05-19-2022, 05:11 AM | #41 |
Join Date: May 2018
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Re: What has high SM ever done for us?
The main upsides mentioned here seems to be the discounted ST and better grappling but I can't shake the feeling those doesn't even come close to making up for the downsides.
I'm not taking in consideration very large monsters, those are either NPCs with no point budget or for special campaigns the GM would hand out enough points for their ST with or without discount. A starting Barbarian with Gigantism gets only 7 points back from the ST discount, while the -1 to hit most average foes is, I think, worth about -10 points. They would also give those foes +1 to hit him, while SM makes it more difficult for him to be well armored. Grappling is situational at best, it might be very useful in a cops game you can't just go around killing but in a DF type of game where you're more likely to have larger characters (and the points for it), grappling monsters is suicidal. Then there's the problem that high SM needs a lot of point investment in ST to benefit from it (in fact, it requires it to stay logical), while low SM is by itself a great benefit. |
05-19-2022, 06:38 AM | #42 | |||||
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: What has high SM ever done for us?
In rather older media, yes, because all manner of bad things happening was blamed on them and their ilk. Some recent things will also depict them as monstrous, often akin to a pack of piranhas, but that's a purposeful subversion of the most common treatment for some time - with them as cute, generally-harmless (if sometimes mischievous) beings.
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Oh, and the effect is markedly exacerbated if the person in question also happens to be of above-average height, and is reduced if of below-average height, because there's a natural intimidation factor involved with height. So, you're probably going to have some disdain toward those who are simply Other (giants, faeries, humans of a different ethnicity), and the size difference will exacerbate that for giants, but reduce - if not outright negate - it for tiny faeries. Of course, I'm not certain "people are wary around you" and "people subconsciously consider you harmless" are meant to be part of the effects of high SM and low SM, respectively. Quote:
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Clifford would be terrifying to see IRL, it's just when he's safely illustrated in a children's book - or animated by CGI on the big screen, wasn't there a movie not long ago? - that's not so much an issue.
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05-19-2022, 08:32 AM | #43 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Sweden, Stockholm
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Re: What has high SM ever done for us?
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Realistically on the other hand, something Yrth-Giant-sized should probably average at, say, "-2 reactions" (and get 10 points back for that), but also get some really high (and low) reactions in specific situations. F.ex. bandits probably won't want to risk attacking you (and might be happy to trade loot instead!), and predators that might go after a human will likely avoid you, which is effectively a positive reaction. Even dragons, gods, etc. might be more willing to negotiate with someone who isn't a puny little human. But on the flip side you'd be facing large penalties trying to convince the defenders of a motte and bailey that letting you past their defenses is a good idea, and if you need an audience with the king you'll probably have to settle for talking to him while he stands on a balcony a safe distance away (instead of the throne room). Of course if you or your race has a strong reputation in one way or another then that would significantly effect all of this. It also depends on culture. If the primary culture in the setting sees giants as part-divine and close to the gods, or outright worthy of worship in their own right, then that changes everything (and the Giant characters should pay points for said social regard/reputation).
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05-19-2022, 08:53 AM | #44 | |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: What has high SM ever done for us?
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So, tl;dr - I don't think reaction modifiers other than those involved with Intimidation are intended to be part of the "Size Modifier" metatrait, and should need to be paid for separately. Unless you opt to revamp SM into a non-Feature (which I wholeheartedly support), in which case you could certainly include said modifiers in the revised metatrait (in which case you're still paying for them, they're just baked into SM rather than being something you take separately). Of course, don't forget about the "Eh, That's Just Grug" trait from Nordlondr Folk - it's basically a -80% Limitation (albeit bought as a separate Advantage of appropriate price) on any negative racial reaction modifier, and means anywhere you've established yourself as a legitimate adventurer (details of "establishing yourself" in the referenced book), that Disadvantage no longer applies. OK, so technically it's only applied to Social Stigma (Savage) there, but should be able to apply to any such thing - Social Stigma, Racial Reputation, possibly even Odious Racial Habit (and of course anything you opt to package in with SM).
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05-19-2022, 10:28 AM | #45 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: What has high SM ever done for us?
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05-19-2022, 11:03 AM | #46 | |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: What has high SM ever done for us?
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05-19-2022, 11:25 AM | #47 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: What has high SM ever done for us?
A lot of the problem with the bonus to intimidation is that intimidation is problematic in games anyway, because what does it actually do? Backing down because the risk isn't worth the payoff isn't intimidation, it's just rational risk assessment by the target, so presumably intimidation must be something else.
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05-19-2022, 11:42 AM | #48 | |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: What has high SM ever done for us?
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05-19-2022, 11:46 AM | #49 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: What has high SM ever done for us?
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05-19-2022, 02:11 PM | #50 | |
Join Date: May 2022
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Re: What has high SM ever done for us?
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Per the 'high tech low-tech armor' rules, we could get some DR 18 heavy plate armor made from modern steel covering the torso, upper arms and all of the legs for about 70 and a half pounds. That's zero encumbrance for some kind of muscle-bound super-serum freak with a strength of 20, and makes him impervious to rifle rounds from further than 1100 yards. Even at close range, something like 1 in 3 rifle bullets will deflect off of it. If we put TL6 "composite body armor" underneath it (and I don't see why we couldn't, it's a type of light, flexible armor that should be able to layer under rigid armor), that makes for DR of 22 on the torso and limbs! That means that, on average, even a rifle bullet hitting the torso will only be dealing 6 damage (counting the wounding modifier), which, for a brute like this, won't even be a major wound. In addition to all this armor, he could carry an M1919 machine gun and 750 rounds of ammo while being only lightly encumbered! If I was a soldier in some pulp WWII setting, I wouldn't want to fight a platoon of those guys, even if they are a bit easier to hit. |
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