D&D General Size Matters

[SeanO8829]

I am playing a Goliath barbarian who is 8'4" tall. At 5th level he can become size L for ten minutes. I know he will occupy four squares but what will his height, etc. be?

He has a magic item that allows him to cast the Enlarge spell so I would want to do that after activating the above ability hence my question.

Thanks for the help!

 

[W'rkncacnter]

2014 enlarge/reduce mentions that increasing your size category involves doubling your size in all directions and multiplying your weight by 8. seems like a good enough baseline to me

 

[Clint_L]

Which implies that starting from 8'4", he will be 33'4" tall when double doubled! Which is pretty impressive but also emphasizes my biggest beef with both the Goliath ability and the enlarge spell: they offer pretty meagre gains for such an impressive effect. I mean, this guy will be bigger than a storm giant, for which he will get advantage on strength checks, but still at his regular strength, an extra 10' of movement, and an extra d4 damage. woohoo.

 

[AlViking]

Which implies that starting from 8'4", he will be 33'4" tall when double doubled! Which is pretty impressive but also emphasizes my biggest beef with both the Goliath ability and the enlarge spell: they offer pretty meagre gains for such an impressive effect. I mean, this guy will be bigger than a storm giant, for which he will get advantage on strength checks, but still at his regular strength, an extra 10' of movement, and an extra d4 damage. woohoo.

Enlarge increases size by one category, so the large Goliath would be huge so an extra d4 for 2d4 extra damage. Unless I'm missing something which is entirely possible.

As far as weight is concerned, weight gain is exponential. Doubling your size doesn't double it's squared.

 

[MarkB]

Which implies that starting from 8'4", he will be 33'4" tall when double doubled! Which is pretty impressive but also emphasizes my biggest beef with both the Goliath ability and the enlarge spell: they offer pretty meagre gains for such an impressive effect. I mean, this guy will be bigger than a storm giant, for which he will get advantage on strength checks, but still at his regular strength, an extra 10' of movement, and an extra d4 damage. woohoo.

Simple explanation: Since they're only part giant they lack true giants' ability to ignore the square-cube law, so most of their extra strength is spent supporting their much heavier body and limbs.

 

[aco175]

Which implies that starting from 8'4", he will be 33'4" tall when double doubled! Which is pretty impressive but also emphasizes my biggest beef with both the Goliath ability and the enlarge spell: they offer pretty meagre gains for such an impressive effect. I mean, this guy will be bigger than a storm giant, for which he will get advantage on strength checks, but still at his regular strength, an extra 10' of movement, and an extra d4 damage. woohoo.

I'm somehow picturing this.

 

[Clint_L]

Enlarge increases size by one category, so the large Goliath would be huge so an extra d4 for 2d4 extra damage. Unless I'm missing something which is entirely possible.

I don't think so, as the Goliath ability does not confer a damage bonus, and enlarge says nothing about adding a d4 per category gained, just that your size increases one category and you gain a d4.

 

[billd91]

Which implies that starting from 8'4", he will be 33'4" tall when double doubled! Which is pretty impressive but also emphasizes my biggest beef with both the Goliath ability and the enlarge spell: they offer pretty meagre gains for such an impressive effect. I mean, this guy will be bigger than a storm giant, for which he will get advantage on strength checks, but still at his regular strength, an extra 10' of movement, and an extra d4 damage. woohoo.

They're really stripped down what size means for PCs compared to 3e's days. It's a good example of the tradeoff between thinking of the design as simulation of a fantasy reality vs design as a balanced game.

 

[The Sigil]

Enlarge increases size by one category, so the large Goliath would be huge so an extra d4 for 2d4 extra damage. Unless I'm missing something which is entirely possible.

As far as weight is concerned, weight gain is exponential. Doubling your size doesn't double it's squared.

Cubed, but you're on the right track. Square–cube law - Wikipedia

 

[AlViking]

Cubed, but you're on the right track. Square–cube law - Wikipedia

Ah, right because you increase in all 3 dimensions. Which makes your weight at size huge ... something ridiculous and also why giants don't exist without magic.