |
| Chest | Inside, on a floor | 300 kg | No | You and the people you trust | 6 planks, 1 iron fittings |
| Strongbox | Inside, on a floor | 20 kg | No | Only you | 2 iron fittings, 2 iron bars, 1 plank |
| Crock | Inside, on a floor | 40 kg | Yes | You and the people you trust | 3 clay |
| Cupboard | Inside, on a floor | 200 kg | No | You and the people you trust | 9 planks, 1 iron fittings |
Milk, sap and syrup#
Liquids need something tight to hold them, so milk, maple sap, maple syrup, spruce tea or canteen water will go in a barrel, a crock, a root cellar or an icehouse, but not in a chest, a cupboard, a crate, a strongbox, a cart or a stock yard bay, and you can't pour them out on the ground. Your pack carries them as it always has. When you open a store that won't take them, they're greyed out in your pack, so you can see why before you try.
A crock is the easy one to start with. It's just clay, so you can have one by the stove before you've got a saw pit going for barrel staves.
Your gold#
Gold dust has weight like anything else, and carrying it all around makes no sense once you've got a house. A strongbox is a small box bound in iron with a lock on it. It takes 2 iron fittings, 2 iron bars, 1 plank and Smithing 5 to build, and it holds 20 kg, which is a lot of gold dust and jewellery.
What makes it different from a chest is the lock. Trusting someone lets them into your chests and barrels, which is what you want when you're building together, but your strongbox stays yours alone. Nobody pays you anything for keeping gold in one. It just keeps it safe until you need it.
Food keeps longer put away#
Food goes off 4 times slower in a chest, a cupboard, a crock, a barrel or a crate than in your pack or on a pile. A root cellar or an icehouse with ice in it keeps it much longer than that. See Food, water and staying warm.
If you die#
Everything you had goes into a grave where you fell, the clothes off your back included. For 1.5 h, a game day, only you and the people you trust can open it, so go back for it. After that anyone can, and 3 days of play later it crumbles away with whatever's left. What you've put away in your stores stays put, which is the best reason to leave your gold at home in a strongbox before a long trip.