Strength

Strength describes physical prowess, including the capacity to lift objects and cause damage. This Attribute is used to resolve jumping, lifting and other actions that draw on raw physical power. Strength is also used to determine the base number of damage dice rolled for successful physical attacks.

Trait Effects: Someone with Strength 1 is relatively weak and can lift a large dog (80 lbs.) with difficulty. Someone with Strength 3 is fairly muscular and can lift a muscular warrior (200 lbs.). Someone with Strength 5 is vastly strong and can easily lift a pony or a good-sized donkey (450 lbs.)

Feats of Strength (Athletics)

Characters can heroically exert themselves to lift or break objects as a diceless action, comparing their (Strength + Athletics + appropriate specialty) total to the listed chart. Feats of strength involving breaking something take approximately a minute to perform or set up, so they cannot be done in the scope of normal combat time. Instead, characters who wish to break an inanimate object in battle must attack it (see Inanimate Targets). Characters can lift, pull or push objects as a miscellaneous action in Combat, enabling all manner of battlefield heroism.

Throwing a heavy object as a feat of strength requires a (Strength + Athletics) total five dots higher than is necessary to lift the object, and doing so sends the object hurtling a number of yards equal to the character's (Strength + Athletics). This action requires a Speed 5 (Dexterity + Thrown) attack roll to toss the lifted object, at a three-die Accuracy penalty. Penalties for throwing beyond range accrue normally (see Range Penalties). The base damage of a large improvised throwing weapon is the (Strength + Athletics) total in bashing dice needed to throw it, plus the attack's successes. This damage is considered piercing, as it crushes through armor. Animate objects cannot be lifted or thrown this way in combat unless they do not resist. Those who struggle must be clinched and then thrown (see Combat).

If the character uses a stunt or channels a Virtue, add the bonus directly to the total. Channeling a Virtue adds its rating directly to the total. Spending a Willpower point for an automatic success allows the player to roll Willpower and add successes to the total. Cooperation provides a limited bonus, with every assistant adding one point to the total (to a maximum of the leader's Athletics rating). All such bonuses affect only a single Strength check. In particularly gritty games, especially those involving mortal protagonists, halve the feats possible for a particular (Strength + Athletics) total, rounded up. Doing so profoundly alters the feel of the game, so Storytellers should carefully consider whether to alter the default epic tone.

Feats of Strength

(Strength + Athletics)	Lift (lbs.)	Sample Feat
1	80	Lift an anvil or suit of heavy armor.
2	160	Lift a full-grown man; break a wooden plank with a kick.
3	250	Punch a fist through a wooden door.
4	350	Lift a pony; carry a cotton bale on one shoulder; break a sword over one knee.
5	450	Lift a donkey; kick a wooden door to flinders.
6	550	Punch a fist through a heavy wooden door (i.e., oak).
7	650	Bend an iron bar with both hands.
8	800	Lift a horse; bend a horseshoe into a pretzel.
9	1,000	Pull a fully laden wagon.
10	1,200	Lift a camel.
11	1,400	Lift an unlocked portcullis; break down a brick wall over a half hour.
12	1,600	Kick a heavy wooden door to flinders; pull down a wooden bridge.
13	1,800	Lift a yeddim; punch a fist through an iron-shod door.
14	2,000	Snap iron manacles; rip a stone out of a castle wall.
15	2,200	Punch a fist through a stone wall; shatter an iron-shod door to flinders.
16	2,500	Lift a locked portcullis; smash any lock apart with a kick.
17	3,000	Punch a fist through a metal door; pull down heavy stone pillars.
18	3,500	Rip iron bars out of stone with one hand; tip over a loaded wagon.
19	4,000	Tear apart welded steel, such as the grating of a portcullis.
20	4,500	Lift a hippopotamus; punch a hole through a heavily armored fortress gate.