Items VS Objects - Can items exist only for narrative purposes?

[RPDeshaies]

A user on Discord asked a question which I often get asked and I figured I'd take the time to answer it here so that others may find the information useful.

Original (re-written) text

I have a "feeling" that instead of considering the three items as the ONLY items that can be carried, there could be additional items with mechanical or narrative relevance. For example, in a sci-fi world, players could be allowed to carry up to three extra items that are only used for permission purposes. This would make the game more interesting, as players would not just "waste" a slot for a gun.

Is it a significant violation of the core, or is it implicitly allowed in the loose design? For example, if I find a dagger, I can carry it, but if it's not slotted, it means I only have permission to use it for bashing.

That's a very good and important question. The original Breathless game doesn't cover this because of how condensed it is, but this is something I cover more in TotBS and Stoneburner.

The limit of 3 items was mostly determined by the amount of space I had access to on the character sheet, and because I wanted some sort of limit to "balance" things out and prevent people from looting 45 items and going back to their HQ. However, you can have 45 items if you have, for example, a truck.

“Items” is a mechanical term in this context and doesn't include all types of objects. If you pick up a knife from the ground, it's an object that can be used narratively. But if you find a military-grade knife on a dead soldier, then maybe it’s important enough to be assigned a die rating. In this case, an object becomes an item and takes up space in your inventory.In TotBS and Stoneburner, I decided to split items into two categories: "depletable items," which fade away from fiction when reduced to a d4, and "lasting items," which can be reset to their initial die rating when you rest. You are more than encouraged to use this rule in your own games of Breathless, but the idea is the same: not all the objects you carry need a die rating. When it's just an object you have on you, it allows you to do things in the narrative. If you use that object in the context of a risky action, then the object allows you to perform the action, but you use one of your skills when you actually make the check. If an object is important enough, you give it a die rating and consider it an item.