D&D General Shadow vs belt of giant strength

[jasper]

Situation PC has belt of Stone giant str attuned tr (23). Shadow punches PC in face. roll on d4 is 4.
Does the PC ...
1. Lose 4 str points until nappy time. And lose 9 HP. (Shadow magic rules.)
2. Laugh and lose no str points. And lose 9 HP. (Belt magic rules.)
Shadow is tired of pc. Opens a can a spinach and smacks pc 6 times for 24 str lost and 54 hp lost.
3. Lose 24 strength and dies. And Loses 54 HPs. (Shadow magic rules.) And now this new shadow has 23 str.
4. Laugh and lose no str points. And Loses 54 HPs (Belt magic rules.)
5. Split the difference. PC loses all but 1 str And Loses 54 HPs.

 

[sevenbastard]

As a DM I would rule that his strength score goes down but the belt keeps his strength score at 24. So if the PC has a 17 strength without the belt and loses 4 point his strength is 13, but the belt keeps it at effectively 24. If he takes more than 17 points of strength damage he dies.

 

[Bayushi_seikuro]

As a DM I would rule that his strength score goes down but the belt keeps his strength score at 24. So if the PC has a 17 strength without the belt and loses 4 point his strength is 13, but the belt keeps it at effectively 24. If he takes more than 17 points of strength damage he dies.

I like this ruling.

It doesn't give extra benefits to the belt, and makes strength damage still a threat. In a way, I feel it also mirrors how D&D works where you can take 50 damage and still be completely functional at 1 HP, but once that last HP goes away.... splat.

 

[Blue]

This is Advice, not Official (according to the Sage Advice compendium).

If a character wearing Gauntlets of Ogre Power has its Str drained by a shadow...

D&D Sage Advice ·

www.sageadvice.eu

Basically, the Shadow is draining your real strength, but your strength is kept at a set amount by the belt.

So you still have your full strength while wearing the belt, but if you took it off you would have the reduced Strength, and if it was zero you'd die.

 

[MarkB]

If you want to get really scary, don't tell the player how much strength damage he takes - with the belt in place artificially bolstering it, he has no way of knowing through physical effects.

And remind him that he can't change his clothes without removing the belt, or even take his trousers down.

 

[Pauln6]

I dislike the items that grant a static score. I have adopted a sort of hybrid version of +4 strength (capped as determined by the type of belt) but you are treated as huge for the purposes of lifting, carrying, pushing, grappling, and tripping. I took inspiration from Mutants and Masterminds, which treated super strength for lifting in a different silo for strength to improve attack rolls. It's a better way to preserve bounded accuracy.

 

[ECMO3]

I dislike the items that grant a static score. I have adopted a sort of hybrid version of +4 strength (capped as determined by the type of belt) but you are treated as huge for the purposes of lifting, carrying, pushing, grappling, and tripping. I took inspiration from Mutants and Masterminds, which treated super strength for lifting in a different silo for strength to improve attack rolls. It's a better way to preserve bounded accuracy.

I get this but I hate the +X items like in some versions of D&D. The big problem with those is in the fiction for me - "This belt gives you strength like a giant" so then the 7 strength Ranger dons it and has like an 11 ... which is not "strong like a giant"

I think the +X magic has its place like in manuals and tomes (read and get better) or ioun stones, but other things should have set limits.

The reverse of course is true too - the cursed belt of a weakling should set strength to 5 or thereabouts.

 

[LordEntrails]

I don't know how I would rule this. I would probably go with something like what @sevenbastard and @Blue posted. But I also like to think that a shadow draining attack is more specific than an attuned magic item. And specific overrides.

But, then one could argue all you would have to do is re-attune to have the full strength back, but then you would be at risk of death of your real strength dropped to zero (because I would not allow a magic item to keep you alive regardless, though that could be interesting...).

 

[Baron Opal II]

As a DM I would rule that his strength score goes down but the belt keeps his strength score at 24. So if the PC has a 17 strength without the belt and loses 4 point his strength is 13, but the belt keeps it at effectively 24. If he takes more than 17 points of strength damage he dies.

This is how I run it as well.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

As a DM I would rule that his strength score goes down but the belt keeps his strength score at 24. So if the PC has a 17 strength without the belt and loses 4 point his strength is 13, but the belt keeps it at effectively 24. If he takes more than 17 points of strength damage he dies.

This is how I would run it as well, if for some reason I hated my players enough to send such a creature after them.

The belt magically keeps your effective strength at 23. Your actual strength gets reduced repeatedly.