Revised Size (3.5e Variant Rule)

Author: Upper_Krust Co-Authors: MisterSinister Contributors: Tarkisflux Date Created: 20th May, 2011 Status: Finished Editing: Clarity edits only please

Unquantifiable

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The Problem

In many ways, the sizing rules given by DnD as standard work OK - provided you stay within a certain size range. However, this is not always possible or desirable - sometimes, rules of truly enormous objects (such as airships) are needed, and assigning something that's 150ft tall the same size category as something 300ft tall seems a bit strange. While this rarely becomes a problem under normal conditions, those conditions can sometimes change - and this is where the rules break down a little bit. This problem needs to be fixed in order for objects of sizes larger than Colossal to be a reality.

Secondly, even within the given size range, the rules don't work so well when things change size. Since each category gains a net +8 Strength, and a change in size category grants an effective +5 Strength or so for the purpose of carrying capacity, things larger than a certain size would eventually become crushed by the gravity acting upon them. However, it's a fact that such large creatures exist (otherwise, why use these rules?), which means that sizes have to be adjusted a bit to make them work.

Lastly, size-based modifiers to Hide checks need to die in a fire. The whole notion is rather ridiculous, as gnomes don't have an advantage to hiding from other gnomes, while giants are not at greater risk of being spotted within their own communities. While the Hide rules have a lot of issues, this is a major one which needs addressing immediately.

The Solution

First of all, Colossal+ receives a name - Titanic. This is just a name change.

Secondly, we need to find a way to continue to name size categories bigger than Titanic without constantly having to find new adjectives to use. To do this, we simply restart our naming scheme with a prefix, and re-use the categories we already have. To this end, the following system of prefixes is added. While it is very unlikely some of these would see any use, they are included for the sake of completeness.

Size Category Scales

Size Category Scale	Example
Standard	Humanoid
Macro	Mountain
Mega	Planet
Giga	Star
Tera	Solar system

To illustrate how this system works in practice, the first scale, and some of the second, have been written out here. Note that Hide modifiers by size are not included - this is intentional (see below).

Expanded Size

Size	AC/Attack Roll Modifier	Grapple Modifier	Approximate Maximum Dimension	Approximate Weight	Carrying Capacity Modifier	Typical Space/Reach 1
Fine	+8	-16	3 - 6 inches	1/64th - 1/8th lb	x1/16	0.5ft/0ft
Diminutive	+4	-12	6 inches - 1ft	1/8th - 1lb	x1/8	1ft/0ft
Tiny	+2	-8	1ft - 2ft	1lb - 8lb	x1/4	2.5ft/0ft
Small	+1	-4	2ft - 4ft	8lb - 60lb	x1/2	5ft/5ft
Medium	+0	+0	4ft - 8ft	60lb - 500lb	x1	5ft/5ft
Large	-1	+4	8ft - 16ft	500lb - 2 tonnes	x2	10ft/10ft
Huge	-2	+8	16ft - 32ft	2 tonnes - 16 tonnes	x4	15ft/15ft
Gargantuan	-4	+12	32ft - 64ft	16 tonnes - 128 tonnes	x8	20ft/20ft
Colossal	-8	+16	64ft - 128ft	128 tonnes - 1 kilotonne	x16	30ft/30ft
Titanic	-16	+20	128ft - 256ft	1 kilotonne - 8 kilotonnes	x32	60ft/60ft
Macro-Fine	-24	+24	256ft - 512ft	8 kilotonnes - 64 kilotonnes	x64	120ft/120ft
Macro-Diminutive	-32	+28	512ft - 1024ft	64 kilotonnes - 512 kilotonnes	x128	250ft/250ft
Macro-Tiny	-40	+32	1024ft - 2048ft	512 kilotonnes - 4 megatonnes	x256	500ft/500ft

¹ The given reach value is for 'tall' creatures. This, and the creature's space, is defined as the middle value between the largest and smallest dimension available to the creature. For 'long' creatures, reduce this by 5ft, to a minimum of 0ft (if Tiny or smaller) or 5ft (for Small or larger). Also, a 'tall' creature typically has a space and reach a little less than half of its actual height, once it gets the huge size or larger. The values in this table are only suggestions, so use your best judgement.

Additionally, when a creature's size increases beyond Medium, they gain +10 additional Strength per size category rather than +8. This does not change current monster ability scores - just ones that are advanced to a bigger size.

Additionally, for exceptionally large creatures, the penalty they take to AC and attack rolls represents the average size their attack covers. If an attack that relies on an attack roll is aimed at a creature whose speed is less than the size of the attack, that creature is considered flat-footed against it.

Example: A Macro-Fine airship hits an armoured human (speed 20ft). Because the human's speed is less than the negative attack modifier of the airship (-24), the human is flat-footed against this attack.

Lastly, Hide penalties or bonuses for size are gone. Instead, for the purposes of such checks, the size of the thing attempting to hide is compared to their environment, as defined on the following table.

Relative Size	Check Result Modifier	Example
Three or more sizes larger than environment and searcher	-10	A tarrasque in a human city.
Two sizes larger than environment and searcher	-5	A hill giant in a pixie village.
One size larger than environment and searcher	-2	A human in a gnome burrow.
Same size as environment and searcher	+0	A halfling in a gnome burrow.
One size smaller than environment and searcher	+2	A halfling in a human bar.
Two sizes smaller than environment and searcher	+5	A dwarf in a storm giant's home.
Three or more sizes smaller than environment and searcher	+10	A gnome in a titan's home.

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