Examples of what a character could do with 50 Strength?

[JW86]

Hi,

I remember reading, but cannot now find, some quite interesting and amusing posts detailing what a character with certain buffed Strength scores could achieve.

Can anybody give examples of what a character with, say, 30, 40, 50 or 60 strength might be able to accomplish in terms of carrying, pushing, pulling, throwing, breaking dungeons etc?

Thanks.

[nintendoh]

A character with 60 stregth can last 4 seconds against chuck norris's pinky in a arm wrestling match

[InvisibleBison]

Assuming the character can juggle:

A character with 30 Strength can juggle people. A character with 40 Strength can juggle horses. A character with 50 Strength can juggle elephants.

[thecrimsondawn]

This came up before, and a problem comes up with the calculations. 30Str is "Amongst the strongest creatures to have ever existed" and going past that just gets silly.

At 50Str, that is a +20 mod. That means on an ability score check to break something, they almost cant fail. A person with 50Str can carry 8512lbs without even breaking a sweat. By taking a moment to focus their strength (taking 10) they can bust open thick iron doors without fail, or rip apart masterwork manacles binding your hands.

What the system does not go into very well however is how size really effects your strength. A human with 50Str vs a giant with 50Str will be vastly different. A human could pull several carts, loaded with goods, much like a train engine by using push/drag amounts, but a giant creature could move that same load much faster and with much less effort due to his size. A little physics need to be considered by the DM for shenaniganz level strength for this reason :p

[SangoProduction]

This came up before, and a problem comes up with the calculations. 30Str is "Amongst the strongest creatures to have ever existed" and going past that just gets silly.

At 50Str, that is a +20 mod. That means on an ability score check to break something, they almost cant fail. A person with 50Str can carry 8512lbs without even breaking a sweat. By taking a moment to focus their strength (taking 10) they can bust open thick iron doors without fail, or rip apart masterwork manacles binding your hands.

What the system does not go into very well however is how size really effects your strength. A human with 50Str vs a giant with 50Str will be vastly different. A human could pull several carts, loaded with goods, much like a train engine by using push/drag amounts, but a giant creature could move that same load much faster and with much less effort due to his size. A little physics need to be considered by the DM for shenaniganz level strength for this reason :p

It's called carrying capacity. And it does take in to account size.

[Particle_Man]

You can jump farther, and climb and swim in more difficult conditions.

[Mendicant]

It's called carrying capacity. And it does take in to account size.

Carrying capacity really only scratches the surface of the physics weirdness that super strength creates. (https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wired.com/2016/09/lets-calculate-mass-netflixs-luke-cage/amur)

At the point where someone with a human mass has 50 strength, we're so far into silly/mythic territory that it's pointless to pretend the game's ability to model reality is anything other than hopelessly busted.

[flappeercraft]

At that point you are basically superman if he was using only 1 hand with a slight bit of effort

[Zale]

According to wolfram alpha, a medium character with strength 50 can lift roughly 6 dairy cows as a light load.

They can also carry one typical large elephant as a medium load, or two as a heavy load.

They could also drag about 60% of the cargo capacity of your average Boeing 747.

They could punch a hole in a 3 inch iron wall or a 1 foot masonry wall on average in less than a minute.

[SangoProduction]

Carrying capacity really only scratches the surface of the physics weirdness that super strength creates. (https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wired.com/2016/09/lets-calculate-mass-netflixs-luke-cage/amur)

At the point where someone with a human mass has 50 strength, we're so far into silly/mythic territory that it's pointless to pretend the game's ability to model reality is anything other than hopelessly busted.

Killing cat people here. A wizard did it.

Also, his complaints were with stuff that's explicitly covered under carrying capacity.

[Eladrinblade]

According to the books, I have about 12 strength, in that I can lift a 130lb person over my head (unbalanced dead weight). So that should be my maximum heavy load. I couldn't throw a person that heavy, maybe into the next square by they wouldn't get much air. If I were to take a 60lb barbell and throw it with both hands, it might go 10ft. If we're talking about being able to throw something a significant distance (say, beyond 20ft), we'd need to go down to about 10-15% of my maximum heavy load. If we assume that this ratio holds true for stronger characters, then somebody with 50 strength could throw another human like I could throw a small stick (aka like a freaking ragdoll). Literally grab them by a limb and throw them 80ft into a wall to probably kill them.

You can kick down an iron door in one action by taking 10. You can lift a locked portcullis just as easily. Trying to overrun a rhino? No problem, you knock it right down and continue with your movement. Grizzly bear getting frisky? Put it in a headlock and drag it away.

For you to run into problems, you'd have to come up against walls and magically reinforced doors. But if you have a size bonus, and a few misc bonuses, plus a bonus from charging...do the math.

[emeraldstreak]

Not much if medium sized. This isn't Exalted.

[Ironsmith]

A character with 50 strength has a +20 on all things related to strength, right? So that includes...

Physical Skill Checks : Jumping, Swimming, Climbing, etc.

Attack Bonus in Melee : And at that point, it's basically a guaranteed hit against anything they can see.

Damage Bonus in Melee (x 1.5 if using a two-handed weapon): This'll chew through hit dice faster than you can say "OP PLEASE NERF". Additionally, you can just forget about Damage Reduction altogether, since very few monsters have any that goes over 20.

Any kind of base Strength check at all : So basically, at this point, the character in question doesn't so much break down doors so much as walk through the wall.

Carrying Capacity : A character with that kind of strength can carry about 7,500 pounds as a light load (Yes, I did check the table) and has an overall carrying capacity of 25,000 pounds, or 12-1/2 tons. They can lift 25 tons, and push or drag 62.5 tons.

Grapple Checks : A character with 50 strength gets a +20 on their grapple checks. Without factoring in the base attack bonus, this gives the character a grapple bonus on par with an eight-headed hydra. Due to the size difference, however, they still can't hold against creatures that are Huge or larger.

Bull Rushing : This strength bonus translates into 25 feet in pushback distance, fluctuating some as a result of other factors (the target's strength, size, actual rolls, etc.)

Disarm Attempts : The melee attack bonus translates directly into the ability to disarm someone, and in this case, is enough to negate the advantages an opponent would have for being colossal and wielding a two-handed weapon (but not enough to counter their strength or base attack bonus). Please note that there are no size limitations on this.

Overrun Attempts : Though it still doesn't work against Huge or larger creatures, this character can plow through people with a kind of bonus that is (again) usually reserved for Colossal monsters.

Sunder Attempts : These can be done with impunity, since as covered above, the attack bonus is outrageously high. The +20 (+30 if using a two-handed weapon) will cut through most Medium weapons in a single stroke without any other bonus, and in the case of a two-handed weapon, can hack clean through full plate armor. Not that you'd need to bother, since again, the outrageous attack bonus grants pretty much guaranteed hits.

Trip Attempts: Again, +20, which is game-breaking for a creature of human size (but yet again, cannot be used on a creature that is Huge or larger).



It's worth noting, though, that the 3.5 Monster Manual advises a Base Attack Bonus of +20 should be reserved for monsters of around CR 12, and since a Strength Bonus has far more utility, it'd be safe to assume that a creature or character with that kind of bonus would be a much bigger challenge. Some monsters with comparable Strength scores (like the Tarrasque) qualify as epic-level challenges, so... don't go giving this out without careful consideration.



And now, as far as amusement is concerned...

A character with this kind of strength could carry a Cloud Giant, gear and all, as a medium load, but apparently can't bull rush, overrun, or trip one.
This is enough to allow a character to jump 20 feet, guaranteed, while carrying three tons of equipment, but no farther while unburdened.
Strength scores and character weight are unconnected, so these feats can be pulled off by the party's 80-pound elf, or with a slight penalty by the resident halfling or gnome.
A boulder, such as that from a rolling boulder trap, is light enough for this character to hoist over their shoulder without any kind of movement penalty, yet there are no rules for this kind of response.
As an addendum to the above, Strength and Constitution scores are independent variables, so this character might be strong enough to hoist the boulder over their head, but not tough enough to survive being hit by one.

[Particle_Man]

Oh, there are some maneuvers in Tome of Battle: the Book of 9 Swords that use STR in the calculation of their Save DC bonuses. Presumably, this means most opponents would fail their saves vs. these maneuvers except on a one. There is also some that are based on attack bonuses, which will be rather high (you could get a *lot* of attacks out of one of the Diamond Mind ones).

[Âmesang]

At what point do you become stronger than the ground supporting you? For example you might be capable of lifting a giant bolder… but the ground beneath you can't support you and you end up just sinking into the ground.

[Madwand99]

I've played at least one PC with this kind of strength. Augmented by further carrying-strength enhancing buffs, she carried a captured enemy tank through the streets of an allied city (for later examination by allies) and dragged the Tarrasque by it's tail through a few miles of farmland, before tossing it back into it's lair to sleep for a few more decades. Left quite a furrow in the land. It's all good fun. 50 strength isn't all that much compared to what superheroes can pull off... it qualifies as a sort of minor super-strength. At higher levels, this kind of strength is useful for solving a few problems, but not really that big a deal compared to Tier 1 spellcasting.

[Stealth Marmot]

At what point do you become stronger than the ground supporting you? For example you might be capable of lifting a giant bolder… but the ground beneath you can't support you and you end up just sinking into the ground.

That's one of the things I always noted about superhero comics where a hero pushes a planet out of orbit with their hands, truth is they would just drill themselves entirely through the planet before pushing it anywhere.

[Madwand99]

Flight is very helpful to mitigate issues with ground pressure. This is helpful to both superheroes and D&D PCs.

[Celestia]

That's one of the things I always noted about superhero comics where a hero pushes a planet out of orbit with their hands, truth is they would just drill themselves entirely through the planet before pushing it anywhere.
Well, it's often explained that the characters aren't actually pushing with their hands like normal. Instead, it's zero range telekinesis with a power level dependant upon muscle mass.

[Dagroth]

Well, it's often explained that the characters aren't actually pushing with their hands like normal. Instead, it's zero range telekinesis with a power level dependant upon muscle mass.

Yeah... John Byrne really fixed a lot of problems when he came up with that explanation.

[SangoProduction]

Well, it's often explained that the characters aren't actually pushing with their hands like normal. Instead, it's zero range telekinesis with a power level dependant upon muscle mass.

lol. That's a great one.

[Mordaedil]

Musclewizards, indeed.

I cast Fist.

[atemu1234]

Musclewizards, indeed.

I cast Fist.

http://media.tumblr.com/9e1d043cd2e5623774dbc068551dc8da/tumblr_inline_mh0b93tFaA1r95s9o.png

[martixy]

Well, it's often explained that the characters aren't actually pushing with their hands like normal. Instead, it's zero range telekinesis with a power level dependant upon muscle mass.

TBH, I find that rationalization immensely more unsatisfying than "Yea, you, with your bulging muscles are just that damn strong."
I feel absolutely no compulsion to try and shoehorn real-life physics. That is a pointless task.

What I find infinitely more fascinating is a world that obeys in general our physics juxtaposed with the existence of such anomalies.

Like a super-strong hero stopping a speeding train. He may be strong, and may not get injured in the process, but simple mass X velocity dictates that he would get swept away by that momentum as easily as any other object with his inertial characteristics.

I personally would find comics exploring that idea much more engaging than the bullcrap action that necessitates the above explanation.

@Stealth Marmot, that's an extension of the SuperSuit (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MySuitIsAlsoSuper), Magic Pants (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MagicPants) and similar tropes and is just another example of the general silliness.

I remember there was a scene in the old movies where superman lifts an entire truck by the bumper or a huge sheet of thin ice merely by very edge.

[Bluydee]

50 strength caps out at around 25 tons. So... basically around Spider-Man's weightclass.