Why are pixies so large?

[DungeonmasterCal]

I've wondered this myself. But then WotC came up with some smaller critters called Gorse (I don't know if they made it into 3e anywhere) that better fit the "classic" pixie mold.

This also brings to mind a raving diatribe from a guy I used to game with years ago who completely went off in the middle of a game about how Elves were not noble and wise immortable beings, but evil tricksters who lived in mounds and only came out at night to dance and sing in hopes of tricking mortals into their world, and if we didn't play Elves in D&D like that he was never going to play with us again, because that's how "real elves" were.

Wonder what ever happened to that guy....

 

[Thanee]

Yes, elves are obviously more tolkien-esque, but pixies also seem to have the behavior and all that associated with the lil faeries.

Bye
Thanee

 

[der_kluge]

I agree they should be tiny. -4 to Str, and -2 to Dex (the dex loss replaces the dex gain from the size change). Lower the melee BABs by 2, and lower the ranged BABs by 1.

I'm not sure I agree with lowering the dex, though. That seems kind of silly that just because you're smaller you suddenly become less agile.

 

[Theron]

Well, Black Francis seems like a pretty good sized fellow.

 

[Turjan]

Modern nutrition. Too much proteins, calcium and vitamins .

 

[Mythtify]

Arcana Unearthed Spryte fits the classic pixie image. They are tiny.

 

[shilsen]

Doesn't bother me, since I don't feel a need for D&D to conform to real-world myth/legend/folklore. If the mythical gorgon can transform in D&D from a snake-headed woman to a metallic bull whose breath petrifies you, slightly larger pixies aren't even worth noticing.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

This also brings to mind a raving diatribe from a guy I used to game with years ago who completely went off in the middle of a game about how Elves were not noble and wise immortable beings, but evil tricksters who lived in mounds and only came out at night to dance and sing in hopes of tricking mortals into their world, and if we didn't play Elves in D&D like that he was never going to play with us again, because that's how "real elves" were.

Wonder what ever happened to that guy....

Into the mound with him, the big blabbermouth!

As for as the tiny faeries go, isn't there a swarm of teeny ones in MM3? That's one of the reasons I'm thinking about picking up the book -- I have no need for yet more demons, yet more undead or yet more oozes (seriously, who needs more oozes? Ever? Just recolor what you've got and go), but a Victorian faerie type is filling an open niche in the game.

 

[demiurge1138]

Doesn't bother me, since I don't feel a need for D&D to conform to real-world myth/legend/folklore. If the mythical gorgon can transform in D&D from a snake-headed woman to a metallic bull whose breath petrifies you, slightly larger pixies aren't even worth noticing.

Actually, the gorgon as breath-petrifying bull dates back to medieval bestiaries. This gorgon is a conceptual descendent of the catoblepas. Which was actually a third-hand account of the wildebeast.

But anyway.

Pixies can be small. I don't have a problem with that.
Demiurge out.

 

[Algolei]

It's the new paradigm. Pixies had to upsize to take on the ogre franchise. Think "proactive," people!