small and big as traits.

From: Bryan Thexton <bethexton_at_...>
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2000 08:37:26 -0800 (PST)


project is performed in a disciplined, controlled, fashion. Their responsibilities therefore include: I think there has been some fuzzy language in the discussion of "small" and "big" as traits. Small doesn't always mean nimble, bug doesn't always mean slow. In terms of combat, what matters is how long it takes you to either move your body out of the way of the oncoming blow, or to interpose some object to stop the blow.
Example 1: I'm trying to kill a standard ant, which is crawling along my very smooth asphalt driveway. The ant has something like "tiny 5W2." That doesn't help it right now, however, as it has nothing useful to put between itself and me, and it can only move fairly slowly compared to my foot. I'll stomp it easily.

Example 2: I'm trying to stomp another ant, but this one is crawling along a gravel driveway. The ant can quite easily interpose the gravel between itself and I, so it can use its small trait as a defence, and I have little chance of squishing it.

Example 3: Same ant, back on the asphalt. But this time I'm trying to hit it with a piece of gravel while standing some feet away. Now it's small size does make it a hard target, so again it can use its tiny trait as a defence.

Example 4: A bee is determined to sting me, I'm trying to stop it. It has "small 1W2" and "nimble 17." Flying through the air, it has nothing to hide behind, and hitting something that size with my hand, were it not moving quickly, would be a fairly easy task, so it can't use its size as a defence. It can, however, use its nimble. Now, I could try and run away (using run, flee, or whatever), or I can try and swat it away or crush it, using close combat. Say I choose the latter. I can try and knock it around so much that it gets dazed and loses track of who I am, or I can try to hurt it (inflict a wound instead of transferring 7 AP). Say I swat it around a couple of times, but it keeps coming back, but its getting woozy (low on AP), and I take it to zero AP, and then get to make a parting shot. Here, perhaps a good rule fudge is to let *me* use its small trait to roll for an edge. This simulates that totally killing it is actually quite easy for me. So I request an 8 AP edge, and roll 1W2 vs a target of 20, easily succeeding, then smush the annoying thing quite thoroughly.

Conversely, big doesn't always mean slow. I forget what they are called, but I recall that there is a race of large creatures down in Pamaltea, with but a single foot, that I think are quite large (as well as highly magical). They are capable of incredible leaps. Because of their speed, hitting them is not generally aided by their size, as they can move their entire bulk out of the way of a blow with little trouble. On the other hand, were you to sneak up on one that didn't know you were there and was actually standing still, rolling against its "large" trait to obtain a bonus or edge seems quite reasonable. Oh, and just for imagery sake, what does it mean when you fail the roll to obtain a bonus this way? Probably something like you were so focussed on hitting it in the heart that you didn't take advantage of its overall size.



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