Strength (Player’s Handbook)

Strength (Player’s Handbook)

Strength (Player’s Handbook)





Strength


Strength (Str) measures a character’s muscle, endurance, and stamina. This
ability is the prime requisite of warriors because they must be physically
powerful in order to wear armor and wield heavy weapons. A fighter with a score of 16
or more in Strength gains a 10% bonus to the experience points he earns.


Furthermore, any warrior with a Strength score of 18 is entitled to roll
percentile dice (see
Glossary) to determine exceptional Strength; exceptional Strength improves the
character’s chance to hit an enemy, increases the damage he causes with each hit,
increases the weight the character is able to carry without a penalty for
encumbrance (see below), and increases the character’s ability to force open doors and
similar portals.


The rest of this section on Strength consists of explanations of the columns
in
Table 1. Refer to the table as you read.


Hit Probability adjustments are added to or subtracted from the attack roll rolled on 1d20
(one 20-sided die) during combat. A bonus (positive number) makes the opponent
easier to hit; a penalty (negative number) makes him harder to hit.


Damage Adjustment also applies to combat. The listed number is added to or subtracted from the
dice rolled to determine the damage caused by an attack (regardless of
subtractions, a successful attack roll can never cause less than 1 point of damage). For
example, a short sword normally causes 1d6 points of damage (a range of 1 to
6). An attacker with Strength 17 causes one extra point of damage, for a range
of 2 to 7 points of damage. The damage adjustment also applies to missile
weapons, although bows must be specially made to gain the bonus; crossbows never
benefit from the user’s Strength.


Weight Allowance is the weight (in pounds) a character can carry without being encumbered
(encumbrance measures how a character’s possessions hamper his movement–see
Glossary). These weights are expressed in pounds. A character carrying up to the
listed weight can move his full movement rate.


Maximum Press is the heaviest weight a character can pick up and lift over his head. A
character cannot walk more than a few steps this way. No human or humanoid creature
without exceptional Strength can lift more than twice his body weight over his
head. In 1987, the world record for lifting a weight overhead in a single move
was 465 pounds. A heroic fighter with Strength 18/00 (see
Table 1) can lift up to 480 pounds the same way and he can hold it overhead for a
longer time!


Open Doors indicates the character’s chance to force open a heavy or stuck door. When a
character tries to force a door open, roll 1d20. If the result is equal to or
less than the listed number, the door opens. A character can keep trying to open
a door until it finally opens, but each attempt takes time (exactly how much is
up to the DM) and makes a lot of noise.


Numbers in parentheses are the chances (on 1d20) to open a locked, barred, or
magically held door, but only one attempt per door can ever be made. If it
fails, no further attempts by that character can succeed.


Bend Bars/Lift Gates states the character’s percentage chance (rolled on percentile dice) to bend
normal, soft iron bars, lift a vertical gate (portcullis), or perform a similar
feat of enormous strength. When the character makes the attempt, roll
percentile dice. If the number rolled is equal to or less than the number listed on
Table 1, the character bends the bar or lifts the gate. If the attempt fails, the
character can never succeed at that task. A character can, however, try to bend
the bars on a gate that he couldn’t lift, and vice versa.




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