D&D 5e Weight Gain Rules

Main system design by:

@circlesquarer

Additional design, content, and playtesting by:

@falcon82mm
@masterful
@SkinnyGuy
@Squishy

D&D 5e Weight Gain Rules

This guide provides rules to add weight-related fetish content to a D&D 5e campaign. The fetishes involved in this document include weight gain, struggling with weight, stuffing, stuckage, and feederism, though the degree to which each is involved in the game depends heavily on your group and the campaign.

Gaining weight is not a quick process, at least if magic is not involved. This guide assumes that most weight gain is accomplished the good old fashioned way: with a hearty diet and insufficient exercise. While gaining weight through magic, or as the result of a curse, is a common trope that may appear in your game, it is outside the scope of this document.

This guide divides weight-related content into two phases: gaining weight, and adventuring while fat. Gaining weight is a process that takes place over weeks or months, and is therefore usually reserved for downtime and travel. The choices a character makes in how they spend their time determine whether their belts start to tighten as they wait for their next adventure.

Adventuring while fat covers the more heroic endeavors the characters go on, and how their changing weights affect them. While actually gaining weight is uncommon in this phase, there are many situations characters can find themselves in where their weight is at the forefront of the scenario. Crawling into tight dungeons becomes harder, food becomes more tempting, and NPCs may react to their new girths in a variety of ways. To encourage roleplaying these scenarios, players earn Indulgence Points by roleplaying, which they can then spend on various perks.

Gaining Weight

While an adventurer is between adventures, they often live a very different life from being out on the road: carousing, resting, enjoying life before they will be forced back out into the fray. Depending on how indulgent their relaxation is, living large like this may result in a quite a few pounds creeping onto their bodies if they're not careful.

Downtime

At the start of a week or month of downtime, you decide what type of lifestyle you live. This determines your potential for gaining; the more opulent your lifestyle, the richer the food you get to enjoy, and the less physical activity you are likely to engage in. If you do gain weight, this determines the dice you would roll to see just how much.

Variant: Speedy Gaining

This guide attempts to approximate a semi-realistic rate of weight gain. Even a character eating as much as possible will rarely gain more than 30-40 pounds in a month. If your group prefers to roleplay a more rapid version of weight gain, the easiest solution is to multiply the amount of weight gained during downtime by a factor of 1.5 or 2.

\columnbreak

Lifestyles

Lifestyle	Cost (per day)	Gain Die	Max portion size
Wretched	—	d2	Meager
Squalid	1sp	d2	Average
Poor	2sp	d4	Average
Modest	1gp	d6	Plenty
Comfortable	2gp	d8	Generous
Wealthy	4gp	d10	Excessive
Aristocratic	10gp	d12	Hedonistic

Portion Sizes

You also choose your portion sizes - do you stop eating when you're no longer hungry, or do you keep going until you're truly sated? The amount you consume per day modifies your daily lifestyle costs by a multiplier shown in the Portions table below. Note that not all portion levels are available to all lifestyles, as shown on the Lifestyles table above.

Some effects raise or lower the effective Portion Size you consume during a rest. This can raise the Portion Size above the level normally allowed by your Lifestyle. If your Portion Size would be raised above Hedonistic, you gain an Indulgence Point for each additional size instead. Your Portion Size cannot fall below Starvation.

Portion sizes

Portion Size	Lifestyle Cost Multiplier	# of Gain Dice
Starvation	0.5x	-2
Meager	0.75x	-1
Average	1x	0
Plenty	1.25x	1
Generous	1.5x	2
Excessive	2x	3
Hedonistic	2.5x	4

Losing Weight

If the number of gain dice becomes negative, they become d4s, regardless of your lifestyle. When those dice are rolled, you lose that amount of weight, rather than gaining it. For instance, someone living a Comfortable lifestyle on Starvation portions would roll -2 dice, so they would roll 2d4 to determine how much weight they lose, even though their Gain Dice are normally d8s.

Starvation

A starvation diet is unsustainable and unhealthy. For each month a character’s Portion Size is set at Starvation level, they gain a level of Exhaustion which cannot be removed until they spend a week recuperating and receiving portions of at least Meager size.

Other Modifiers

The activities someone takes part in during their downtime can also affect the amount of weight they gain or lose. See the Additional Modifiers table for a list of modifiers. Activities not mentioned on this list are likely neutral with respect to weight gain, but a DM can always rule otherwise.

The Weight Roll

At the end of the week or month, roll your dice pool based on your lifestyle and portion size, applying any relevant modifiers. If your size is Small, divide the end result by 2. If you are rolling for a week, divide the result by 4. That is the total amount of weight gained (or lost, if the die pool is negative) over that time period.

Additional Modifiers

Modifier	Effect
Exercise Regimen	DC 11 Strength (Athletics) or Dex (Acrobatics) check: Reduce the number of gain dice rolled by 1. On a roll of 20+, reduce it by 2.
Manual Labor	DC 11 Strength (Athletics) check: Reduce the number of gain dice rolled by 1.
Eating Encouragement	If someone is plying the character with food at least several times a week, when rolling for weight gained, roll twice and take the higher of the two results.
Lazing Around	If the character spends most of an average day just being idle, sleeping, and eating, increase the number of gain dice rolled by 1.
Dieting	DC 11 Wisdom check: On a success, when rolling for weight gained or lost, roll twice. Take the lower result. On a failure, treat your portion size for the rest as 1 higher, at cost.
Home Cooking	DC 13 Wisdom (Cooking Utensils) check: Treat the character's portion size as one tier higher, for free. Up to three other humanoids may benefit from this.
Scavenging	DC 13 Dex (Stealth) or Wisdom (Survival) check: Treat your portion size as one tier higher, for free. On a roll of 20+, treat your portion size as two tiers higher.
Carousing	If the character spends their time Carousing, increase the number of gain dice rolled by 1.
Traveling on Foot	If the character spends an average day traveling 8 hours on foot, reduce the number of dice rolled by 1.

Traveling

While not downtime in the typical sense, overland (or overwater) travel takes time, during which a character’s weight might fluctuate. Typical foot travel, consuming rations as your primary form of sustenance, can be considered equivalent to a Modest lifestyle, without the daily cost. One ration per day is the equivalent of an Average portion size, while two per day is Plenty.

If a traveler is walking on foot, they also apply the Traveling on Foot modifier, and roll one fewer gain die. If the traveler is riding in a coach or boat and makes no effort to exercise during rests, they apply the Lazing Around modifier. There is no modifier for riding a mount, as that can be considered average physical activity. Other modifiers apply as relevant to the situation; for instance, a character who is well-supplied with spices and Cook’s Utensils could do some Home Cooking during travel to spice up their rations.

NPC Weight Gain

NPCs follow different rules for weight gain. Each NPC falls into a weight category on a track ranging from 1 (Skinny) to 10 (Massive). An NPC is generally at an equilibrium based on their lifestyle and won’t gain or lose weight unprompted, but changes in their environment (or influence from the PCs) may move them up or down the track.

When an NPC recieves extra portions above Average during downtime, roll 1d10 and add the number of extra portions (for instance, Generous portions grant +2). Compare the result to the NPC's current Weight Level. If the result is higher, their Weight Stage moves one step up the track. If it is 5 or more higher, they move up two steps.

Level	Weight Stage	Modifiers
1	Skinny	—
2	Thin	—
3	Average	—
4	Thick	—
5	Chubby	—
6	Overweight	-1 to Athletics and Acrobatics
7	Fat	-2 to Athletics and Acrobatics
8	Rotund	-3 to Athletics and Acrobatics
9	Overflowing	-4 to Athletics and Acrobatics
10	Massive	-5 to Athletics and Acrobatics

Weight Levels

Your character’s Weight Level is determined by how high their weight is compared to an average member of their race. Determine the average weight for your race, then divide it by 2. That value is the interval between Weight Levels. For each interval between your weight and the average weight of your race, you increase your Weight Level by 1.

For instance, an average elf is between 100 and 140lbs, so 120 is the average number. Dividing 120 by 2 gives an interval of 60, so for every 60 pounds a character reaches above 120, they increase 1 Weight Level. This is shown in the table below.

For each Weight Level a character has, they take a -1 penalty to Dexterity (Acrobatics) and Strength (Athletics) checks.

Example Weight Levels

Weight Level	Example Weight Range	Penalty to Athletics and Acrobatics
0	120 - 179	0
1	180 - 239	-1
2	240 - 299	-2
3	300 - 359	-3
4	360 - 419	-4
5	420+	-5

Variant Rule: Ponderous Weight

The default approach presented by this document only imposes a relatively small penalty for characters at higher weights. This is intentional, as tacking on too many penalties, even realistic ones, can significantly hamper the fun of adventuring.

If you would like to include extra penalties for fat characters, here are some suggested changes to make their weight more mechanically consequential. Note that some of these changes make certain playstyles less viable for very fat characters, due to their nature.

Apply the Weight Penalty to Dexterity saving throws, in addition to Athletics and Acrobatics ability checks.
Characters at Weight Level 3 and above take a -5 penalty to their movement speed.
A character whose AC is determined using their Dexterity bonus instead adds a maximum of 5 minus their Weight Level. For example, a character at Weight Level 3 may only add +2 to their AC from their Dexterity, even if it normally grants them a +3 bonus or higher.

Clothing and Armor

As characters grow to different weight levels, their mundane clothes and armor do not, unfortunately, grow with them. At each new Weight Level, a character struggles to wear armor that was purchased at their previous weight level - they suffer the same effects as not being proficient with the armor, until it is refitted.

Armor can be refitted by a smith or leatherworker, depending on its type, while clothing can be resized by a tailor. Alternately, characters with proficiency in certain artisan's tools can make the alterations themselves: Smith’s Tools or Leatherworker’s Tools for armor, and Weaver’s Tools for clothing.

Resizing clothing or armor costs 20% of the item’s total value, or half as much (for raw materials) if done by hand.

Magical armor generally resizes to fit its wearer, and therefore does not need to be adjusted.

Stuffing

A character who eats enough in one sitting (generally 3 times more than a normal meal) is considered Stuffed (see Conditions) for 4 hours and gains an Indulgence Point. That character is visibly bloated, and if they wish to continue to eat, they may attempt a Constitution (Eating) check vs DC 12. If they succeed, they may eat up to three more portions and gain another Indulgence Point. If they fail, they still gain the Indulgence Point, but also the Overstuffed condition for 1 hour. Either way, a character may not stuff themselves again until the Stuffed condition expires.

Squeezing and Getting Stuck

Becoming larger makes it harder to navigate tight spaces, and can lead to certain mishaps. When you attempt to Squeeze into an area (See Player's Handbook - Movement and Positioning) and your Weight Level is 1 or higher, make a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. The DM sets the DC for this check, as it varies depending on the tightness of your circumstances. On a failure, you become stuck: you are Restrained until you use your action to retry the Acrobatics check and pass.

Another character may attempt to pull or push you free by using their action to make a Strength (Athletics) check against the same DC as your Acrobatics check + your Weight Level.

Indulgence

Eating an excessively big meal or hoarding food does not immediately make a character gain weight. It is, however, an indication that their lives are beginning to be impacted by their love of food and excess, which propagates to all aspects of their lives.

Whenever a character engages in a weight fetish scenario, they gain an Indulgence Point. This can include, but is not limited to, the following types of situations:

Overeating (becoming Stuffed, or continuing to eat while Stuffed)
Encouraging others to overeat
Asking for/demanding food from others when it isn't offered

Stealing food
Teasing a character about their weight, if the player is amenable
Confronting someone who teases you about your weight
Vividly roleplaying the struggles of weight gain
Getting stuck
Weight-related wardrobe malfunctions
Others that arise in play

These instances should be memorable and unique; repeating the same simple behavior repeatedly is not enough to earn multiple Indulgence Points per scene, unless there is clear escalation in the scenarios. A character may earn up to 5 indulgence points per session.

A character can have any number of these points stored up, and can spend them for various perks. Unless the description says otherwise, a perk can be purchased at any time. If a perk indicates it is single-use, its effects are applied immediately, and the perk must be purchased again to re-gain the effect.

Customizing Indulgent Behavior

There are many weight-related scenarios available for roleplaying, but not all of them are good fits for every group. Some may want to leave out the teasing or stuckage aspects. Others may want to add a focus on eating messily, or behaviors like burping. Modifying the list of behaviors that earn Indulgence Points is a good way to influence which types of content players bring to their roleplaying.

Spending Indulgence Points

Perk	Cost	Effect
Plump Up	1	Single Use After a long rest or during downtime, gain 2 pounds. You may spend any number of points on this effect during downtime, but may only spend up to 1 + your Weight Level during a long rest.
Thickspiration	1	Single Use Reroll one ability check, attack roll, or saving throw, provided you can justify how your history of gluttony assists you. You may only use this once per roll.
A Fruitful Season	1	Single Use During downtime, when you roll for weight gained, reroll one gaining die, and choose which result to use. You may use this multiple times per instance of downtime.
Superior Flavor	2	Single Use Purchase this while eating a meal to gain a d4. Any time before your next meal, you can spend that d4 to roll it and add the result to an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw. If you became stuffed as a result of the meal, the die is a d6 instead.
Double-Check the Scale	2	Single Use When you feed an NPC during downtime and they don't gain any weight, reroll the d10, adding the same modifiers.
Fast Digestion	3	The Stuffed and Overstuffed conditions last half as long for you.
Binge Eater	4	During downtime, the maximum portion size available to your chosen lifestyle is increased by 1 tier. For instance, if you are living a Modest lifestyle, the maximum portion size you can choose becomes Generous, rather than Plenty. You may purchase this perk multiple times, but the cost is increased by 1 each time.
Competitive Eater	5	You gain proficiency in the Eating skill. This skill is used when the amount of food you can eat, or the speed at which you can eat it, is called into question. If you already have proficiency in Eating, you may take this again to gain Expertise.
Frequently Stuck	5	You're used to getting stuck in small spaces and it isn't the hardship that it once was. Attacks against you don't gain advantage while you're squeezing through a narrow space, and you provide full cover to those behind you. Allies who attempt to free you have advantage on their Strength (Athletics) checks to do so.
Stretched Stomach	5	You require 50% more food to become stuffed, but can also eat 50% more when successfully stuffing.
Persuasive Feeder	5	When you use the Help action to assist someone’s Eating check, they may use your Persuasion modifier in place of their Eating modifier.
One More Slice	5	When you feed an NPC during downtime, add 1 to the d10 roll.

Spending Indulgence Points (continued)

Perk	Cost	Effect
Imposing Bulk	5	Once per long rest, you may add your Weight Level to an Intimidation check you make against a humanoid that is skinnier than you.
Refined Palate	6	When your Lifestyle is Wealthy or greater and you roll for weight gained, you may reroll any dice that come up as a 1 or 2, keeping the second result.
Gourmand	8	Your elevated palate allows you to get more out of a good meal than most. Once per long rest, when you stuff yourself, you gain Temporary Hit Points equal to half your level (rounded up).
Fast/Slow Metabolism	8	Choose Fast or Slow. Fast: You roll one fewer Gain Die during downtime. Slow: You roll one additional Gain Die during downtime. This perk can only be taken once.
Down In Front	8	Requires Weight Level 3+ When you provide cover from a ranged attack against a creature, you provide 3/4 Cover (+5AC).
Soothing Hands	8	You can perform a belly rub to attempt to ease the suffering of a character with the Overstuffed condition. Make a DC 13 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check. On a success, the character is no longer Overstuffed, and if they wish to continue eating, they can retry their eating check against the same DC they failed. Once a character has received a belly rub, they cannot benefit from another one until they finish a long rest.
Expert Feeder	8	During downtime, you may specify one character to be the main recipient of your feeding efforts. If they are a PC, they roll an extra Gain Die this downtime. If they are an NPC, increase their Portion Size once for free.
Bottomless Pit	10	You have advantage on Constitution (Eating) checks to avoid becoming Overstuffed. As long as you are not Overstuffed, you may always attempt to continue eating. Each additional time you do this while Stuffed, increase the DC of the Eating check by 5.
Weight Training	10	Rather than be burdened by your heft, you have learned to use it to your advantage in certain situations. Gain one Feat from this document. You may gain this perk multiple times, taking a different feat each time.
Neighborly Hospitality	10	When you feed an NPC extra portions during downtime, you add 2 to the d10 roll for each portion size above Average, rather than 1.
Well-Padded	10	Requires Weight Level 1+ Your plush form is better at absorbing blows, simply due to your abundant mass. After you complete a long rest, you gain Temporary Hit Points equal to three times your Weight Level. You may regain these temporary hit points on a short rest by eating a meal. You have advantage on Constitution saving throws made to avoid the effects of cold climates, but disadvantage on ones made to avoid the effects of hot climates.
Explosive Growth	10	Whenever you roll the maximum value on a Gain Die, roll one additional Gain Die of the same type and add it to the total. If the additional dice roll a maximum value, do not roll additional ones.

These feats can be gained through the spending of Indulgence Points, but if taken in lieu of an Ability Score Improvement, they also provide a +1 bonus to their associated attribute.

WWW.GMBINDER.COM

This document was lovingly created using GM Binder.

If you would like to support the GM Binder developers, consider joining our Patreon community.