What does a strength check of 24 actually mean?

Question

In the 5th edition of Dungeons and Dragons, barbarians receive this ability;

Indomitable Might

Beginning at 18th level, if your total for a Strength check is less than your Strength score, you can use that score in place of the total.

As a level 20 goliath barbarian, with a strength score of 24 (base 18, +2 from race, +4 from barbarian final level ability), Indomitable Might means that without fail I can always apply the outcome of a 24 or higher on any strength check. What does that translate to, in real world physics?

With a strength of 24, and the powerful build racial ability, I can use rules within the system to determine the maximum amount of weight I can lift. (24 str x 30 max lift x 2 for large size = 1,040 lbs). Knowing that I can lift half a ton of weight, I am able to understand how strong my character is, and what his strength actually enables me to do in a role-playing sense.

I can not find rules that translate in this way what a 24 strength check result actually allows. Normally, it would not be a problem, as it's simply a case-by-case basis. I could not get that result consistently, so it would be very unlikely I'd be able to do anything that relies on me doing it consistently. However, Indomitable Might changes that.

As an example of what I'm looking for; In another game system I use, objects have a 'break DC,' which represents the amount of strength needed to just break them. By comparing what a check of 24 allows me to break in this system, I could translate that into real-world numbers to determine what kind of feats of strength I'd actually be capable of. Are there any lists of strength-checks in 5e D&D that I could use like this? If not, are there any strength check DCs predetermined by the book that could be used for comparison? These would be examples of bench marks that could be used to help determine what a strength check of 24 would represent, in real-world terms.

Answer 1

Ah! A hard one but not a very hard one

From the DMG p.238:

When you do so, think of how difficult a task is and then pick the associated DC from the Typical DCs table.

Typical DCs

\$ \begin{matrix} \text{Task} & \text{DC} & \text{Task} & \text{DC}\\ \text{Very easy} & \text{5} & \text{Hard} & \text{20}\\ \text{Easy} & \text{10} & \text{Very hard} & \text{25}\\ \text{Moderate} & \text{15} & \text{Nearly impossible} & \text{30}\\ \end{matrix} \$

With 24 Strength you have +7 if you are non-proficient and +13 if you are proficient. So we can rewrite the table for you:

\$ \begin{matrix} \text{Task} & \text{DC} & \text{Task} & \text{DC}\\ \text{Very easy} & \text{100%} & \text{Hard} & \text{100%}\\ \text{Easy} & \text{100%} & \text{Very hard} & \text{20% or 50%}\\ \text{Moderate} & \text{100%} & \text{Nearly impossible} & \text{0% or 20%}\\ \end{matrix} \$

Also from the DMG:

• It's Very Hard to pull yourself out of quicksand if you have sunk 15 feet into it (p. 110)
• It's Hard to pry open a locked pit cover (p. 122)
• It's Hard to slow a Rolling Sphere trap (p. 123)
• It's Hard to pull another creature out of a Bag of Devouring (p.153)
• It's Nearly Impossible to move an Immovable Rod (p. 175)
• It's Hard to break the Iron Bands of Bilarro (p. 177)

Everything else in there is Moderate or easier.

Answer 2

I'm not aware of a specific list of break DCs for objects in the core rulebooks. The DMG on page 238 does give some general descriptions of DCs, stating that "A DC 25 task is very hard for low-level characters to accomplish, but it becomes more reasonable after lOth level or so." The table goes up to 30, which is described as "nearly impossible." Obviously "very hard" is pretty subjective, and is offset by your character's ability score. For your character, you basically have a possible range of 24-33 in a strength check, so 25 would probably a light amount of effort. Anything below 24 would be essentially effortless.

A good point of reference may be to see what DCs are used in published modules. In the Curse of Strahd, for example, there are some crypts with 5ft x 3ft x 3inch stone slabs covering them. Removing or replacing these slabs is a DC 15 check (pg 85). There is a crypt with a large slab (pg. 93) which is 8ft x 6ft (depth is not listed, I would assume again around 3 inch). This one is a DC 20. Yet another tomb (also pg 93) is guarded by a portcullis (heavy metal gate) which is a DC 25 to lift. I cannot find any strength checks in the book with a DC higher than 25.

On page 33, the module says this about doors in the region:

"Doors. A wooden door can be forced open with a successful DC 10 Strength check, or DC 15 if the door is barred or reinforced in some other manner. Increase the DC by 5 if the door is made of stone, or by 10 if it is made of iron. Decrease the DC by 5 if the door is made of glass or amber, or if the door is weakened in some manner (such as by rot or corrosion). ... A typical padlock can be broken by smashing it with a bludgeoning or slashing weapon and succeeding on a DC 20 Strength check."

The rules for jumping (PHB pg. 182) might also help correlate the strength store to real world terms.

Long Jump. When you make a long jump, you cover a number of feet up to your Strength score if you move at least 10 feet on foot immediately before the jump. When you make a standing long jump, you can leap only half that distance.

...

High Jump. When you make a high jump, you leap into the air a number of feet equal to 3 + you Strength modifier (minimum of 0 feet) if you move at least 10 feet on foot immediately before the jump. When you make a standing high jump, you can jump only half that distance.

For a frame of reference, the Olympic record for men's long jump is 29.2ft (8.9m) and women's is 24.3ft (7.4m). Of course, it's not a perfect analogy, as Olympic long jumpers have trained specifically to be good at this and your character is supposedly just good at this from pure strength built up over the years spent killing monsters. It's also important to remember that D&D is not intended to be 100% realistic, so the constraints of the game may not, and need not, always match up perfectly with real life.