D&D 5E What Does a Strength 20 Look Like (In Real Life)?

[Zubatcarteira]

Reminds me of a giant statue in SKT, the lifting rules would mean it can lift slightly more than 1 ton, but in the module it just stops a rolling boulder that should weight about 2500 tons.

 

[CleverNickName]

The real question is: Can Mike Powell jump that far while wearing full plate and carrying a backpack full of supplies, a small arsenal of weapons, and the party halfling on his back?

The answer: about twice as far as a similarly-outfitted cloud giant could. Apparently.

 

[Oofta]

I know this may be shocking news, but D&D is more concerned about ease of play than being an accurate simulation.

 

[CleverNickName]

I know this may be shocking news, but D&D is more concerned about ease of play than being an accurate simulation.

And no matter how you frame it, a 9-meter long jump is damned impressive.

 

[Oofta]

And no matter how you frame it, a 9-meter long jump is damned impressive.

Now that I agree with. I mean, the best I can do is 8.5!

 

[jgsugden]

What does Strength 20 look like?

Whatever you want. You can decide that your strength is not from muscles, but from magical manifestation, right? So you could have a beanpole body frame and a 20 strength.

 

[CleverNickName]

Coach: "How long can you hold your breath?"
Aleix: "Aproximadamente el doble de largo que el Tarrasque."
Me: (puffing my inhaler) "I have a doctor's note..."

 

[Vaalingrade]

STR 20 is that buff dude at the gym you're real jealous of and are sure is the strongest person in the world.

 

[Flamestrike]

(A fitness/athletics appreciation thread)

According to the Player's Handbook:
When you make a long jump, you cover a number of feet up to your Strength score if you move at least 10 feet on foot before the jump. This rule assumes that the height of your jump doesn't matter, such as jumping across a stream.

So here's Mike Powell completing an 8.95 meter (29.4 foot) long jump. This is what a Strength score of 29 looks like in real life:

Incredible.

How about we consider a more obvious real-world analog: the amount of weight a person can lift. According to the Player's Handbook:
Your Strength score determines the amount of weight you can bear. You can push, drag, or lift a weight in pounds up to twice your carrying capacity, or 30 times your Strength score.

The world record for deadlift is 501kg, or 1104.5 lbs., set by Hafthor Bjornsson (1104.5/30=36.8) So here's what a Strength of 37 looks like in real life:

Awesome. A Dragon Turtle only has a Strength of what, 25? Pathetic.

This kind of paints my Mountain Dwarf Barbarian in a completely new light.

You're ignoring the fact those guys and girls have proficiency (and likely expertise) in Athletics, and/or class features or feats that help them lift, jump or throw higher/ further.

A Grizzly Bear has a strength of 19. Those athletes are not that strong. No Human naturally can be.

Human Ability scores in excess of 18 (peak human) in any attribute would border on (or be in) the supernatural, and would only be seen in outliers like PCs who are lugging around potent magical weapons, flying, and taking on T-Rexes unarmed and winning.

 

[Bill Zebub]

And to think all this time I've believed I've been having fun playing D&D. Now that I know that the attribute system is not realistic, I realize that fun must have been an illusion.