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Message: <blockquote data-quote="El Mahdi" data-source="post: 5566694" data-attributes="member: 59506">Muscle mass is the biggest determining factor, the one that most objectively determines strength potential, though there are other factors (but I said that in my post<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />). Increase muscle mass and strength will increase. Decrease muscle mass and strength will decrease. One can change the mechanical factors a bit but only through technique (you can't actually change your skeletal structure - at least not positively). One can also change the biochemical factors (metabolism, energy efficiency, etc.), but such changes are still limited by the amount of muscle present in the first place. Steroids don't even directly increase strength. They may increase the chemical efficiency of a muscle, or allow the addition of new muscle more quickly than without, but they don't actually increase the strength of a muscle fiber. There is nothing in the world that will allow a muscle to exceed it's structural limitations (adrenaline can allow one to exceed their bodies own safety limits, but if the muscles structural limitations are exceeded, the muscle will fail). Every lift is different because of all of those factors, but mass is the single biggest limit on strength potential - which is really what a D&D ability score is - Strength potential. And that's really what we're talking about with D&D ability scores (usually) - they are a measure of potential. When making strength checks, we're making a random roll referenced to and limited by the characters strength potential in the form of a strength bonus. So, a character with a Strength bonus of +4 has a potential for a Strength check result of 5 to 24 (with a natural 1 usually being an automatic failure). So, just like the weightlifter, the D&D character isn't lifting the same weight every time (though the system does allow absolutes when it comes to carrying capacity - but I really don't want to make a strength check every time a character picks some mundane thing up - so I roll with it for ease of play). If a character uses their ability increase from level advancement on increasing strength, what they've done is increased their muscle mass. So, you're right, mass isn't the only thing involved in strength, but it's the only variable of the equation we have any significant ability to affect, and is the biggest determining factor in strength potential. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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