Phil Pfister: Highest Strength Score in the World

[dougmander]

The NY Times has a feature article on firefighter Phil Pfister, the World's Strongest Man. Gives you an idea of what a PC with a very high Strength might look like in terms of build. This guy can lift 300-pound boulders, flip over a car -- pretty incredible.

Link Here

So in d20 System terms, what would his Strength score be?

Can any of you nominate other living real-world humans who are paragons of a particular ability score? Dex? Con? Cha?

 

[frankthedm]

An 18 STR character can lift a 300lb boulder over their head, stagger with 600lb, Drag 1500 [x2 in favorable conditions]
An 19 STR character can lift a 350lb boulder over their head,, stagger with 700lb, Drag 1750 [x2 in favorable conditions]
An 20 STR character can lift a 400lb boulder over their head, stagger with 800lb, Drag 2000 [x2 in favorable conditions]

Can we get more info?

Pfister has hefted, flipped, hoisted, curled, pulled or carried a 300-pound log, a 350-pound beer keg, a 420-pound boulder, eight women on a platform, a 1,500-pound tire, and, while harnessed up, two 18-wheel tractor trailers, a fire truck, and the 300-ton Riverboat Cajun Queen in New Orleans among sundry items.

 

[paradox42]

Reading the article, and having watched a couple of Strongest Man competitions on ESPN, I'd have to say 19 at a minimum and likely 20.

The Atlas Stones thing requires the contestant to lift stones onto platforms that go up to about neck-height, so presumably a guy who could lift one up onto that could lift the same stone over his head- which is the requirement for meeting the "maximum load" definition in the d20 rules.

The article mentions that the Atlas Stones this year went up to 350-odd pounds, and STR 19 has a max weight of 350. STR 20 is 400. Thus, he falls somewhere in between those two- if he can do 400, he's a 20.

The competition also requires dragging 18-wheeler trucks, which weigh a lot more than 2000 pounds (the limit for a STR 20 character), but then again the 18-wheelers are being dragged along a level road and are on wheels with tires that have good traction. So it's not like dragging, say, a sledge loaded with treasure over a rocky plain. So I wouldn't call that a fair measure of his STR in game terms.

The article also says he lifted a car so a tire could be changed, and held it there until the change was done, but again, I don't think you can use the weight of the car there to get his STR in d20 rules. The maximum "lift off ground" weight for STR 20 is 800 pounds, and cars do typically weigh a lot more than that; however, Mr. Pfister didn't lift the whole car at once, just part of it- and we can't really know the weight he did lift without knowing the precise angle he lifted at, the weight distribution of the car (most tend to carry more weight in front, for example, so if it was a rear tire that needed changing he lifted less), and other myriad factors like that.

 

[Stalker0]

Well by dnd standards, without magical assistance the strongest human can be str 23 (18 to start, +5 over 20 levels). I'd also say that strongest men have excellent cons as well. They don't just lift heavy things, they often do it for relatively long periods of time.

 

[Agent Oracle]

He's a firefighter?

How much EXP do you suppose a Fire is worth?

/i make myself laugh...

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hey dougmander!

The NY Times has a feature article on firefighter Phil Pfister, the World's Strongest Man. Gives you an idea of what a PC with a very high Strength might look like in terms of build. This guy can lift 300-pound boulders, flip over a car -- pretty incredible.

Link Here

So in d20 System terms, what would his Strength score be?

About 23-24 I think. Maybe slightly higher. For although strongmen are generally not as proficient as weightlifters for sheer pressing, they do generally have better 'all round' strength and i think thats more suitable for D&D.

But at the same time you have to wonder about the likelihood of a character having a high strength, dexterity and constitution. Especially the latter - I think they would be far too musclebound to run a marathon. I did see former Worlds Strongest Man Marius Pudzionowski do a back somersault and the splits so I guess high strength and dexterity is not totally out of the question.

Well done to Phil - hes been saying one day he'll be the World's Strongest Man (for quite a few years). Its a pity the TWI/IFSA split doesn't allow all the top athletes to compete in the same tournament anymore, but you can only beat whats out there so well done!

Its probably worth pointing out he's likely been on the "Potions of Bull's Strength" (if you'll forgive the euphemism) for quite a while now. As are all strength athletes. So that being the case its possible he may even transcend the Str 23 racial limit for a human.

Can any of you nominate other living real-world humans who are paragons of a particular ability score? Dex? Con? Cha?

Maybe Lance Armstrong for Constitution.

 

[Nyaricus]

Well by dnd standards, without magical assistance the strongest human can be str 23 (18 to start, +5 over 20 levels). I'd also say that strongest men have excellent cons as well. They don't just lift heavy things, they often do it for relatively long periods of time.

In the range of 18 to 23. In any case, his parents rolled nice stats when they made that guy

cheers,
--N

 

[dragonlordofpoondari]

Its probably worth pointing out he's likely been on the "Potions of Bull's Strength" (if you'll forgive the euphemism) for quite a while now. As are all strength athletes. So that being the case its possible he may even transcend the Str 23 racial limit for a human.

That's not true. While steroid use is horrifyingly widespread, there are plenty of strength athletes (myself included) that have never juiced nor ever would. My training partner has competed in and won several regional natural bodybuilding competitions. He's also an MD, and I hold a PhD in Biochemistry. Neither of us would ever do something as stupid as anabolic steriods.

It is a shame what steriods have done to sports, including bodybuilding and weightlifting.

 

[Aus_Snow]

20.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Its probably worth pointing out he's likely been on the "Potions of Bull's Strength" (if you'll forgive the euphemism) for quite a while now. As are all strength athletes.

I think it's a little unfair to make that broadstroke statement. I'm sure there are many people out there that aren't. Either that or I'm naive about it all.

More on topic, I don't think that the World's Strongest Man competitors would be as strong as the top weighlifters in the world. Of course it all depends on how you define "strong" I guess.

Olaf the Stout