Make Strength Your Dump Stat and Show How Strong Your 5E D&D Character Can Be

Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted set down the dumbbells for a moment to explore using dump stats and low ability scores in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons, specifically about Strength this time. In the video they discuss different approaches for roleplaying, perspectives on how and why a character might have a low score and what it means to have low bodily power, athletic training and raw physical force. It’s interesting to note in 5E D&D Strength scores run higher than you might imagine as compared to real life. An average Strength score of 10 represents power perhaps greater than you would expect. Nevertheless in context low Strength is low Strength. In the first part of this series we looked at how Intelligence can be represented through different ability scores but this time around the same approach doesn’t work as well. Instead I thought it would be fun to look at the character classes and see how a character with Strength as their dump stat might still be effective or at least how much impact it might have on the adventuring career. So let’s get into it.

Low Strength, high hopes in 5E D&D

Before getting started going through each character class in 5E D&D to see how Strength as a dump stat affects them it’s of utmost importance to go over what a low Strength prevents any character from accomplishing. Multiclassing stands out as a big one. A character with less than 13 Strength cannot multiclass into barbarian. Further, those with less than 13 Strength and Charisma cannot multiclass into paladin and a character without at least 13 Strength or Dexterity cannot multiclass into fighter. Likewise any characters of those classes cannot multiclass out of them without meeting those minimum scores.

When it comes to equipment characters with less than 13 Strength who wear chain mail armor or less than 15 Strength who wear split and plate armor have their speed reduced by 10 feet. This is important to note because weaker characters can actually wear and gain the benefits of those armors (if they can actually afford to bear the weight). Here’s something to keep in mind though, which crossed my mind while looking over the armor in the equipment section of the Player’s Handbook — there’s several pieces of gear useful for mitigating low Strength.

• Finesse. When making an attack with a finesse weapon, you use your choice of your Strength or Dexterity modifier for the attack and damage rolls. You must use the same modifier for both rolls. This weapon property opens up some options for weaker characters.
• Thrown. If a weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon to make a ranged attack. If the weapon is a melee weapon, you use the same ability modifier for that attack roll and damage roll that you would use for a melee attack with the weapon. For example, if you throw a handaxe, you use your Strength, but if you throw a dagger, you can use either your Strength or your Dexterity, since the dagger has the finesse property. Related to finesse, this is another property to make note of when Strength is an issue.
• Chain, Manacles and Rope. A chain can be burst with a successful DC 20 Strength check (same for manacles and DC 17 for rope). Useful pieces of equipment for weaker characters to keep on hand for restraining other creatures. Just be careful about the strong ones!
• Crowbar. Using a crowbar grants advantage to Strength checks where the crowbar’s leverage can be applied. Even with negative modifiers you still double your chances for success!
• Ram, Portable. You can use a portable ram to break down doors. When doing so, you gain a +4 bonus on the Strength check. One other character can help you use the ram, giving you advantage on this check. Double the chances and a huge bonus on the check means wimpy adventurers can knock down doors with the best of them.

Artificer

Easy peasy for artificers to make Strength their dump stat. The word “Strength” appears 10 times as regards artificers and all their Artificer Specialists. Most of them only mention it tangentially or to note some way artificers work around it whether by creating their own belt of hill giant strength or using their Intelligence as a substitute. Even heavy armor restrictions mean little to an artificer, at least when it comes to the Armorer subclass unless it’s drastically changed in the final version we’ll see in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.

Barbarian

The quintessential Strength based character class for 5E D&D. It seems counter intuitive to play a barbarian with Strength for their dump stat but in the right kind of game you could make it work and have fun. The word “Strength” appears 20 times as regards barbarians and all their Primal Paths. Most notably it interacts with Rage in the following ways:

• You have advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws.
• When you make a melee weapon attack using Strength, you gain a bonus to the damage roll that increases as you gain levels as a barbarian, as shown in the Rage Damage column of the Barbarian table.

In the first case, your low score is mitigated by advantage doubling your chances to succeed. Since Strength is one of a barbarian’s saving throws, albeit lowered by a negative modifier, it’s still going to give you a better than average chance to come out on top. Likewise with melee weapon attacks using Strength, a lower to hit bonus means connecting might be problematic but the damage does get a bump. Reckless Attack, Indomitable Might and Primal Champion all relate to Strength as well and a barbarian who begins weak but focusing on improving their Strength over time could be a really interesting character.

Beyond this, other than affecting your damage output Strength does not impact barbarians terribly much. There’s one feature keyed to your score but other than that really their features depend on the Strength scores of other creatures you’re trying to affect with something.

Bard

Go ahead and dump Strength all you want for this character class. The word “Strength” appears a mere two times in the case of bards and their Bard Colleges, in one case simply to describe how a bard’s strength lies in versatility. The next mention is included in one of the Tales from Beyond, part of the College of Spirits from Unearthed Arcana.

Cleric

Clerics serving gods or ideals appreciative of physical might could put high Strength to good use but with the word “Strength” appearing only six times across all the clerics features including the huge number of Divine Domains it seems very reasonable as a dump stat — especially for clerics leaning on spellcasting. Admittedly only four of the 14 Divine Domains grant Potent Spellcasting at 8th level as opposed to Divine Strike and even those might employ finesse weapons. Other than those specific cases Strength has little to do with being a divine agent.

Druid

Druids might be the easiest character class to make Strength a dump stat and never worry about it again. Appearing only three times in all their features and Druid Circles, perhaps the clearest evidence of the low impact Strength has on druids is how other than flavor text the only mention of this ability score is in the Circle of the Shepherd when it grants advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws through the Spirit Totem feature.

Fighter

Hey, if barbarians could conceivably get by with Strength as a dump stat, can fighters be any different? Appearing a whopping 23 times in the class description and Martial Archetypes “Strength” appears very little for the base class. The Quick Build tips suggest making Strength or Dexterity your highest ability score, giving your some wiggle room right from the start. All of the DC based features like those from Arcane Archer or Battle Master don’t necessarily rely on Strength. Cavalier fighters feel the brunt of low Strength through their Unwavering Mark and Ferocious Charger features and Champion fighters use it for as Remarkable Athletes, while Rune Knights can boost their score through Rune Options and Giant Might.

Look at that! We made it through both barbarians and fighters already and there’s a case to be made for Strength as a dump stat even for these seemingly antithetical character classes.

In the FREE encounter Seizing the Means one of the weakest creatures in 5E D&D — kobolds — show their strength by scheming to take control of their evolution through control of a green dragon. Click the image to get your own free copy.

Monk

It’s super easy to get by with low Strength as a monk. Mentioned nine times through the description of the core class and Monastic Traditions, almost every instance gives monks opportunities to substitute other ability scores for Strength. Since monks are indisputably the most self-sufficient character class, due in large part to not needing weapons, armor or components of any sort to do their cool monk stuff they don’t even really need high Strength to carry their equipment. Monks can phone it in when it comes to Strength as a dump stat. No sweat!

Paladin

Strength of conviction needs no muscles to back it up and Strength is touched on only five times for the paladin class and all its Sacred Oaths. The Quick Build tips recommend it as your highest ability score, presumably to wear heavy armor and carry big weapons for laying down your Divine Smite. We know we can get around the armor issue already and Oath of Glory can give weakling paladins a shot at being a Peerless Athlete so is Strength all that for a paladin? It certainly helps but just while writing this I’m thinking a wimpy paladin struggling in heavy armor but holding fast to their tenets could be a lot of fun to play.

Ranger

According to the Quick Build tips “Some rangers who focus on two-weapon fighting make Strength higher than Dexterity” (the recommended highest ability score). With just two mentions in the entire class breakdown it seems entirely reasonable to make it your dump stat. If you fancy your ranger more like an Army ranger you might feel like they’d be pretty strong but as we learned in the video above in the fantasy multiverse of 5E D&D a low Strength means more than you might expect and hauling a heavy pack through the wilderness is easier than you think.

Rogue

Totally dumpable! The character class introduction flat out states rogues prioritize cunning over brute strength and the only other mention of the ability score is the Swashbuckler’s Elegant Maneuver that’s only purpose as regards Strength is overcoming a low score. My only word of caution here is if you make Strength your dump stat as a rogue watch out for the muscle wizard because no one wants to get beat up in fisticuffs by a wizard.

Sorcerer

I went into this one expecting there might not be a single mention of Strength whatsoever. Instead, there’s three — and two of them are the same feature mentioned in different places. Exactly zero of them rely on a sorcerer’s Strength or interact with their score at all. To me sorcerers have one of the best reasons to make Strength their dump stat because a young person who discovers innate magical power probably feels drawn more towards developing their magic than their muscles. In fact I’d say more than any other class a sorcerer would look for ways to use their magic to overcome situations requiring Strength.

Warlock

I was really hoping to find a character class without any mention of the word “Strength” anywhere. Maybe the wizard will satisfy the desire but warlock comes pretty close. Mentioned only twice, one of them is through the Hexblade’s Hex Warrior feature giving these warlocks the opportunity to use their Charisma instead of Strength or Dexterity for attack and damage rolls with their special weapon.

Wizard

Five times we see the word Strength as it relates to wizards and I am shocked. The shock lessens after seeing four of these instances in the same feature, Graviturgy Magic’s Adjust Density and another in the same Arcane Tradition’s Event Horizon. No class or subclass features touch on Strength in any way, even to say a target must make a saving throw against the ability score.

You are not the weakest link. Goodbye!

This dive into dump stat ability scores focused on Strength in 5E D&D came at an auspicious time. Recently there’s been more chatter than usual about the nature of D&D as a game and the scope of stories we can tell through our adventures using this game system. At Nerdarchy we love to talk about D&D and other RPGs, getting into noodly rules and rulings discussions, optimizing characters and so forth. But at the end of the day we always make it clear this game is vast in scope and encompasses any sort of playstyle a group of players wishes. If you want to explore what it’s like to be a physically weak person filled with primal rage or powerful oaths, go for it. And then tell us about it!

We recently started a Community Spotlight on our weekly Nerdarchy the Newsletter and we want to know what you’re up to around your gaming tables. Are you playing a character with Strength as their dump stat? Did you find inspiration from one of our videos, website posts or products? Let us know! Comment on this post, tag us on social media or send us a message and share your stories and images. We love making all sorts of content for you and we want to hear about your adventures too. You get a special coupon for $9.99 when you sign up for the newsletter too. If you want to grab your own copy of this great mini you can grab a copy here.

Until next time, stay nerdy!