Karma Rules QUESTION: Can I Beat a Dragon At Arm Wrestling?

You know, it doesn't matter how much you playtest a system, things will come up in gameplay you never thought of.  Which is the case in this question I got regarding Strength Calculations in Karma. 

"OK, I have a question about Strength. We actually tried converting our D&D characters to Karma over the weekend and decided to run a high power game. My warrior has a Strength Score of 7 (His base rank is 5, and he has a "Belt of Giant Strength" which we just converted to a +2 bonus to Strength. In the Karmic Monsters book, a Red Dragon only has a Strength score of 5. Does that mean I can beat him in an arm wrestling contest? lol "

Chris S., Tampa, FL

My question is, why are you thinking of arm wrestling a dragon?

To answer this question, it's important to remember that Attributes work a bit differently in Karma than in other systems. First, Attributes are relative. Scores are considered in relation to a standard human. The standard human has a Strength score of 1. So while your character has a Strength of 5, that just means you are 5x stronger than the average human. Based on how your character spent his experience points over the course of the game, you built up your strength to be that much stronger. By the same token, the AVERAGE starting red dragon starts out 5x stronger than the average human. So while your character has worked long and hard to achieve that score, the red dragon was just born that way.

If you think about game systems like D&D, Attributes are theoretically suppose to be representative of what you can achieve. If you have a total Karma Score of 7, that translates to a D&D Strength Score of 22. Consider something like carrying capacity. In D&D, carrying capacity is based solely on strength. That means you can carry a load of 173 lbs without being encumbered in your D&D game.

But Strength is only one part of the equation in Karma. Does anyone really believe that someone with a Strength of 22 but a Constitution of 10 can carry 173 lbs as a light load? Your carrying capacity is based on your size, strength, and endurance. Assume your character weighs 260 lbs, and has an endurance score of 4. To calculate your carrying capacity:

Divide 260 by 4 to get 65.
Add your Endurance to your Strength to get 11.
Multiple 65 x 11 to get 715.
Divide that by 2 to get 357.5 (round up to 358)

That gives you a carrying capacity of 358 pounds

A young red dragon, however, weighs 6,000 lbs and has an Endurance of 5.

Divide 6,000 by 4 to get 1500
Add the dragon's Endurance Score to its Strength score to get 11 (It gets a +1 for the Powerful Built Power).
Multiple 1500 x 11 to get 16,500
Divide by 2 to get 8,250.

So the dragon has a carrying capacity of 8,250!

You're strong. But it's a LOT stronger!

Also think about how the dragon's size impacts its bonus Strength Damage. As a normal sized character, you deal an additional 7 DT on a physical attack because of your Strength score. However, the dragon's size gives it an advantage, because it can put its enormous weight behind an attack. The dragon's size means it deal 4x the bonus Strength damage. So while it has a Score of 5, it's bonus damage is 20 DT (not including powers, specializations, etc).

Now about that arm-wrestling contest. The answer is no, you aren't going to win. It's probably going to crush you! Unless, of course, it polymorphs to something human size. In which case, it no longer has its size advantage over you, and the two of you could roll opposed Athletics checks to see who wins.

Let me know how that works out!
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Have questions about the Karma Roleplaying System?  E-mail us ar karma(at)bardsandsages(dot)com or message me here!