D&D 5E DM altered the Str of my char in combat, wondering about effects

[Vince_Snetterton]

We had an awesome session on the weekend.

At one point, the DM had something attack me, did 12 Necrotic, and he rolled a d4, and my 8 Str Halfling lost 4 Str points, so down to 4 Str.
This created ncumbrance and potential armour wearing issues (my Rogue was fine there).
Naturally, my Athletics rolls, any Str based attack rolls were badly affected.

If I had been hit another time, and Str reduced to say, 2, or 1, or even 0, what other effects would there have been?
I am thinking of using this effect in a game I want to run, and wondering what impacts I am missing.

 

[Charlaquin]

I'm honestly considering replacing that mechanic with something else next time I use them as a DM, but I'm not sure what. I could just use the same HP maximum reducing mechanic that some creatures have, I guess.

Yeah, I like ability drain conceptually, but in practice it’s so much hassle adjusting all the derived traits, I’d rather find a mechanics that gets the idea across in a more user-friendly way.

 

[iserith]

I am thinking of using this effect in a game I want to run, and wondering what impacts I am missing.

You already died and rose again as a shadow and now you're off to make more shadows.

 

[Lanefan]

At what point are you no longer strong enough to breathe?

To me, that point is Str 0; and on getting there you've but a few minutes to live if not tended.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

At what point are you no longer strong enough to breathe?

To me, that point is Str 0; and on getting there you've but a few minutes to live if not tended.

I never thought I’d see the day where @Lanefan’s preference was “more forgiving” than RAW 5e!

(Just having some fun with you, @Lanefan. Yours would be a fine ruling if you DMed a 5e game. )

 

[Li Shenron]

We had an awesome session on the weekend.

At one point, the DM had something attack me, did 12 Necrotic, and he rolled a d4, and my 8 Str Halfling lost 4 Str points, so down to 4 Str.
This created ncumbrance and potential armour wearing issues (my Rogue was fine there).
Naturally, my Athletics rolls, any Str based attack rolls were badly affected.

If I had been hit another time, and Str reduced to say, 2, or 1, or even 0, what other effects would there have been?
I am thinking of using this effect in a game I want to run, and wondering what impacts I am missing.

It may not be explicitly defined in 5e, but IIRC in 3e dropping to 0 Strength meant you fall prone and cannot move or take actions... you literally have no strength to do so! However I think it was generally allowed to speak and you certainly didn't die (the only ability score that killed you when dropping to 0 was Constitution).

Despite ability damage being very rare in 5e, this is the best edition to manage ability damage without too much effort. The bonus on almost every d20 check is "ability modifier + proficiency", meaning it is so simple that you don't generally need to precalculate your bonuses. In turn, changing your ability scores doesn't force you to recalculate them.

 

[Vince_Snetterton]

Although similar to 3e, 5e has very limited rules in terms of ability damage (whereas 3e had tons of rules on ability damage and drain, etc.). Some people find it a bit of a shame, but this leads to complex rules in 3e about the effects, the conditions inflicted, the spells and abilities able to cure or alleviate all that. Instead, 5e aims to be a simple game, and the rules for draining are usually straight in a monster stat block. There are not that many who do it, otherwise it would really be a waste of space, but it has the advantage of being simple and of having the information at hand all the time.

So about what happened, I'm not sure what happened but it was probably shadows. Assuming it was something similar, the stat block simply says:


And it it's not, your DM knows...

Although similar to 3e, 5e has very limited rules in terms of ability damage (whereas 3e had tons of rules on ability damage and drain, etc.). Some people find it a bit of a shame, but this leads to complex rules in 3e about the effects, the conditions inflicted, the spells and abilities able to cure or alleviate all that. Instead, 5e aims to be a simple game, and the rules for draining are usually straight in a monster stat block. There are not that many who do it, otherwise it would really be a waste of space, but it has the advantage of being simple and of having the information at hand all the time.

So about what happened, I'm not sure what happened but it was probably shadows. Assuming it was something similar, the stat block simply says:


And it it's not, your DM knows...

Sorry, I am not making myself clear. I am not trying to guess what creature attacked us. That is meta-gaming, which is something I don't do.
I wanted to know within the 5e rule set what happens to a char when its STR is 3 or lower. I guess the same could be said for almost any attribute. But Str is what was affected, so that is the one I am focusing on. I could very easily been hit again, and been reduced to 2 or lower.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

Sorry, I am not making myself clear. I am not trying to guess what creature attacked us. That is meta-gaming, which is something I don't do.
I wanted to know within the 5e rule set what happens to a char when its STR is 3 or lower. I guess the same could be said for almost any attribute. But Str is what was affected, so that is the one I am focusing on. I could very easily been hit again, and been reduced to 2 or lower.

PHB page 13 tells you the modifiers for ability scores from 1 to 30.

Spoiler

2-3 is -4; 1 is -5

 

[Vince_Snetterton]

PHB page 13 tells you the modifiers for ability scores from 1 to 30.

Spoiler

2-3 is -4; 1 is -5

Yeah, I know that as well as anyone. And those will affect ability checks, saves, attacks etc.

Are there any other effects that I am missing? Outside of my Athletic Checks, Str Saves, and how much my Halfling could carry, (my attacks are all dex based) what would have been the impact if my Str was, say, 2, brought on for any reason?

 

[Dausuul]

Yeah, I know that as well as anyone. And those will affect ability checks, saves, attacks etc.

Are there any other effects that I am missing? Outside of my Athletic Checks, Str Saves, and how much my Halfling could carry, (my attacks are all dex based) what would have been the impact if my Str was, say, 2, brought on for any reason?

No, there are no other effects.

5E does not have general ability drain rules. In the very rare case that something drains your stats, any special effects (including what happens at 0) are defined in the statblock of the monster that has the drain ability.

 

[billd91]

On the topic of strength drain, in a 3e game, a shadowdancer character had a shadow companion with her when they went and raided the hill giant steading and the glacial rift of frost giants. Given the large strengths of giants, that shadow feasted, repeatedly. I described it as having consumed so much strength that it was getting fat and taking on the appearance of actual depth.