D&D 5E Dungeons and Dragons Olympians

[Xeviat]

Hi everyone.

A while back, I sat down and tried to make a "run" ability in the Athletics skill to allow players to push themselves further than the 5E rules allow; for charging (I dislike that you need a feat to charge), or simply to get away. 3E had a run action, but it was absent in 4E and now in 5E. In another thread, someone brought up weight lifting, so I'm curious what info people could bring to bear on the capabilities of Olympians (the athletes, not Greek Gods) vs. D&D characters. I'd also like to discuss house rules to make these feats possible (possibly with feats, possibly with skill checks).

I'll start with two easy ones. Also, please don't let this turn into a sex/gender based ability score adjustment thread.

Carrying Capacity

Over Head Lift
In D&D5, your carrying capacity is Str x 15 lbs. In 3E, heavy load was also defined as the max amount you could lift over your head. The clean and jerk world record is about 580 lbs. That would require a human with a Str of 38, or a Goliath with a Str of 20. I don't like that this would have to be done with another race, and I'm perfectly willing for Goliaths to absolutely destroy human characters in this category.

Lift off the Ground
In D&D5, you can lift Str x 30 lbs off the ground and still move (at 5 ft per round). I couldn't figure out how to search for this kind of thing specifically, but the deadlift record is about 1014 lbs, which would require a human with a Str of 34, or a Goliath with a Str of 17.

Suggestion?: I think carrying capacity should use an exponential growth. I recommend picking a reasonable number for a Str 10 character (100 lbs? Has anyone done a study on this? Livestrong says "the average untrained man can squat 125 pounds, bench press 135 pounds and deadlift 155 pounds."; going off the above ratio, that would be 90ish for "over the head", so 100 doesn't sound too bad). Then I'd use our good old friend, the square root of 2 (1.41) per modifier, or square root of the square root of 2 per stat (1.19). That gets ...

[TABLE="width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD]Str[/TD]
[TD]Heavy Load[/TD]
[TD]Rounded nearest 5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]3[/TD]
[TD]30[/TD]
[TD]30[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]35[/TD]
[TD]35[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]5[/TD]
[TD]42[/TD]
[TD]40[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]6[/TD]
[TD]50[/TD]
[TD]50[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]7[/TD]
[TD]59[/TD]
[TD]60[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]8[/TD]
[TD]71[/TD]
[TD]70[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]9[/TD]
[TD]84[/TD]
[TD]85[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]10[/TD]
[TD]100[/TD]
[TD]100[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]11[/TD]
[TD]119[/TD]
[TD]120[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]12[/TD]
[TD]141[/TD]
[TD]140[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]13[/TD]
[TD]168[/TD]
[TD]170[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]14[/TD]
[TD]200[/TD]
[TD]200[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]15[/TD]
[TD]238[/TD]
[TD]240[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]16[/TD]
[TD]283[/TD]
[TD]285[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]17[/TD]
[TD]336[/TD]
[TD]335[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]18[/TD]
[TD]400[/TD]
[TD]400[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]19[/TD]
[TD]476[/TD]
[TD]475[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]20[/TD]
[TD]566[/TD]
[TD]565[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]21[/TD]
[TD]673[/TD]
[TD]675[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]22[/TD]
[TD]800[/TD]
[TD]800[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]23[/TD]
[TD]951[/TD]
[TD]950[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]24[/TD]
[TD]1131[/TD]
[TD]1130[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]25[/TD]
[TD]1345[/TD]
[TD]1345[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]26[/TD]
[TD]1600[/TD]
[TD]1600[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]27[/TD]
[TD]1903[/TD]
[TD]1905[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]28[/TD]
[TD]2263[/TD]
[TD]2265[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]29[/TD]
[TD]2691[/TD]
[TD]2690[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]30[/TD]
[TD]3200[/TD]
[TD]3200[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

That would place the current Olympic clean and jerk record within the reach of Str 20; maybe an Athletics check could exist to push it just a little further (nothing as extreme as doubling). The deadlift record would be doable with Str 20 too.

--------------

Running

5E currently lacks a running rule. 4E had a subpar running rule. 3E had what I consider to be a good running rule; the run action was full round for x4 speed and you lost your Dex to AC. I'd say a 5E run would be x4 speed and grant advantage on attacks against you; but even that's weird. Don't you run to make you a harder target to hit?

Either way, Usain Bolt has the current 100 meter dash record at 9.58 seconds; that's close enough to a round for me (and a level of exhaustion maybe). I'd have to look at longer runs to figure out sustained, but for now, here's what that looks like.

100 meters in 9.58 secons works out to 62.63 meters in a round, or 205 feet. A monk or rogue (or anyone else who can double dash) would need a 70 foot speed to do this. A run ability would allow it with a 35 foot speed.

-----------

I'm curious about other world records. How what are long distance walking records? Jogging records? How long can real people go without breathing, drinking water, or eating?

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

A while back, I sat down and tried to make a "run" ability in the Athletics skill to allow players to push themselves further than the 5E rules allow; for charging (I dislike that you need a feat to charge), or simply to get away. 3E had a run action, but it was absent in 4E and now in 5E. In another thread, someone brought up weight lifting, so I'm curious what info people could bring to bear on the capabilities of Olympians (the athletes, not Greek Gods) vs. D&D characters. I'd also like to discuss house rules to make these feats possible (possibly with feats, possibly with skill checks).

You might be better looking at "Strongest man"-type events rather than Olympics if you want to model D&D. I would give hefty bonuses when lifting weights optimised for being lifted, like barbells, compared to the awkward loads and objects D&D characters are more likely to try to lift.

In 5e, Strength score is athleticism rather than just brute lifting power. A feat that grants effective Large size when calculating carrying capacity related to feats of strength might be a good way to represent a character focused on lifting and suchlike at the expense of combat power.

Running

5E currently lacks a running rule. 4E had a subpar running rule. 3E had what I consider to be a good running rule; the run action was full round for x4 speed and you lost your Dex to AC. I'd say a 5E run would be x4 speed and grant advantage on attacks against you; but even that's weird. Don't you run to make you a harder target to hit?

It makes you harder to catch. If someone does get in range of you (such as you running past them within reach) then you're easier to hit because you can't duck, dodge, stop, or any of the other maneuvers than someone moving at 'combat speeds' (1x or 2x move speed) can do.

Either way, Usain Bolt has the current 100 meter dash record at 9.58 seconds; that's close enough to a round for me (and a level of exhaustion maybe). I'd have to look at longer runs to figure out sustained, but for now, here's what that looks like.

That is closer to two rounds than one, with no load. Not just light load: no load apart from ultralight clothes and shoes.

100 meters in 9.58 secons works out to 62.63 meters in a round, or 205 feet. A monk or rogue (or anyone else who can double dash) would need a 70 foot speed to do this. A run ability would allow it with a 35 foot speed.

Closest feat to improve running is Mobile: +10 ft speed. Rogue with Mobile can move 240ft in two rounds in armour, with pack, and carrying weapons.

Again: situational bonuses for optimal conditions (specially designed running track, no load, etc) and you can get to about the right level, rolling Athletics to squeeze extra speed out in a competitive race rather than an actual fight.

 

[Zardnaar]

I think a tabaxi rogue or monk is the fastest thing in 5E atm.

I think a 3.0 char op broke the sound barrier.

 

[Xeviat]

But running would make you a harder target to shoot with an arrow too, yet granting advantage to attack would make it easier. Moving targets are harder to hit with projectiles that effectively have travel time, even when they're predictably moving. I'm sure they're hard with single shot guns too.


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[Xeviat]

And 240 in two rounds isn't close to Bolt; Bolt was closer to 300 in under two rounds. My point about it being close to a round is that you could have exhaustion from a round of sprinting as a way of putting a timer on it; two rounds of sprinting would hurt your speed.


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[Saeviomagy]

Now look at marathon times...

 

[Xeviat]

Now look at marathon times...

I was hoping others would jump in.