You cast the spell at the target and it becomes weighted down as if it had X amount of coins by the ward (1000 coins per +5?).

More need to be said?

>Do creatures have encumbrance?

They're not as crazy as players and carry around unnecessary junk.

I don't see creatures as having encumbrance (though I could be wrong), but I do notice on a few creatures that can gen with different armor and weapons:
one creature in a certain area may gen with scale armor and ohe/shield, have a 5 second RT on action
the same creature in a different area may gen with chain armor and THW, have a 7 second RT on action

It seems they're bound by the rules of armor penalties and weapon speed from what I've seen.

I suppose the idea of adding encumbrance would be the same as casting SLOW (504) on a creature. Just think of it as phantom encumbrance. The spell would simply give the target added RT (slow).

-Drumpel