Re: Big, Small, headaches....

From: BEThexton <bethexton_at_...>
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 20:46:17 -0000

wrote:
> --- Peter Larsen <peterl_at_a...>
>
> The latter, I think. And I'm not sure if that's a
> hair-splitting quibble or not.
>
> Though I did just have a headache-inducing thought. If
> the human has no skill listed for Small, it's at a
> basic 6, right? Not 0. Therefore, their Big is *also*
> at 6? So, *if* Big and Small are things that can be
> translated to pounds and inches, the origin of the
> scale is at 6, not 0. Ouch...
>
> OTOH, if Big and Small are a measure of how well the
> hero (or dog) can apply those properties (which seems
> more HW-like) then what we're looking at is the
> chances of them getting through a gap with "Tight
> Squeeze 10" (not "1 foot wide"). And so the physical
> size of either being does not correlate directly to
> their Small "skill". And it perhaps makes sense that
> the same person can have Small (squeeze through gaps)
> of 6 *and* Big (shut over-full suitcase) of 6.
>
> Is that right, or am I totally confused again?

That sounds about right to me.

Three thoughts that might be a tiny bit useful to you on the size issue.

First, like others agreed, all abilities rate to how well you can use them in a contest.

Second, in my opinion every ability has an implied "for someone like you/ as you normally do things." So a male bison rider with "big 13" is big for a male bison rider, and his "close combat 17" is "close combat when you are mounted on a bison." In many cases, the automatic success rule can come into play when switching between species or environments. "The gap has a resistance to you getting through of 14" "How about my alynx?" "Oh, that is automatic." Or "Vadrus, the resistance for you to grab the bag off the ground as you ride by at full gallop is 1W." "What about me, on my bison?" "Oh, for you, automatic, it is a game to challenge ten year olds in your culture." (Note however that some people on the list vehemently disagree that all skills should be relative to the user).

Third, I think the automatic augment rule probably does a fair job of how to apply abilities to compare species sizes. So if you assume that the baseline for both small and big is 6 (though that is not clear in anaxial's) then a human with "small 13" would be about the same size as an average member of a species with "small 7."

--Bryan