The bigger they are, the harder they are to kill

[Abe.ebA]

I can accept fireballs and wishes and dragons that can fly. I think the reason so many granularity debates come up with regard to combat versus magic and the like is that we have an intuitive basis for comparison. We know how swords work, to at least a basic extent. Magic doesn't actually exist (depending on who you ask, I guess... but certainly not the big-budget-effects magic of d&d) so we have no internal reference frame. I can swallow a fireball doing the same damage to anything inside its area of effect, regardless of whether it has a surface area the size of a pack of playing cards or the size of a building, much more easily than I can accept someone standing in front of a dragon's left foot and hurting it.

But I can give up on that too, I guess. I mean I've dealt with it since I started playing 3e, right? (We never used minis except in the most abstract sense in 2e, so this sort of thing didn't really come up)

However, I really like the idea of people climbing up things. So if I just abandon the damage-changing stuff, any ideas on how to get a workable mechanic out of the climbing part?

 

[Land Outcast]

Well... first of all: the creature to be climbed must be at least two size categories bigger tha te climber.

@ Praxis: Does that mean that a Greatsword could do, as max damage, 2d6+12? Interesting...

@ Chris: I like that... sounds interesting

 

[Fieari]

Here's a thought. In order to do damage to a larger creature, you must strike the FAR side of that creature's square, representing their height. It doesn't matter which side of the creature you're on, you still have to strike the side of the creature that's furthest away from you. The creature does provide soft cover for itself, granting it an effective bonus to AC.

If you do not have a reach weapon or ranged weapon, then you need to enter the opponent's square in order to attack, which of course, provokes an attack of opportunity. Then, the attacker must either make a jump check of the appropriate DC for the height of the creature (and must re-make this check every round, which since we're talking very high jumps in most case, will mean insane DCs), or must make a climb check, with appropriate DCs for the surface to be climbed, and the creature's Dex mod added to the DC as a circumstance mod. For larger creatures, they might have to make multiple climb checks to reach the top.

This would utilize the climb rules, not the grapple rules in any way.

I think this would make for an exciting little battle...

 

[Lorehead]

Hmm. DR 5/Large, perhaps?

 

[Paraxis]

Yes a great sword would do max (2d6+12).

Lore head that is simple and works, two things that make a good rule. I like it I might try that instead of my toughness modifier, just make it scalable.

(+4 size)Colossal 20/size
(+3 size)Gargantuan 15/size
(+2 size)Huge 10/size
(+1 size)Large 5/size
(+0 size)Medium and Small :group them together becuase halflings and gnomes get shaft already.
(-1 size)Tiny
ect...

Subtact your size modifier from your oppents to determine the DR.
Makes it still in the realm of possiblity for most players, there are alot of options to increase your size for a short time(spells,wildshape,let semi-large creatures count as one size larger for overcoming DR but not giving them DR, you could even make a new magic weapon bonus tha counters this at a +1 modifier per size bonus something very appropiate for giant bane and dragon bane weapons,I think this would work very well)
It also covers the fact that a Gargantuan creature should hurt another Gargantuan creature the same as a medium hurts a medium

You could incoporate the climbing rules from above to help compensate the DR maybe making DC of the climb check +5 per size category.

 

[Drowbane]

How about bonus HP based on size?

 

[domino]

Or better yet, give them a con bonus based on size!

 

[Machiavelli]

...which already exists. Thanks for pointing that out, because I wholeheartedly agree that HP scaled to size adequately represents the difficulties faced in fighting larger creatures.

Extra mechanics, while sometimes fun to use and hence sometimes worth implimenting, are more often just extra pains in the arse.

 

[Nyaricus]

But... isn't this idea modeled somewhat already by the fact that larger creatures tend to have more hit points? And since weapon damage changes based on wielder size (including natural weapons), a Medium creature already has their damage reduced when attacking a Large creature, relative to another Large creature attacking the same target.

Game Design rule #15: Don't model the same thing twice.

Sir Brennen has it. This is a double slap on the wrist for melee types - when one already works.

 

[Cabled]

"I can swallow a fireball doing the same damage to anything inside its area of effect, regardless of whether it has a surface area the size of a pack of playing cards or the size of a building, much more easily than I can accept someone standing in front of a dragon's left foot and hurting it."



Stop to consider for a moment the obscene amount of blood weighing in above that left foot, and the immense blood pressure that must result...and what happens when you pierce a major artery in that foot.

Ever stuck a knife in a pressurized fire hose?