D&D 5E What Does a Strength 20 Look Like (In Real Life)?

[GMforPowergamers]

The way I've heard Advantage and Disadvantage done under the 3d6 system is:
Advantage: roll 4d6 and keep the highest 3
Disadvantage: roll 4d6 and keep the lowest 3

I can't vouch for it, myself...I've only ever used a d20. This is just what I've heard on the 'net.

One of my buddies tried to make his own game... he had it as d12 base and the closest thing to advantage was rolling 2d6 and then upgrade to 3d4 with his equivelent of disadvantage being 1d10 and 1d8... it was weird. but We talked then about doing 2d6 as the base with 1d12 being the disadvantage and the 3d6 take 2 highest as advantage. the math never really worked out and his game never got close to off the ground

 

[CleverNickName]

Second, I would argue that as a world class athlete he has the "Remarkable athlete" ability which would make his base jump 25 feet with a 20 strength.

Finally the jumping rules are for jumping with no skill check and the rules afford an option to jump further with a skill check. I would argue the 29 feet is more than his normal jump distance and he made a good skill check to do that.

So if I had to boil it down, I would say he has an 18 strength and remarkable athlete giving him a base 21 foot jump. He also has expertise in athletics for a +16 to the skill. 29 feet is probably about a 30DC, so he rolled well and made that 29 foot jump. With a poor roll it would have been 27 or with no roll 23.

I suspect they have feats which double or triple the time they can hold their breath.

Same with the lifters. 29 strength but class/feats that let then lift more.

These are valid ways of looking at it...and would give a much more satisfying answer for a lot of people. They involve a lot of assumptions and choices (does/does not have certain abilities, does/does not have Advantage, rolled high/low on the check, etc.) and that matches the way people like to build their characters and play the game. I just prefer the method with the fewest assumptions.

 

[ad_hoc]

I would stat up Hafthor as strength 24 with powerful build.

He has definitely read the manual of fitness giving a +2. Benefiting from modern science is magic.

He also takes a lot of performance enhancing drugs which would also be magic in the setting.

Then on top of that he uses specialty equipment like belts, wrist wraps, and suits to further enhance his strength.

He literally has superhuman strength.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

I would stat up Hafthor as strength 24 with powerful build.

He has definitely read the manual of fitness giving a +2. Benefiting from modern science is magic.

He also takes a lot of performance enhancing drugs which would also be magic in the setting.

Then on top of that he uses specialty equipment like belts, wrist wraps, and suits to further enhance his strength.

He literally has superhuman strength.

That is absurd to me. It is utterly absurd to me that a mundane normie from the real world could be insanely stronger than mythic fantasy badass that can go toe-to-toe with giants and dragons.

 

[Garthanos]

That is absurd to me. It is utterly absurd to me that a mundane normie from the real world could be insanely stronger than mythic fantasy badass that can go toe-to-toe with giants and dragons.

Even just matching does not seem over plausible.

 

[lingual]

I don't think it was the OPs intent to turn this into a "design hate gym dudes" thing, cuz that sounds like where this might be going.

If any of us want a "realistic" game where chess, long jumps, 3 card Monty, thumb wars, etc. are accurately translated to a set of mechanics - then any version of DnD would be highly disappointing.

I think the OP was just having some fun and pointing out how game mechanics (where everyone runs at the same speed for simplicity's sake) are not meant to accurately simulate real life.

 

[ad_hoc]

That is absurd to me. It is utterly absurd to me that a mundane normie from the real world could be insanely stronger than mythic fantasy badass that can go toe-to-toe with giants and dragons.

It's also pretty absurd that normies have landed on the moon and split the atom.

Yet here we are.

Also being strong doesn't mean he can fight.

 

[CleverNickName]

It's also pretty absurd that normies have landed on the moon and split the atom.

Yet here we are.

Also being strong doesn't mean he can fight.

This is also a very good point.

 

[Mannahnin]

It does mean that, other factors being generally equal, he's a lot scarier in a fight than almost anyone else on earth with his same level of HtH combat training (whatever that is) and similar or lesser speed.

That being said, if, say, he has no sword training and he were to go up against a skilled swordsman, he'd still be carrion without a lucky break. Thick layers of muscle and some fat DO shield vital organs from impact/cutting injuries to some extent, but humans overall are eminently puncturable.

 

[ad_hoc]

There are videos of him having sparring matches with boxers or doing arm wrestling with a champion arm wrestler.

He gets destroyed.

I'm sure if he were to devote some time to learning and conditioning for those activities he would be very dangerous though.

Basically a much stronger real life Fezzik.

I bet he would have little problem taking on a whole group of randoms in a bar but put him up against a professional fighter and he's toast.