strength
Welcome to strength!
Strength:
Strength: Strength is a measure of muscle, endurance, and stamina combined. For purposes of relating this ability to some reality, assume that a character with a strength of 3 is able to lift a maximum of 30 pounds above his or her head in a military press, while a character with 18 strength will be able to press 180 pounds in the same manner. Strength is the forte of fighters, for they must be physically powerful in order to wear armor and wield heavy weapons. Therefore, strength is the major characteristic (or prime requisite of fighters, and those fighters with strength of 16 or more gain a bonus of 10% of earned experience (explained later). Futhermore, fighters with an 18 strength are entitled to roll percetnile dice in order to generate a random number between 01 and 00 (100) to determine exceptional strength exceptional strength increases hit probability and damage done when attacking, and it also increases the weight the character is able to carry without penalty for encumbrance, as well as increasing the character’s ability to force open doors and similar portals. The tables below give complete information regarding the effects of strength. Note that only fighters are permitted to roll on the exceptional strength section of STRENGTH TABLE II: ABILITY ADJUSTMENTS. —Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Edition 1 Player’s Handbook
The military press was eliminated from Olympic competition in 1972 because of widespread cheating in how it was performed. On 1936 German heavyweight Sepp Manger broke the 300-pound mark with a 303-pound press (almost double Gary Gygax’s maximum for the strongest heroic character). In 1956 Paul Anderson broke the 400-pound limit with a 303-pound lift. In 1962 Yuri Vlasov pressed 408 pounds. In 1971 Russian Vasily Alexeev pressed 500 pounds.
500 pounds is 2.77778 times 18 times 10. 303 pounds is 1.683333 times 18 times 10.
Proposed changed rule: The strength characteristic is multipled by 10 for strengths of 10 and under, multiplied by 1.5 for 11 to 16, multiplied by 2 for 17 and 18, multiplied by 2.5 for 18/01 to 50, and multiplied by 3 for 18/55 to 18/00.
STRENGTH TABLE I.
| Ability Score | General Information |
|---|---|
| 3 | |
| 4 | |
| 5 | Here or lower the character can only be a magic-user |
| 6 | Minimum strength for a gnome, half-orc, or halfling character |
| 7 | |
| 8 | Minimum strength for a dwarf character |
| 9 | Minimum strength for a fighter character |
| 10 | |
| 11 | |
| 12 | Minimum strength for an assassin or paladin character |
| 13 | Minimum strength for a ranger character |
| 14 | Maximum strength possible for a female halfling character |
| 15 | Maximum strength possible for a female gnome character; minimum strength for a monk character |
| 16 | Maximum strength possible for a female elf character |
| 17 | Maximum strength possible for a female dwarf or female half-elf or male halfling character |
| 18 | Maximum strength possible for all non-fighter characters |
| 18/01-50 | Maximum strength possible for a female human or male gnome character |
| 18/51-75 | Maximum strength possible for a male elf or female half-orc character |
| 18/76-90 | Maximum strength possible for a male half-elf character |
| 18/91-99 | Maximum strength possible for a male dwarf or male half-ord character |
| 18/00 | Maximum human strength |
—Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Edition 1 Player’s Handbook
Even back then there was a lot of criticism for the sexism fo this chart. Limits on race and gender were dropped in later editions.
For our purposes, we will ignore this table for our sample character.
Sample Character:
Strength: Rolled 18/00 Maximum human strength —Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Edition 1 Player’s Handbook