D&D (2024) PHB Playtest Packet 7 drops Thrusday, September 7.

[Vaalingrade]

They are adventurers in a fantasy land. That's all we need.

Do not ruin this for me.

 

[Yaarel]

Generally, D&D "Strength" should represent athleticism generally, including agile mobility.

"Weightlifting" is different, and works better as a skill, that size can modify.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Frustrating. But I suppose if most people don't worry about such things, I don't blame Wizards for not paying attention.

That is the answer to so many things.

 

[Kurotowa]

Around 40 lb, so about half of what they did.

Like fantasy world geography, a lot of creative types are very bad at properly triangulating the interaction of height, build, and weight. Like, it's a pretty niche field of knowledge and there's not a lot of easy guides for layfolk, so they just wing it and get it very wrong. A recent good example was the official profile for Ryu in the recently released Street Fighter game. He's a 5'9" wall of solid muscle and it claims he's 187 lb. Which is ridiculous if you've see what pro wrestlers or MMA fighters weigh in at.

They've stopped including those size and weight charts in books, and it's not just because of being more respectful for people outside the median range. It's also because they were wildly unrealistic.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Like fantasy world geography, a lot of creative types are very bad at properly triangulating the interaction of height, build, and weight. Like, it's a pretty niche field of knowledge and there's not a lot of easy guides for layfolk, so they just wing it and get it very wrong. A recent good example was the official profile for Ryu in the recently released Street Fighter game. He's a 5'9" wall of solid muscle and it claims he's 187 lb. Which is ridiculous if you've see what pro wrestlers or MMA fighters weigh in at.

They've stopped including those size and weight charts in books, and it's not just because of being more respectful for people outside the median range. It's also because they were wildly unrealistic.

Of course, that just means we now have no median range.

 

[Scribe]

He's a 5'9" wall of solid muscle and it claims he's 187 lb. Which is ridiculous if you've see what pro wrestlers or MMA fighters weigh in at.

To be fair, 5'9" (Georges St-Pierre is listed at 5'10") and 187 lbs (shredded, while GSP fought at 170lbs after a weight cut) isnt...too bad as far as a fighter/monk should in a fantastical realm look.

Not to say Ryu would be that light, considering the cartoon like proportions, but its not the most egregious example I've seen, like say a 40lb Berzerker Halfling.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

We're talking are exceptional characters with training in class levels, not farmers. An adult halfling is not a human child. They have adult muscle-mass for their size. Size does not equate muscle. Go ahead, arm wrestle a chimpanzee (a small non-human) and see what happens. If the gameworld mechanics say that adult members of Small non-human species have appropriate lean muscle mass to be 3ft.tall and have a 20 Strength, then enjoy the fantasy.

I've seen 5'6ft.-tall humans wield 7ft.-long greatswords (and they aren't fantasy fighters with a 16 Str). I can see a 3'6-tall adult halfling wielding a 5ft.-long greataxe. They may not wield it the same way, but as expert warriors who train for their own survivability, it can totally work.

This is why reality is actually weirder than fantasy - people put too many restrictions on fantasy, because they find ideas unbelievable, even if the thing has actually happened.

 

[Micah Sweet]

This is why reality is actually weirder than fantasy - people put too many restrictions on fantasy, because they find ideas unbelievable, even if the thing has actually happened.

If reality seems unbelievable, put some examples of what's really possible in the book. I've seen it done, it's actually cool to see a few sidebars like that to provide context and show some design philosophy.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

If reality seems unbelievable, put some examples of what's really possible in the book. I've seen it done, it's actually cool to see a few sidebars like that to provide context and show some design philosophy.

This isn't only a D&D phenomenon. Besides, I'm not sure the designers of D&D are any better than your average person at understand how wild and crazy reality can be.

 

[Micah Sweet]

This isn't only a D&D phenomenon. Besides, I'm not sure the designers of D&D are any better than your average person at understand how wild and crazy reality can be.

I'm confident that they aren't. Still a good idea.