One Size Fits All

They're pants if you're short, and shorts if you're tall...

Sorry. Anyways, may I present...

One Size Fits All: Modern

One Size Fits All: Legacy

This is very rough draft. It'll need some work.

Looking for someone to help me develop. Would also appreciate anyone using these talents in their character builds.

There's a typo in "Colossal" description:

Any creature or structure that is longer than 15 feet in any straight dimension and weighs more than 1000 pounds is considered Large.

It seems a bit odd that only a +1 bonus is applied for size difference. A miniscule and a colossal creature only have a difference of +4/-4 against each other, which seems a bit insignificant considering how such a situation would work realistically.

I think it would be a better/more realistic if the bonus further increased for each extra size difference, either by an extra set amount (+2?), or exponentially, since there's probably a bigger 'gap' between the different size differences, rather than it all being 'uniform'.

(If there were, Twilight would get a +2 bonus; and if she were munchkinny she might try and convince her friend of how scary and painful the spell is so that Appleteenie will resist, making it a contest. But she wouldn’t do that, would she?)

Any document in which messing with the players becomes a series option for min-maxing is awesome(Note: if I like it it's probably bad) I do love the idea and thank you for finally making the size chart the rest of us were to lazy too

Nice! That's a great first draft. It provides some simple guidelines without going into minutiae of specifics.

I found another typo in the last sentence defining Colossal (referring to "small" rather than "large), and I have one suggestion, and that's that the "Minuscule" category be renamed to "Tiny" as it's easier to say and remember how to type without invoking spell-check, and means pretty much the same thing. But that's just a minor terminology quibble, feel free to ignore it.

The inclusion of additional abilities is a interesting idea, although I wonder if it might be better to just have people pick a size at character creation between Small and Large (since size has previously been mostly flavor). It might also be interesting either way to go through and list the default sizes of the various races people commonly play as (sure, most of them would be Medium, but I could see buffalo and minotaurs being Large by default).

Also, I really liked your example of skill contests, it worked well and was funny to boot.

I will fix the typos momentarily. And that is a good point with Minuscule.

I like the idea of applying exponential bonuses between sizes. I shall have to consider the specifics; it must be done in a way that is easy to remember, and easy enough to figure out if you forget the exact number.

As for default sizes. Perhaps make them our first zero-point racials? That helps clarify what size the character is (If it doesn't say, it can be assumed to be Medium.) And then make more costly racials for Tiny and Colossal? How much should those cost?

I'd also like to see talents that change sizes more temporarily; we already have Shapeshifter talents that do that, but they limit what else you can do while small/large (which is bothersome if all I want is to fit into a cupboard for a few minutes.)

Crystalite wrote:I will fix the typos momentarily. And that is a good point with Minuscule.

I like the idea of applying exponential bonuses between sizes. I shall have to consider the specifics; it must be done in a way that is easy to remember, and easy enough to figure out if you forget the exact number.

As for default sizes. Perhaps make them our first zero-point racials? That helps clarify what size the character is (If it doesn't say, it can be assumed to be Medium.) And then make more costly racials for Tiny and Colossal? How much should those cost?

I'd also like to see talents that change sizes more temporarily; we already have Shapeshifter talents that do that, but they limit what else you can do while small/large (which is bothersome if all I want is to fit into a cupboard for a few minutes.)

Well, for a simple exponential bonus you could use powers of 2. Something like +1, +2, +4, +8. Or you could bump it over one place and have +2, +4, +8, +16 if you want it to be a bit stronger. (Since the +16 will only show up between Tiny and Colossal creatures it likely won't come up very often.)

For the sizes, they're important enough that they could be something you put on your character sheet at the beginning along with stuff like race, gender, etc. (Small, Medium, or Large, with Tiny and Colossal perhaps only available with GM permission since they could potentially unbalance games somewhat).

This also gives some ideas for potential Tons of Fun effects. ("All creatures within 20 feet of caster become Tiny sized for the next 30 minutes," etc.)

Philadelphus wrote:Well, for a simple exponential bonus you could use powers of 2. Something like +1, +2, +4, +8. Or you could bump it over one place and have +2, +4, +8, +16 if you want it to be a bit stronger. (Since the +16 will only show up between Tiny and Colossal creatures it likely won't come up very often.)

Hm, that's a good thought.

Philadelphus wrote:For the sizes, they're important enough that they could be something you put on your character sheet at the beginning along with stuff like race, gender, etc. (Small, Medium, or Large, with Tiny and Colossal perhaps only available with GM permission since they could potentially unbalance games somewhat).

Oh, I agree with that; I just wonder where? There's already a place for racial traits on most character sheets. Making the three "normal" sizes racial traits means we don't have to make a new place to put it. It also lets us define default size by race, just by adding the appropriate trait to the racial template. But I don't know, you might be right, I may be crazy, but it just might be a lunatic you're looking for...

Philadelphus wrote:This also gives some ideas for potential Tons of Fun effects. ("All creatures within 20 feet of caster become Tiny sized for the next 30 minutes," etc.)

Crystalite wrote:

Philadelphus wrote:For the sizes, they're important enough that they could be something you put on your character sheet at the beginning along with stuff like race, gender, etc. (Small, Medium, or Large, with Tiny and Colossal perhaps only available with GM permission since they could potentially unbalance games somewhat).

Oh, I agree with that; I just wonder where? There's already a place for racial traits on most character sheets. Making the three "normal" sizes racial traits means we don't have to make a new place to put it. It also lets us define default size by race, just by adding the appropriate trait to the racial template. But I don't know, you might be right, I may be crazy, but it just might be a lunatic you're looking for...

After thinking about it some more I'm inclined to agree with you, actually (although I still think Tiny and Colossal should have some slight barrier to get them, even if it's just "talk to your GM before picking this size".

The current barrier (That I am thinking of, right now they're still unavailable) is that they actually cost a few Racial Points rather than being free. Might have to ask the GM too; I dunno. (Of course, when I submit a character sheet, I assume that the GM *could* say no to anything I have on there...)

But how many points? Hard to say, really. Two is what I'm leaning towards at the moment.

Yeah, I suppose giving them a concrete cost in addition to GM permission is a good idea. And two racial points seems a pretty good cost.

FINALLY added them in!

...If someone has better names for them I would love to hear about it.

Something strikes me as off about 'Every Shape and Size'... 5/day is kind of a lot as compared to most other utility talents, and it lasts for an hour. That's five hours every day, and adventurers typically aren't active with such constancy. I might change it to 'chosen size for X skill checks'. Also, Shrink Ray strikes me as a poor idea; typically things shouldn't auto-succeed against targets actively trying to resist you. It IS similar to an existing skill, hex, but...

A. Hex is more expensive, you'd have to take two utility talents to get it on top of your base racial points.

B. Giving yourself bonuses is typically more useful than giving a foe penalties

C. Hex is also horrible.

However, the racials and mechanics of the system I rather like... Though it seems like colossal PCs would cause A LOT of logistical issues and end up rather restricted. I do have one somewhat nonmechanical objection, that being that, under this system, assuming Equestrian ponies average half the size of the ponies of our world, they would still be large creatures under your system. That is to say: 200 pounds is not a lot, nor is six feet. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in D&D the 'medium' standard is typically based around humans, yes? Well with these barriers many humans, myself included, would count as large... I think medium could probably use a broader range, maybe up to 400 pounds and 7 ft at least? (That might mess with the cube thing, but eh...

Z2 wrote:Something strikes me as off about 'Every Shape and Size'... 5/day is kind of a lot as compared to most other utility talents, and it lasts for an hour. That's five hours every day, and adventurers typically aren't active with such constancy. I might change it to 'chosen size for X skill checks'. Also, Shrink Ray strikes me as a poor idea; typically things shouldn't auto-succeed against targets actively trying to resist you. It IS similar to an existing skill, hex, but...

A. Hex is more expensive, you'd have to take two utility talents to get it on top of your base racial points.

B. Giving yourself bonuses is typically more useful than giving a foe penalties

C. Hex is also horrible.

Hmm. You do raise an excellent point. I will have to give it some thought...

Z2 wrote:However, the racials and mechanics of the system I rather like... Though it seems like colossal PCs would cause A LOT of logistical issues and end up rather restricted.

Since Colossal has no particular upper limit, I can see where that might be an issue... Again, some thought will go into it and I'll get back to yu in the morning.

Z2 wrote:I do have one somewhat nonmechanical objection, that being that, under this system, assuming Equestrian ponies average half the size of the ponies of our world, they would still be large creatures under your system. That is to say: 200 pounds is not a lot, nor is six feet. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in D&D the 'medium' standard is typically based around humans, yes? Well with these barriers many humans, myself included, would count as large... I think medium could probably use a broader range, maybe up to 400 pounds and 7 ft at least? (That might mess with the cube thing, but eh...

I have wondered about that, long before even discovered this game. The general assumption (I've noticed) is that Ponies are about 100 lbs and three or four feet long; which I know from being around the Real Thing that that isn't the case. I may need to tweak the definitions some. Ideally, I suppose, I wouldn't have to define specific weights and sizes; I was concerned about how sizes affected such talents as Telekinesis. (A small creature can levitate with Telekinesis; a Large creature can't be levitated by Advanced TK.)

I'd suggest building some type of Racial or Utility Talent that works on size-changing power. For those who'd want an At-Will size change. Not needed to be a full gambit of all five size types. I'd suggest maybe a Tiny to Med, Small to Large, & a Med to Colossal version of the things. Cuase I figure those three would be the biggest most used options.

EDIT: I took some time and here is my suggestions: (Name and prep-time for them I am unsure of, also my wording here is horrible... I'm just hoping it's clear enough to give you an idea what I'm suggesting this racial power does.)

<Name> (1) At-Will
Prep-Time: ???
Choose a size one size away from your "default size" (IE: the size your character normally is) you may now change between that size and your chosen size at will.

<Name> (2) At-!ill
Prep-Time: ???
Choose a size two sizes away from your "default size" (IE: the size your character normally is) you may now change between that size and your chosen size at will.

(1) for 1 size change could work, though I'd say it should follow a similar setup to Alter Ego, with long prep time and only between your standard size and the size you chose at start.
The 2 step change is definitely undercosted and should probably be closer to 3 or 4 cost, given that being always Tiny or Colossal costs 2 by itself, or taking Every Shape and Size which provides the same benefit but only 3/day.

I guess you've got a point... But I'm mostly just spitballing idea's here. Cause well figure it's easier to build a talent that can work for any gaps... Such as small to large (which seems to me be worth no more then 2 racial points) But I guess you got a point that Med to Tiny/Colossal should be like 3 or 4 points.

How about the racials show up as:

0 points = small, medium, or large
2 points = tiny
2 points = colossal
2 points = small, medium, AND large; that is to say, the ability to switch between the three.

Hmm, interesting thoughts there. Of course, I now need to tweak the whole thing to line up with the new Abilities system (Why didn't I do that in the first place?) I'll get back to you on that.

It's an easy multiplier. 1 racial trait point is 2 ability points, 1 utility talent is 3 ability points.

Or that's the "theory ballpark" that the devs are using with the changeover... There was some utilities that were deemed to cost more points. Also when you do the edits to the new system... DO NOT remove the older stuff, please... Cause there are more people who are using the old system that wish to try out size-doc.

Z2 wrote:I do have one somewhat nonmechanical objection, that being that, under this system, assuming Equestrian ponies average half the size of the ponies of our world, they would still be large creatures under your system. That is to say: 200 pounds is not a lot, nor is six feet. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in D&D the 'medium' standard is typically based around humans, yes? Well with these barriers many humans, myself included, would count as large... I think medium could probably use a broader range, maybe up to 400 pounds and 7 ft at least? (That might mess with the cube thing, but eh...

6 feet is often a rough estimate rather than an exact.  Sorta like "1000 years ago".  That said, shifting the sizes slightly is probably a good thing.  7 ft or 300 pounds covers most regular people (or magical candy colored horses) but allows the truly tall or heavy to be considered a greater class.  May possibly offer an alternate take since there were size discussions a while back.

As far as size changing talents, one presented a while back was

Multi-Size (3) - At Will
Preparation Time: 1 Minute
You may grow and shrink between Small, Medium, and Large sizes at will.  If Small or Large, you must transition to Medium first before reaching the other end of the size scale.  When entering battle, you revert back to your default size.

Updated the original doc, a little. Tweaked the Colossal ruling.

I have also decided to keep seperate documents for Modern (With Abilities) and Legacy (With Racials/Utilities.) I added some new stuff to the Modern document, and will add links to both momentarily.

In other news: I need help. I think my idea is sound... but I'm really not feeling confident enough in my ability to make this thing work.

I would like someone to help me directly with the development aspects. Someone with a fair amount of experience (Especially with Legacy), and not a whole bunch of other stuff on their plate.

I would also like to see some volunteers to build a character explicitly around the talents available here to see if this stuff is actually sound. I will be doing so the next time an opportunity arise. (In fact, I may even start a campaign with this thought in mind...)

If you want to bounce particulars off me, or any of the design/dev team, feel free to shoot us a PM whenever you like.

Why does One Size Fits All have Size Matters Not as a prerequisite? It would seem like Every Shape And Size would be enough since making a move At Will and having the ability to expend a Magic Point to change your allies feels mutually exclusive.

I remembered my reasoning for it; and decided it was a pretty stupid reason. I will edit later.