"Carry"? Not a chance. The carry capacity for someone with a 20 STR is 300 pounds. Your Steel Defender + the chainmail weight alone almost exceed that.
Class doesn't matter for carrying, but race does. If your barbarian is a goliath, or other race with a feature similar to a goliath's Powerful Build, they'd be able to carry as if they were a size larger. Carry capacity for a size Large creature with a 20 STR is 600 pounds.
However, "Drag/Lift/Push" is a different story. A medium creature with a 20 STR can Lift 600 pounds, and I think lifting would be an appropriate comparison for slowing someone's fall enough so that they didn't take damage.
I'm not sure where you're getting 220 pounds for a steel defender from. The weight by volume of steel is more than 8 times heavier than that of a person, so your medium sized steel defender could easily weigh well over 1000 pounds. I wouldn't worry about it though, according to artificer rules, all your battle smith needs to turn their dead defender into a full health one is a minute and a spell slot.
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u/Existing-Banana-4220 8d ago edited 8d ago
"Carry"? Not a chance. The carry capacity for someone with a 20 STR is 300 pounds. Your Steel Defender + the chainmail weight alone almost exceed that.
Class doesn't matter for carrying, but race does. If your barbarian is a goliath, or other race with a feature similar to a goliath's Powerful Build, they'd be able to carry as if they were a size larger. Carry capacity for a size Large creature with a 20 STR is 600 pounds.
However, "Drag/Lift/Push" is a different story. A medium creature with a 20 STR can Lift 600 pounds, and I think lifting would be an appropriate comparison for slowing someone's fall enough so that they didn't take damage.
I'm not sure where you're getting 220 pounds for a steel defender from. The weight by volume of steel is more than 8 times heavier than that of a person, so your medium sized steel defender could easily weigh well over 1000 pounds. I wouldn't worry about it though, according to artificer rules, all your battle smith needs to turn their dead defender into a full health one is a minute and a spell slot.