Arm wrestling check

[Li Shenron]

Just for curiosity... do you roll opposed Strength checks for arm wrestling or do you just compare Strength scores, and highest wins? I think there is something like the second in the rules, but I don't remember.

I am curious to know, last session the only way we had to obtain some information for the story (we were in lack of money) was for one of us to defeat an Orc pirate in arm wrestling. So, it was up to me (Wild Elf Cleric of Kord, the fighting PC of the group was missing), and I had 13 Strength + 1 from the Strength domain.

The DM ruled that we had to roll, and I don't think I could have made it otherwise (spellcasting was explicitly forbidden).

note: thinking I couldn't roll at all, I was planning to secretly cast Inflict Light Wounds before starting, but I guess it would have discharged as soon as I had put my elbow on the table...

 

[wanderer9]

The way I look at it is this.

People are strong in different ways. In D&D someone with a Str of 18 might not be stronger that someone with a Str of 16 in every phyical department, just more of them.

Therefore you make the roll and add your bounus. If you win, you slightly better than your opponent at that time, but maybe not next time. There could be any number or reason for this, opponent being distracted, them not expecting you to be as strong as you are etc.

I think your DM made the right call.

Tony

 

[Li Shenron]

The problem is only that I recall I have read somewhere in PHB or DM exactly an example on arm wrestling...

 

[dcollins]

PHB p. 62, under "Ability Checks" states that an arm wrestling contest should be awarded to the higher Strength, with no check made.

I disagree that that's the best way to handle it. I prefer a series of Str checks, in which the winner beats the other by +3 checks won (or something like that): www.superdan.net/dndgames.html

 

[Al Targid]

This guy has a pretty cool system.

 

[RangerWickett]

That is a pretty valid system. It makes it wildly unlikely a scrawny kid will beat Conan.

 

[CapnZapp]

That is a pretty valid system. It makes it wildly unlikely a scrawny kid will beat Conan.

Well worth the seventeen year wait, eh @Li Shenron