Large creature stomping damage

[Ejidoth]

Originally Posted by SolemnGolem

Perhaps relevant to this question, is there any GURPS ruling about how ST scales with Size?

This creature is about 21 feet tall, weighs just over a ton (because it's skeletal so it's missing a lot of water mass), and I want it to be able to kill pretty much any mansized creature without even really thinking about it by walking over him.

There's basically three ways to scale things with size in GURPS:

1) Realistic. HP is twice the cube root of mass. ST is either the same, or at least fairly close. The creature's body structure is likely very different depending on size; big and heavy and bulky for large creatures, thin and spindly and insectlike for tiny ones. This appears to be how animals are statted by default.

2) Semi-realistic. ST scales linearly with height, but the creature otherwise has roughly the same body structure as its normal-scale equivalent. The square-cube law will cause some weird interactions with equipment, meaning a cinematic giant can't use a proportionally large sword or whatever. This is how the Growth and Shrinking stuff work.

3) Truly cinematic. This is tough. Figure HP and base ST from mass or height, as usual. Then increase Striking/Lifting ST sufficient to allow the resized individual to carry and use proportionally-sized equipment. Finally, either add a bunch of massless HP or add IT:DR, to fit the damage scale to the giant.

You can very roughly fudge #3 by simply multiplying the giant's ST by the square of the height change, but declaring his ST/HP for mass purposes (knockback, falling, etc.) to be (original ST x height ratio) instead.

HP scales linearly with height, but Striking ST and Lifting ST scale with the square of height. Thus, doubling the height of an ST 10 individual gets you an ST 20 individual with Striking ST +20 and Lifting ST +20. If you also give IT:DR 2, you basically have a cinematic giant human.

[SolemnGolem]

One other thing that could be done, I guess, is to give Tchernobog a melee attack that does huge amounts of damage.

Given how large Tchernobog is, this is usually conducted against man-sized creatures by touching them with a foot or toe-claw rather than bending down to tap them with a finger.

[lachimba]

Originally Posted by SolemnGolem

Perhaps relevant to this question, is there any GURPS ruling about how ST scales with Size?

This creature is about 21 feet tall, weighs just over a ton (because it's skeletal so it's missing a lot of water mass), and I want it to be able to kill pretty much any mansized creature without even really thinking about it by walking over him.

Yes.

In fact I found it accidentally the other day in GURPS Fantasy 4e p51.

[RobKamm]

It is a supernatural attack anyway why not just treat it as an Innate Attack with Aura, +80%; Strength Based, +100%; Always On, -20%; Melee Attack (C), -30%. You could add Affects Insubstantial (+20%), Armor Divisor (variable), or any of several Damage Modifiers (variable) as or if it suits you. An argument could be made that Accessibility (Feet only, ?%) is appropriate too.

[Anaraxes]

You might just give it an Aura, just large enough to fit its own hex(es).

[TJA]

Originally Posted by Ejidoth

There's basically three ways to scale things with size in GURPS:

1) Realistic. HP is twice the cube root of mass. ST is either the same, or at least fairly close. The creature's body structure is likely very different depending on size; big and heavy and bulky for large creatures, thin and spindly and insectlike for tiny ones. This appears to be how animals are statted by default.

2) Semi-realistic. ST scales linearly with height, but the creature otherwise has roughly the same body structure as its normal-scale equivalent. The square-cube law will cause some weird interactions with equipment, meaning a cinematic giant can't use a proportionally large sword or whatever. This is how the Growth and Shrinking stuff work.

3) Truly cinematic. This is tough. Figure HP and base ST from mass or height, as usual. Then increase Striking/Lifting ST sufficient to allow the resized individual to carry and use proportionally-sized equipment. Finally, either add a bunch of massless HP or add IT:DR, to fit the damage scale to the giant.

Very nice writeup!