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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Sigil" data-source="post: 536487" data-attributes="member: 2013">Square-cube law, pure and simple.Your strength increases/decreases in proportion to the cross-sectional area of your musculature - in other words, by (linear factor)^2, so if you suddenly double in height, you would quadruple (2^2) in strength.Your mass increases/decreases in proportion to your volume - in other words, by factor^3 so that doubling in height makes your weight explode by a factor of 8.Let's reverse it and apply to halfling.6' Human weighing 200 lbs - let's say he can lift 160 lbs. (80% of his body weight)When he becomes a 3' halfling (1/2 size), his weight is multiplied by 1/2 * 1/2 * 1/2... or in other words, 200 lbs * 1/8 or 25 pounds.His strength is reduced by a factor of 4 (1/2*1/2) so he can lift "only" 40 pounds... that's what, 160% of his body weight?Have you ever noticed that LITTLE KIDS are very good at climbing door frames by puting their hands and feet spread out against door frames and such?  It's because they're still on the "winning" side of the square/cube law.  I could easily "climb" up door frames when I was 6 or 7 and did it regularly.  These days, I would have a much tougher time (not to mention the fact that my increased height leaves me only a couple of inches to climb before hitting my head LOL).  In the strictest sense, I am much stronger than I was at that age - I can lift more, my punches pack more power, and so forth... the problem is that my mass has increased faster than my strength.Halflings should probably have a more considerable penalty to STR, but their weight is about double what it should be, so I guess the STR they receive is correct - it is relative to their weight.BTW, shrink the 6' human down to the size of an ant (say, 1/10 inch) and his relative strength would let him lift "only" 576 times his own body weight.  Ants are NOT strong creatures... which is why in the real world, an ant that "grew" up to 6 feet would collapse under the weight of its own body (sorry, "eight legged freaks" lovers).--The Sigil</blockquote>

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