About the Shadow's ability to reduce Strength score

Quote from sabin76 >>

EDIT: in fact, the Hammer was updated in the new DMG (which I should have checked before posting) to actually modify the Belt because it didn't work as written before: Hammer of Thunderbolts

 Interestingly, the 5.5e version requires being attuned to the Belt or Gauntlets, while the 5e version didn't require attunement to those, only wearing them.

The 5.5e version specifies that "The Strength score bestowed by your Belt of Giant Strength or Gauntlets of Ogre Power increases by 4, to a maximum of 30.", which I guess technically means if your strength score was already over what was bestowed by the Belt or Gauntlet, then you wouldn't get the +4? If your "natural" strength score was 19 and you were attuned to the Gauntlet, then it seems you wouldn't get the +4 at all.

That seems... odd. 

*Edit: Interestingly, Crawford had this to say in the SAC (in reference to the 5e version)... "Hammer of thunderbolts adds to your current Strength, no matter how your current Str. is determined."

https://www.sageadvice.eu/does-the-bonus-strength-from-the-hammer-of-thunderbolts-stack-with-your-giants-strength-belt/?utm_source=ReviveOldPost&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ReviveOldPost&fbclid=IwAR33V9b4Z_LrR9rz00Ehv7csN5DHtQsT4NH36G-83UpxixGlcO6Rva-uDwQ

Not quite. The Gauntlets of Ogre Power do, indeed, not work if you have a STR of 20 and the Hammer of Throwing. However, the language in the Belts (in the '24 DMG, FWIW) make it so that whatever the STR score would be set to is what STR you would need for the Belt to have no effect.

And the Crawford tweet, in my eyes, is just an admittance that the item didn't work as written before.

Quote from sabin76 >>

However, the language in the Belts (in the '24 DMG, FWIW) make it so that whatever the STR score would be set to is what STR you would need for the Belt to have no effect.

 Sorry, I don't think I'm understanding what you're saying here. For simplicity, we'll use the Belt of Hill Giant Strength as the example. So if your base strength score is already 21, then you would get no bonus from the belt. Which means you wouldn't get the +4 from the Hammer of Thunderbolts. Right?

Quote from MaximusArael020 >>

 Interestingly, the 5.5e version requires being attuned to the Belt or Gauntlets, while the 5e version didn't require attunement to those, only wearing them.

The 5.5e version specifies that "The Strength score bestowed by your Belt of Giant Strength or Gauntlets of Ogre Power increases by 4, to a maximum of 30.", which I guess technically means if your strength score was already over what was bestowed by the Belt or Gauntlet, then you wouldn't get the +4?

While what it should do is increase the strength granted by the belt or gauntlet (so if you have Str 20, gauntlets of ogre power, and a hammer of thunderbolts, final strength would be 23), but because of the clause "They have no effect on you if your Strength is 19 or higher without them." the gauntlets don't bestow any strength and thus don't affect you.

The case for the belts is less clear, because the wording there is "The item has no effect on you if your Strength without the belt is equal to or greater than the belt’s score." and it's not clear if the hammer increases the belt's score, or just increases strength without increasing its score.

While wearing this belt, your Strength changes to a score granted by the belt. The type of giant determines the score (see the table below). The item has no effect on you if your Strength without the belt is equal to or greater than the belt’s score.

It then proceeds to list the Str. scores in the table.

Might of Giants. The Strength score bestowed by your Belt of Giant Strength or Gauntlets of Ogre Power increases by 4, to a maximum of 30.

I don't think there is any ambiguity anymore for the Belts. "The belt's score" is what is modified by Might of Giants. It is also what your unbelted Strength is checked against. So, if you have a 23 STR before putting on the BoHGS it does nothing when you do. If you then attune to the HT it "increases [the Strength score in the table] by 4," making it 25. Now your "Strength without the belt" is no longer "equal to or greater than the belt's score" and you can benefit from it.