GURPS 3e Size to 4e?

[Kuroshima]

Originally Posted by vierasmarius

Examples would be very helpful. Sadly though, it's hardly "Generic". I think the closest we could do is assign a range of hex sizes for each SM, and a suggested layout based on various body plans (upright, horizontal, gelatinous cube etc).

No, don't get me wrong. I'm not asking for "SM+X creatures take Y hexes". I'm asking for individual creature writeups to state how many hexes they take. For example, I would love if DF: Monsters included that information.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Kuroshima

No, don't get me wrong. I'm not asking for "SM+X creatures take Y hexes". I'm asking for individual creature writeups to state how many hexes they take. For example, I would love if DF: Monsters included that information.

The problem with the 3e Size statistic is that it just said "14 hexes" and gave you no information about whether it's 14 hexes long by 1 hex wide, 12 hexes long with a 2x2 hex area in the middle, or 6 hexes long with the rest smashed around the axis into a fat oval blob (like the elephant). It's just "14 hexes".

Most people are familiar enough with elephants to figure they shouldn't be 14 hexes long by 1 hex wide. With something prehistoric or purely invented, it's a lot less intuitive, and it's always been ambiguous whether things like a brachiosaurus (or a python or a serpentine dragon) should have it's neck and tail in the pool of hexes, or just the body.

[vierasmarius]

Originally Posted by Bruno

The problem with the 3e Size statistic is that it just said "14 hexes" and gave you no information about whether it's 14 hexes long by 1 hex wide, 12 hexes long with a 2x2 hex area in the middle, or 6 hexes long with the rest smashed around the axis into a fat oval blob (like the elephant). It's just "14 hexes".

Most people are familiar enough with elephants to figure they shouldn't be 14 hexes long by 1 hex wide. With something prehistoric or purely invented, it's a lot less intuitive, and it's always been ambiguous whether things like a brachiosaurus (or a python or a serpentine dragon) should have it's neck and tail in the pool of hexes, or just the body.

Another complicating issue is that some creatures (that serpentine dragon, for example) may fill a dynamic area that changes as they move. At that point it becomes nearly impossible to have a "template" for them, and it's just up to the GM to say, "these hexes are filled, and here's its head." I suppose in that case knowing the number of hexes it normally occupies could be more important than what it's shape is, though for most animals both would be useful.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by vierasmarius

Another complicating issue is that some creatures (that serpentine dragon, for example) may fill a dynamic area that changes as they move. At that point it becomes nearly impossible to have a "template" for them, and it's just up to the GM to say, "these hexes are filled, and here's its head." I suppose in that case knowing the number of hexes it normally occupies could be more important than what it's shape is, though for most animals both would be useful.

In those situations I just use a few markers (I rarely use real minis since unlike Mark Skarr I don't have a brilliant sculptor sitting around churning out figures whenever I make something up; so it's probably dice or something) to represent the head and tail or whatever other sensible boundaries.

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by Kuroshima

The area in hexes (and their disposition) is something I would like to see returning. For example, how many hexes is an SM+5 dragon?

This information is in the creature stat blocks in the Basic Set and Dragons, but not universally otherwise.

From a Bestiary standpoint, what I'd like to see is some sort of small graphic legend on the same line as the other size information. Frex, a 3-hex horse would have a small set of hexes looking like this: * * *

A 10-hex elephant, OTOH, would have a graphic looking like this:

 * * *
* * * *
 * * *

Nothing big, but just enough to show this.

[Fwibos]

That diagram, while useful, would take up a lot of space
But maybe a Size: 10; 3x3
Which should give a rough idea of the same thing