How much can a 5e character lift?

A 5e character can lift a weight in pounds up to twice their carrying capacity (or 30 times their Strength score), with their carrying capacity being their Strength score multiplied by 15, while their speed drops to 5 feet when pushing or dragging weight in excess of their carrying capacity. The amount a character can lift is directly tied to their Strength score, making it a crucial factor in determining a character’s overall physical capabilities in the game.

Understanding Carrying Capacity and Lifting

To understand how much a 5e character can lift, it’s essential to grasp the concepts of carrying capacity and lifting. The carrying capacity is calculated by multiplying the character’s Strength score by 15, giving the weight in pounds that the character can carry without penalty. For lifting, the character can push, drag, or lift a weight up to twice their carrying capacity, but this comes with a reduction in speed.

Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

1. What is the max strength in 5e? The maximum Strength score by default is 20, giving a +5 modifier, but certain magic items can increase this score beyond 20, such as the belt of storm giant strength to 29 or the potion of giant size to 25.
2. How much can a 20 str character lift? A character with a Strength score of 20 can carry 300 lbs and lift or drag up to 600 lbs (twice their carrying capacity).
3. What happens if you carry too much in D&D? If using the Encumbrance Variant rules, carrying more than STRx10 reduces speed by 20 and imposes disadvantage on ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws that use Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution.

Ability Scores and Strength

4. How strong is a level 20 fighter 5e? A level 20 fighter can deal significant damage, often over 50 damage per turn, and with Action Surge, can obliterate hard targets in one round.
5. What is the strength requirement for heavy weapons 5e? The minimum Strength score for using heavy weapons is 12 for 1st- through 10th-level weapons and 14 for 11th level and higher weapons, with a penalty of -2 to attack rolls for insufficient Strength.

Movement and Lifting

6. How high can my 5e character jump? The height a character can jump is 3 + their Strength modifier if they move at least 10 feet on foot before the jump, or half that distance for a standing high jump.
7. How high can you fly in D&D? There’s no default height limit for flying, but the fly speed is set at 60, including vertical movement, which may require calculating using Pythagoras’s theorem.
8. Can you move sideways with levitate 5e? A character under the effect of levitate can only move laterally by pushing or pulling themselves from a surface within reach, as the spell only allows movement up or down as part of the caster’s action.

Objects and Creatures

9. How heavy is an adult dragon 5e? An adult dragon typically has a minimum wingspan of 18 ft and weighs around 2,700 lb, though sizes can vary among different dragon types.
10. How big is thunder wave 5e? Thunder wave affects a 15-foot cube originating from the caster, with each creature inside needing to make a Constitution saving throw to avoid 2d8 thunder damage and being pushed 10 feet away.
11. How heavy is gold 5e? In 5e, 50 coins weigh a pound, with a single coin weighing about 0.02 pounds or 9.1 grams, and fine gold has a density of 19.3 grams per cubic centimeter.

Game Mechanics

12. What is the carrying capacity of a backpack 5e? A backpack can hold one cubic foot or 30 pounds of gear, with the option to strap additional items like a bedroll or coil of rope to the outside.
13. What is the max speed of 5e? While the maximum speed isn’t explicitly defined for characters, fly speed is set at 60, and movement speeds can vary based on the character’s race, class, and any magical effects.
14. Can a level 20 party beat a Tarrasque? A level 20 party stands a better than 50-50 chance of killing a Tarrasque, a CR 20 creature, due to their high levels and accumulated powers.
15. What is level 1 hp in dnd? Level 1 HP is calculated as the character’s CON modifier plus the max roll of their hit die, varying by class and Constitution score.