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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tequila Sunrise" data-source="post: 4539132" data-attributes="member: 40398">Aha, we've gotten to the crux of the issue! The idea that Medium size is the logical baseline for size mods is what I've been trying to get at. You say it makes sense, but why? It's easy to fall into this trap because most PC races happen to fall into the Medium category, but that doesn't make the 4'-8' range significant in any mathematical way. Let me make an analogy:I tell you that I'm going to DM a seafaring campaign and that I've made basic stats for a range of ships, including 'super ships' that are larger than anything in the real world. I then show you the stats. Looking over them, you see that:Size I ships are 4'-8' long and have an AB and AC mod of +8.Size II ships are 8'-16' long and have an AB and AC mod of +4.Size III ships are 16'-32' long and have an AB and AC mod of +2.Size IV ships are 32'-64' long and have an AB and AC mod of +1.Size V ships are 64'-128' long and have an AB and AC mod of +0.Size VI ships are 128'-256' long and have an AB and AC mod of -1.Size VII ships are 256'-512' long and have an AB and AC mod of -2.Size VIII ships are 512'-1,024' long and have an AB and AC mod of -4.Size IX ships are 1,024'-2,048' long and have an AB and AC mod of -8.As you can see, each size category is exactly double the length of the previous category. Therefore you would logically think that I would either assign each category a flat linear bonus, or I would assign each category an exponentially increasing bonus that begins with Size I. But I didn't; I arbitrarily assigned Size V as my baseline and then assigned exponential bonuses to either extreme of it. Why? The largest ships in real world history happen to fall within Size V, but that doesn't make that category mathematically significant.See where I'm going with this analogy? Medium size seems like a good baseline for size mods because we happen to be Medium creatures and because the word 'medium' implies baseline-ness, but using Medium as a mathematical baseline is as nonsensical as me choosing Size V ships as a baseline. If any size category is used as a mathematical baseline, it should be Tiny because Tiny is closest to zero mass. Assigning Medium as the baseline for size mods is effectively saying "In D&D, the laws of physics have decided that creatures 4' to 8' are special." Not that the laws of physics are the same in D&D as they are in real life, but in such cases they have been changed for the sake of simplicity and expediency. In the case of size mods, D&D's laws of physics are neither simple nor expedient.Do titanic creatures get -16 to attack and AC?That's an admirable goal. 3e isn't my preferred rule set, but I respect anyone who puts a significant amount of effort into any rule set.TS</blockquote>

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