Size Small Caster--Benefit, Detriment, or Neutral?

[hong]

good luck hitting on human bar wenches with your halfling/gnome sorcerer. size does matter.

Hey, it worked for Dudley Moore!

 

[Nail]

Bracers of ___ all weigh ...(snip)....1/2 lb for a small character.

Help me out; where is this weight listed?

Bolt case = unknown, 1 lb sounds good though which is then reduced to 1/2 lb.

Where's that "bolt case" listed weight, eh?

Scroll case = 1/2 lb (each scroll comes in one of these and this weight is not reduced for size apparently)

Huh. That seems....rather large.

Without a lot of the extras being carried around all of the time this character still looks to be in the 8 - 10 lbs range. If he wants armor as well even the lightest armor, padded, puts him up to the 13 - 15 lbs range.

He could be in the 8 - 10 range. But since we're talking about a caster, there's no armor. He does have bracers, after all.

The point: There's really no problem with carrying stuff.

 

[Slaved]

The set of clothing you wear has no weight. -4 lbs

Your characters have only one set of clothing? I know that this is a game where if something does not have a strict mechanical disadvantage people will ignore it but I would think a character should have at least 2 sets of clothing, just in case.

Just use one and have the cleric create water in it each morning. -1 lb

Each water skin sized for a small sized character holds 1/4 as much as a normal water skin but small sized characters need 1/2 as much water as a medium sized character. If a normal sized character needs 1 medium water skin worth of water a day then a small character needs 2 small water skins worth of water.

Nobody said the adventuring life had to be comfortable. -1 1/4 lbs

More of those things without direct mechanical disadvantages written in the text right?

Eat the barbarian's food. -1/4 lbs

Ok, I guess this means your entire post was a joke. Sorry I did not realize that sooner.

 

[Slaved]

Help me out; where is this weight listed?

Under all of the bracers of ___ entries?

Bracers of Archery, Greater: 1 lb
Bracers of Archery, Lesser: 1 lb
Bracers of Armor: 1 lb

Where's that "bolt case" listed weight, eh?

A joke?

Huh. That seems....rather large.

Half a pound really is not that much weight. You have a heavy vellum rolled up into a double cylinder with its edges reinforced with strips of leather which is then placed into a scroll case made of ivory, jade, metal, or wood. It being merely half a pound sounds a bit on the light side.

He could be in the 8 - 10 range. But since we're talking about a caster, there's no armor.

I played a caster one time that wore armor and picked spells that were either long lasting or had no somatic components. Later on in his carear he took still spell as well for some of those spells he did not want to do without.

Armor is dirt cheap when compared with bracers after all.

The point: There's really no problem with carrying stuff.

I thought the point was that with basic gear a small sized strength 6 character is near the light gear limit. That seems to be the case unless you have a pack mule along or stronger characters who do not mind carrying the majority of your stuff.


I cannot believe this! I forgot the spell component pouch that a caster would carry. That is 2 lbs (not reduced because of size).

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

good luck hitting on human bar wenches with your halfling/gnome sorcerer. size does matter.

I bid the human wizard good luck hitting on the cute halfling/gnome bar wenches. ^^

 

[ThirdWizard]

Ok, I guess this means your entire post was a joke. Sorry I did not realize that sooner.

Really, the barbarian would be carrying his rations, tent, bedcloth, waterskins, and anything else the caster won't need in combat.

Also, remember that a small sized caster can get 12 strength for 1:1 point buy. 8-10 Strength is no problem for them.

 

[Slaved]

Really, the barbarian would be carrying his rations, tent, bedcloth, waterskins, and anything else the caster won't need in combat.

I agree, that is why I suggested getting the mule.

Assuming that there will be a character with a high enough strength in the party to carry any gear that is too much for the lighter strength people though seems like a poor policy though. It could be that a party wont have anyone with a high enough strength to do so or that those with a high enough strength simply do not want to help out in that way.

The mule gets around that but it needs a pretty good amount of food and is not so good in a dungeon.

Also, remember that a small sized caster can get 12 strength for 1:1 point buy. 8-10 Strength is no problem for them.

Having a strength higher than 6 means that the whole premise of having a strength of 6 would have to be thrown out which changes the arguement entirely.

If we assume a starting strength of 6 for a small character I think it is clear that the character will have to do something that will help with carrying gear. It could be asking another party memeber to help, getting an animal to help, or a number of other solutions but something will need to be done.

 

[Nail]

I cannot believe this! I forgot the spell component pouch that a caster would carry. That is 2 lbs (not reduced because of size).

Good catch!

 

[ThirdWizard]

The mule gets around that but it needs a pretty good amount of food and is not so good in a dungeon.

If my experience is anywhere near the norm, you'll probably be replacing the mule at least every other session, as well!

Having a strength higher than 6 means that the whole premise of having a strength of 6 would have to be thrown out which changes the arguement entirely.

Back to my own experience, I've seen only perhaps three or four times since 3e came out someone starting with a stat below 10 (two of them druids with 8 Str), and never with a stat below 8 when using point buy. Is that really atypical?

 

[Votan]

If my experience is anywhere near the norm, you'll probably be replacing the mule at least every other session, as well!



Back to my own experience, I've seen only perhaps three or four times since 3e came out someone starting with a stat below 10 (two of them druids with 8 Str), and never with a stat below 8 when using point buy. Is that really atypical?

I have seen a very effective gnome illusionist with a 6 strenth and an 18 constitution in my gaming group. His incredible hit points made him highly effective as a some really creative uses of illusion spells.

Carrying capacity was never a problem in my experience as there was always somebody in the party to carry things like a set of spare clothing or rope.