What is Strahd von Zarovich's weight in bat form?

Question

This question concerns D&D 5e. The relevant ability, with my emphasis, is as follows:

While in bat or wolf form, Strahd can't speak. In bat form, his walking speed is 5 feet, and he has a flying speed of 30 feet. In wolf form, his walking speed is 40 feet. His statistics, other than his size and speed, are unchanged... (Curse of Strahd page 240)

Simply put, what does Strahd weigh as a bat? Since size and weight are not the same, I would argue that he simply becomes a (very heavy) Strahd-weighted bat. Is this correct?

Answer 1

Up to the DM

There are no official creature weights in 5e, just size categories. Specific heights and weights are up to the DM to narrate to fit the story.

This DM would say it weighs what a normal bat weighs :)

But if you want to go with heavy bat, by all means do so! If that fits your story and vision, there is nothing wrong with it. And mechanically it works...because magic.

Answer 2

I'd use Occam's razor to say he weighs the same as a normal bat. The reasoning for this goes:

1. He can masquerade convincingly as a normal bat. That's attractive to me as a DM for plot purposes. It means he doesn't stand out in a crowd of bats, and can follow and spy on the characters easily and naturally.
2. This means he needs to be able to land on things that a normal bat could, without breaking them.
3. His flight needs to be a convincing imitation of a normal bat's flight, which is powered by physical strength, and uses the bat's wing surfaces.
4. If he has the same weight (and strength) as a normal bat, all of this follows naturally. If he doesn't, all of the things above are much more complicated.

So I assume he weighs the same as a normal bat, because that makes it easier for me to imagine his movement and tactics.

Answer 3

You keep using that word¹.

I do not think it means what you think it means.

Your assumption that Strahd's weight would be unchanged seems to come from a misunderstanding of the text you quote, "His statistics...are unchanged."

You are interpreting "statistics" with the common English meaning of 'measurements of characteristics'. However, "statistics" has a game specific meaning in 5e.

A monster's statistics, sometimes referred to as its stat block, provide the essential information that you need to run the monster. (MM p. 6)

In 5e, "statistics" are the characteristics, and only the characteristics, listed in the stat block (cf.: What all is included in a creature's game statistics?). Thus, when CoS says that Strahd's statistics do not change, it means that everything listed in his stat block (other than size or speed) does not change in his transition to bat form. It makes no claim about any characteristics not listed in his stat block.

Weight, crucially, is not part of a monster's 5e statistics. Thus, the passage you cite as evidence that Strahd's weight does not change does not, in fact, say anything about whether or not his weight changes.

It is entirely the DM's decision, then, what Strahd weighs, both in his vampire form and his bat form. Perhaps he weighs as much as a normal bat in both!

_{*Yes, you used it only once. But my title is the full Princess Bride quote.}

Answer 4

With a strength score of 2, a 200 pound bat would be a really huge paper weight.

There's nothing in the sourcebooks that will definitively answer this for us, so it us up to the DM. The best I can do is to cite common sense and rule that weight is usually a function of the size statistic. A tiny creature usually will not weigh the same as a medium humanoid, barring any strange circumstances.

This seems to be a necessary ruling. A bat has a strength of 2. If the bat weighed 200 pounds, he wouldn't be able to fly.