Nuclear Beasts

Handling Size

A creature's Size rating is a measure of its scale. Human-sized creatures are Size 0, indicating that they really aren't any bigger or smaller than normal people. In many ways, this is the idea Size, since the relics and tech left behind by Man was intended for folks like that.

Hm. I'd love to make Size a single rating, but thinking about it, I suspect that there will be some things penalized by the absolute value of your Size (being either Big or Small is bad) and some things that use the normal value. It's probably better to use Big and Small and describe them separately. If they end up being identical (with reversed values) then I can merge them back together.

Big penalizes a lot of skills, because of your mass. Subtract your Big rating from: Acrobatics, Contortionist, Craft, Stealth, Swimming and Thievery. It can also penalize attempts to use technological devices, depending upon the situation. For example, Big penalizes shooting unmodified firearms, but by ripping out the trigger guard and adding a larger sight this can be partially or completely mitigated.

Big adds to all Muscles rolls as a bonus. This is its primary benefit.

It also limits the size of your Speed rating. Normal characters can have a Speed die of up to d12. Each level of Big reduces your maximum Speed by one step, down to a minimum of d4. So if you have a rating of Big +1, your maximum Speed rating is d10.

Finally, being Big makes you easier to hit in certain circumstances. When performing a Dodge (rolling Speed, Melee and Acrobatics as your defense), you'll be easier to hit because of the penalty to your Acrobatics roll. Also, when someone is shooting at you in ranged combat, there should be some sort of penalty. But what sort?

• Apply it as a penalty to your defense roll.
• Reduce the effective range by X steps.
• Say that if they miss by X or less, it's still a Partial Success (this is like having a penalty, but it doesn't make it easier for them to shoot you in a really vital spot, just makes it harder to miss you completely).

Small indicates that your character is smaller than a normal human. This makes performing some tasks easier and some harder.

Small is added as a bonus to a lot of skills. Add it to: Acrobatics, Contortionist, Craft, Stealth, Swimming and Thievery. This is its primary benefit.

Small is applied as a penalty to all Muscles rolls. Each level also reduces the maximum Muscles rating that you can take. So if you have Small +1, your maximum Muscles rating is d10 and you'll take a -1 penalty to all Muscles rolls.

Finally, Small makes you harder to hit sometimes. It's easier to Dodge because of the bonus to Acrobatics. It should also benefit you in ranged combat, basically the same way that Big penalizes you.

Posted by Kiz at July 3, 2004 08:31 AM