Hriston
Dungeon Master of Middle-earth (He/him)
This is something I'd thought about adapting to 5E back around the release of the edition and had decided there was no good way to do it. The problem is there's not much room between an 18 Strength and a 19 Strength, or even between a +4 and a +5. A recent thread (thanks @Minigiant ) got me thinking about this again, and I think I found a way to do it that I'd be alright with.
First, some history for those who don't know, in 1E, Exceptional Strength is a Fighter class feature. Fighters, which includes Paladins and Rangers (and, with UA, Barbarians) with an 18 Strength (the highest you could get through char-gen) can make a percentile roll to see how exceptional their high Strength is. If the player rolls a high enough number, they get a really significant bonus to hit and damage rolls, weight allowance, and rolls to open doors and "bend bars/lift gates"! A high enough roll even gives you a chance to break open locked or magically held doors. The fact that this system was added on above the normal Strength bonuses in the 1E PHB (1978), and then bonuses for 19 Strength and above were added on top of that (with Deities and Demigods, I believe) means that there's plenty of room for this system between Strength 18 and Strength 19.
Which brings us to 5E. There's zero light between 18 and 19 in terms of bonus and not much more in terms of weight allowance. So I've put together something that stays within the bounds set between individual scores for weight and between modifiers for attacks and checks. Because it respects the boundaries, you could apply it to any Strength score, but I would keep the prerequisite of 18, and allow it for 19 and 20 too. Because of the constraints, it runs the risk of being too insignificant, but is also something that can just be added into the game without any real need to balance it out.
Exceptional Strength
Prerequisite: Barbarians, Fighters, Paladins, and Rangers with Strength 18 or higher
Roll d100 and consult the following tables:
First, some history for those who don't know, in 1E, Exceptional Strength is a Fighter class feature. Fighters, which includes Paladins and Rangers (and, with UA, Barbarians) with an 18 Strength (the highest you could get through char-gen) can make a percentile roll to see how exceptional their high Strength is. If the player rolls a high enough number, they get a really significant bonus to hit and damage rolls, weight allowance, and rolls to open doors and "bend bars/lift gates"! A high enough roll even gives you a chance to break open locked or magically held doors. The fact that this system was added on above the normal Strength bonuses in the 1E PHB (1978), and then bonuses for 19 Strength and above were added on top of that (with Deities and Demigods, I believe) means that there's plenty of room for this system between Strength 18 and Strength 19.
Which brings us to 5E. There's zero light between 18 and 19 in terms of bonus and not much more in terms of weight allowance. So I've put together something that stays within the bounds set between individual scores for weight and between modifiers for attacks and checks. Because it respects the boundaries, you could apply it to any Strength score, but I would keep the prerequisite of 18, and allow it for 19 and 20 too. Because of the constraints, it runs the risk of being too insignificant, but is also something that can just be added into the game without any real need to balance it out.
Exceptional Strength
Prerequisite: Barbarians, Fighters, Paladins, and Rangers with Strength 18 or higher
Roll d100 and consult the following tables:
Score | Attack rolls and checks that use Strength | Damage rolls that use Strength |
01-50 | -- | -- |
51-75 | reroll 1’s once | -- |
76-99 | reroll 1’s once | reroll 1’s once |
00 | reroll 1’s and 2’s once | reroll 1’s and 2’s once |
Add to... | ||||
Score | Maximum unencumbered weight | Maximum encumbered weight | Carrying capacity | Push, drag, and lift weight |
01-50 | -- | +1 lb. | +1 lb. | +2 lb. |
51-75 | +1 lb. | +2 lb. | +2 lb. | +5 lb. |
76-90 | +1 lb. | +2 lb. | +3 lb. | +7 lb. |
91-99 | +2 lb. | +4 lb. | +6 lb. | +12 lb. |
00 | +3 lb. | +7 lb. | +10 lb. | +21 lb. |