So I have become platinum. My character - Adom Strongroom - has recently had his torso turned into platinum. This has made my AC increase and made me stronger. My only problem is would the character actually be able to carry this weight around? Also would it decrease my carry capacity? As a 20 Strength human Barb I am incredibly strong, but this is platinum we're talking about. I'd love to hear you thoughts. Thanks
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1\$\begingroup\$ Hi, welcome to the site! I’ve answered your question, but please bear in mind that this question is only just barely on-topic for this site: we don’t answer questions about real-world topics unrelated to gaming just because you want to use the information in a game. The only thing that saves this question, really, is that an answer needs to also know how much a 20-Strength character can carry. \$\endgroup\$– KRyanCommented Sep 18 at 14:25
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\$\begingroup\$ Reminds me of a situation in bg3 with a hag, where the promise of strength came with the downside of not being able to move \$\endgroup\$– SeriousBriCommented Sep 18 at 14:26
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1\$\begingroup\$ I realize the answer is just handwavy magic, but how are you alive if your entire torso is made of metal? \$\endgroup\$– TheLittlePeaceCommented Sep 18 at 16:47
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\$\begingroup\$ @TheLittlePeace That seems like a question that could be addressed to any warforged or autognome. \$\endgroup\$– KirtCommented Sep 19 at 1:37
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2\$\begingroup\$ Came up in comments on my answer: can we get more details on what exactly is now platinum? My answer assumes that the entire torso is solid platinum, all the way through, but if all of the tissues within the torso turned to platinum—while leaving the various cavities open—that would reduce the weight some. If the fluid within the torso remained normal and not platinum, that would reduce things a lot. And @MatthieuM. suggested it might be just the skin, which might be a literal ton less, or more. \$\endgroup\$– KRyanCommented Sep 19 at 13:49
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You can carry up to 15× your Strength score, or 300 pounds in your case. You can push, lift, or drag twice that, or 600 pounds. However, body weight is not usually included encumbrance: that usually only counts the weight of objects you carry, not your own weight. So at least by the rules, the answer to this question doesn’t really matter.
But we can still answer the other side of the equation, very roughly:
Platinum has a density of 21.45 grams per cubic centimeter.
This study in the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology finds that the mean volume for their sample of human male torsos is 65.66 L, or 65,660 cm³. Note that this study defines “torso” as being the total body volume (per a 3D scanner), minus the volume of the head, arms, and legs.
Also note that this study was specifically a comparison of Caucasian and Hispanic adults, and all subjects came from in or around New York City. Other ethnicities or geographical regions were not included in their average. Global averages may well vary significantly from this finding (I saw a less-rigorous estimate of just 47 L, for example).
That gives us a weight of approximately 3,250 pounds, vastly in excess of 300 pounds.
(The 47 L estimate, by the way, results in 2,222 pounds—also much greater than 300 pounds.)
This implies that—just as your torso is clearly magical because it continues to function as a torso—something magical is going on allowing you to move around. Maybe it’s magically-light platinum, or your body muscles are magically strengthened in some very specific way that allows you to carry your own weight but not otherwise count as having a higher Strength score, or there’s some magical anti-gravity effect, or whatever.
The Strength score required to move 3,250 pounds around comfortably is 217. This would limit your gear pretty significantly, though; you’d probably want something closer to Str 225 if you were actually carrying all that weight around by the rules. (For the 47 L estimate, it’d be Str 150, but probably more like 160 just so you can also carry other stuff.)
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\$\begingroup\$ +1 for excellent calculations and acknowledging that, RAW, the question is somewhat irrelevant. My only minor gripe is the last paragraph, since as far as I was aware in 5e-2014 ability scores could not be increased above 30, as a hard cap. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Sep 19 at 11:42
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\$\begingroup\$ I respect that showing the theoretical required scores put things further into perspective, but it may warrant mentioning that those scores are outright unachievable (although the actual lifting such weights is very achievable through other means) \$\endgroup\$ Commented Sep 19 at 11:43
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\$\begingroup\$ I think the assumption that the torso is just a solid block of platinum is wrong to start with. I think a more logical assumption would be that the skin of their torso turned to platinum (and perhaps some muscles/bones) but all the organs, the air in the lugs/guts, etc... are still completely organic. This would vastly decrease the total volume of platinum. Perhaps easily by 10x or 20x. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Sep 19 at 13:41
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\$\begingroup\$ @MatthieuM. I considered the fact that the torso has a number of internal cavities that might remain empty, but ultimately decided 1. that probably wasn’t enough to achieve the order-of-magnitude reduction necessary, and 2. wasn’t clear from the question (I had all kinds of sub-questions about what exactly changed to platinum in that case). I hadn’t considered your “skin deep” version, which might be have enough magnitude indeed, but that’s not the sense I get from the question. \$\endgroup\$– KRyanCommented Sep 19 at 13:47