[Not Suitable For Work] Build a Tiny Race #2: Reach and Space

[EP]

Work is boring. Gaming is fun. Work should be more like gaming.

Not Suitable For Work is a new addition to Combat Advantage, the free 4e series of PDFs from Emerald Press PDF Publishing. Every month will have a theme to which any number of brainstorming exercises will be made. Each week or so, we will post a new thread for 4e material utilizing that theme and everyone is open to submit their concepts on EN World. The trick to this game is that you must rely on your memory of the game and cannot use any supplements, core rulebooks, or online references - simply use your innate knowledge of the game to create new material on the fly. Accuracy is not immediately required - these are brainstorms for new ideas, concepts, and add-ons to 4e. Throw in your ideas, no matter how crazy they are because you never know what they may lead to.

NSFW is not a contest and is designed solely as a recreational design exercise for those of you stuck at work, school, or anywhere else on your lunch breaks with nothing to do. Waiting for that report to come back from management? Homework? Eww. Check out the theme and post your ideas for this week’s exercise. There’s no voting, no deadlines, or bad ideas. It’s all about having a little bit of fun while the boss isn’t looking. Enough talk!

Build A Tiny Race​

Size has always run the full gamut in fantasy since the first bedtime story was told thousands of years ago. Giants, dwarves, hobbits, and pixies are the finest examples of different sizes in fantasy adventures, yet the smallest characters ever have been left to the side. Not any more!

This month we’re going to create a tiny player character race and for that we will need to look at how sizes work in 4e and develop material to allow a tiny-sized character to keep pace with any human, dragonborn, or dwarf in the party. Each stage of our exercise will involve open submissions posted on the forums of EN World or the Emerald Press PDF Publishing Facebook page to be put to a vote before continuing on to the next stage. By month’s end, we will have a complete race of tiny creatures to mark down on your character sheet.

Exercise #2: While there is no coverage of tiny characters in 4e, there is nothing stating a tiny creature cannot flank or wield normal sized weapons but there are design and flavour issues about tiny characters which can be handled through racial traits and powers. This week is about addressing any potential issues regarding reach and space. This includes flanking, opportunity attacks, line of sight, standing adjacent, melee attacks, and anything else monitored by the character's position on the battlemap. These issues do not need to be urgent or serious and can simply be used to make something really cool.

Design a racial trait, power, feat or any other method built with regards to a tiny creature's reach and/or space. If it relies on a form of movement introduced in Exercise #1, be sure to reference it with a link to the original post.

Post your ideas below. Remember these are exercises built for enjoyment and mental exercise of the game. Accuracy is not required on every little detail and some mistakes are forgiveable. (See?) If you'd like to post a revised version of your entry, just be sure to type in which version under Reason for Edits. If you want to post more than one entry, go crazy. It's all just in the name of having fun while you're not supposed to.

 

[Minigiant]

Well...

Here are my rules for tiny creatures

A tiny creature's normal, heavy, and maximum loads ae halved.
A tiny creature cannot use two-handed or versatile weapons of the normal size.
A tiny creatue must wield a normal weapon with both hands unless it has the off hand property. A tiny creature does not gain additional damage for doing so.
A tiny creature may use a versatile weapon with the small keyword, but otherwise must wield a normal weapon with both hands.
A tiny creature takes up no space and has 0 natural reach.
A tiny creaturee must enter the square of another creature to attack within its reach.
A tiny creature can end its movement in a larger creature's square and can move through the space of a creature of Medium size or larger.
A tiny creature can end its movement in a tiny creature's square as long as there are fewer than 4 tiny creature in that square.

here is the rest of my gremlin race.


Beastly Run When you have at least one free hand, add 3 to your speed.
Fast crawl You can crawl at your full speed.
Dismantle You have a +5 bonus to Thievery checks to disarm or delay traps.
Gremlin Grapple You gain Gremlin Grapple as an at-will power

Gremlin Grapple
At-Will*Weapon Melee weapon
Strandard action Melee touch
Target: One Creature
Attack: Strength vs Reflex, Constitution vs Reflex, or Dexterity vs Reflex,
Hit: 1 damage and the target is grabbed. You and every ally adjacent to the target gain combat advantage over the target (until escape).
Special: When you create your character, choose Strength, Constitution, or Dexterity as the ability score you use when making attack rolls with this power.

 

[chronoplasm]

I'll agree with the rules that Minigiant proposes for tiny creatures there, but I am interesting in a tiny race that can gain exceptions...

I'm going to build upon my idea from the previous thread.

Pocket Pal
You may treat medium sized allies as mounts, and you may treat backpacks as saddles.
If the ally is willing, you may spend a move action to move it up to its speed.
If the ally is willing, you may spend a standard action to have the ally attack.
In addition:
Your mount's reach is added to your own.
You flank any creature that your mount is flanking.
If the ally your are mounting is a Warforged, you may ride inside its chest. You gain concealment if you do so.

^_^

 

[Starfox]

Referencing the Aerie


Rules

Group Flanking
When an creature is flanked, all enemies striking that target get the flanking bonus, not just the those causing the creature to be flanked.

Flanking Oversize Opponents
When you are occupying the same square as an enemy, you get some bonuses to flanking. As long as the creature is in the strike zone of any other creature, the enemy is flanked.


Aerie-Specific Traits
Tiny: An aerie can move into squares occupied by allies and enemies, and an Arie must enter an enemy's square to attack in melee. They provoke opportunity attacks normally for doing so. Aeries have only a fraction of the normal carrying capacity, but their gear is correspondingly lighter; count their carrying capacity and the weight of armor and Aerie-scaled general gear (not weapons) in ounces instead of pounds.

Aerie weapons: Aeries cannot use most normal weapons; they can use the dagger (which is versatile for an Aerie but they cannot throw it) and a tiny variant of the shortbow that does 1d4 damage. Aeries are not automatically proficient in these weapons. Aeries can use Dexterity instead of Strength to make basic attacks with daggers in melee.


Conclusions

Aries are not suitable for all classes; they have a hefty strength penalty and cannot use heavy weapons. They work great as rogues, and most non-martial classes work for them with some exceptions, like the barbarian, and some build variants, such as Strength-based sorcerers. Not all races need to be good at all things.

 

[malcolm_n]

While I agree that not all races need to be good, they should be passable, imho. Regardless, here is my weigh in.

For easy reference, I agree with Minigiant's rules, posted again here.

A tiny creature's normal, heavy, and maximum loads ae halved.
A tiny creature cannot use two-handed or versatile weapons of the normal size.
A tiny creatue must wield a normal weapon with both hands unless it has the off hand property. A tiny creature does not gain additional damage for doing so.
A tiny creature may use a versatile weapon with the small keyword, but otherwise must wield a normal weapon with both hands.
A tiny creature takes up no space and has 0 natural reach.
A tiny creaturee must enter the square of another creature to attack within its reach.
A tiny creature can end its movement in a larger creature's square and can move through the space of a creature of Medium size or larger.
A tiny creature can end its movement in a tiny creature's square as long as there are fewer than 4 tiny creature in that square.

This race I was working up from the previous thread would have the following exceptions.
* TCA can treat one-handed weapons without the off-hand property as two-handed weapons for powers with which it would matter (like barbarian attacks).
* They gain the halfling's +2 AC against Opportunity attacks and Defensive Mobility as a bonus feat.
* TCA cannot flank by normal means because of its lack of reach. Instead, a creature that leaves the square occupied by TCA draws an opportunity attack. TCA has combat advantage during this attack.
* TCA can spend a superior weapon proficiency feat to wield a versatile weapon in two hands, but takes a -1 penalty to attack when doing so. So a TCA with SWP (Bastard Sword) has +2 prof, but can deal 1d10 damage as normal.
* A TCA with Strength 15 can take a racial feat to gain reach 1 with one-handed weapons it wields in two hands. This also allows it to flank with said weapons.
* A TCA rogue can take a racial feat to still flank creatures from an adjacent square when it wields a rogue weapon (light blade, etc)
* A TCA ranger can take a racial feat to wield a one-handed weapon in its main hand while it has an off-hand weapon in it's off hand.

 

[77IM]

From my flying pixie race:

Pixie
Tiny Size: Your small size confers additional traits.

• Medium space: Because pixies dart rapidly about during combat, you take up a 1 square space, just like a Medium or Small creature. You can make melee attacks and opportunity attacks against adjacent creatures, and can flank creatures normally. You can move through a space small enough for a Tiny creature without squeezing. You can move through an enemy creature's space, although you can't end your turn there, and leaving an enemy's space provokes an opportunity attack.
• (Additional traits relate to weapon restrictions, carrying capacity, etc. so go beyond the call of this NSFW.)

Note: I originally had a bunch of stuff about how they were reach 0, and had to enter enemy spaces to attack them etc., but it was just too involved and too detrimental -- too many rules assume the players can do things like flank and make opportunity attacks and I didn't want to take that away. So now the pixies fill a square not by virtue of their size, but their constant motion.

-- 77IM

 

[malcolm_n]

That is something I hadn't considered. That's a great idea you have there.

Most of the rules are already within the monster manual for handling creatures smaller than small. We just applied those rules to the pc race and figured a way to circumvent them. In mine, for example, I gave them a bonus feat to help get them into the opposing square, but also created a feat or two which would let them act normally, so they would still get a slight feat tax to be just like everybody else.

 

[Starfox]

Liking some of the pixie idea a lot - the bonus for eahc square of an enemy's space you move trough (from the other thread) and spaces/reach by virtue of movement (you are a swarm of one!) are both cool.

 

[77IM]

Thank you for the kind words! Also for planting the idea of a race that is a swarm... hmmm... "We are pixies of borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."

-- 77IM

 

[Starfox]

Thank you for the kind words! Also for planting the idea of a race that is a swarm... hmmm... "We are pixies of borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."

-- 77IM

IIR, there is something like this in the MM2.