Large Characters [Archive] - Wizards Community

Large Characters [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Apocolypse_77
07-09-07, 09:09 AM I was just wondering if anyone here has ever had problems while playing large characters? From personal expirience have you guys had problems inside of dungeons with 5 foot hallways with your large characters and how bad were these problems.
runestar
07-09-07, 09:18 AM Generally speaking, if your dm allows you to play a large race, then he should go one step further and accommodate you accordingly by ensuring that corridors are at least wide enough for you to maneuver comfortably, IMO.:)
snakeman830
07-09-07, 09:23 AM Generally speaking, if your dm allows you to play a large race, then he should go one step further and accommodate you accordingly by ensuring that corridors are at least wide enough for you to maneuver comfortably, IMO.:)

I fully agree with this. However, I don't make all passageways large enough for large creatures, or sometimes even medium ones that don't have good escpe artist. I encourage people to play small races as well. Naturally, if they don't take those passageways, its not game-breaking at all.
Tema69
07-09-07, 09:38 AM I DM'ed a campaign with a Half-Ogre once, but no dungeons or corridors were really involved, so I did not get that problem. My suggestion is, as people have said before me, make sure there is enough space for Large characters to squeeze through. Or let the Small or Medium characters squeeze through small spots to open larger doors, gates or whatever, permitting the large (and probably not Rogue) character to come in. Large (and larger) creatures are not at home crawling in 5 feet wide corridors, so don't force 'em.
TEV
BW0222
07-09-07, 10:03 AM Apocolypse_77,

Large creatures, let alone large PCs, does create problems and
IMO, expecting the DM to meta-game the campaign world into some place you aren't constantly excluded from participating is just wishful thinking.

The fact is that most campaigns are human(iod) centric. Cities, towns, ships, many dungeons, etc. are designed by medium-sized humaniods, for medium-sized humaniods. Expecting that the inn room door will be 5' wide so that you can actually meet with the person offering you the job, that the sewars where the wererats are have 5' man holes or 10' wide passages so that you can fight isn't realistic in most settings. You also have the issue of transporting yourself in typical adventures. Mounts, ropes, small bridges, canoes, etc. make just getting to the dungeon a hassle.

IMO, unless the campaign setting is designed specficially for large characters then you'll be excluded from a lot of roleplaying, constantly penalized by size in combats, needing to take extremely measures just to adventure, etc. Nearly all of the published campaign settings -- Greyhawk, Arcanis, Ebberon, FR, etc. -- are all humanoid based and in 70%+ of the published modules out there you'll be unable to participate in a lot of the encounters.
Breetai
07-09-07, 10:31 AM Generally speaking, if your dm allows you to play a large race, then he should go one step further and accommodate you accordingly by ensuring that corridors are at least wide enough for you to maneuver comfortably, IMO.:)

Gotta disagree with that. I gotta be honest IMO the mentality where PC's should be accomodated like that in general requires a "Monty Haul" mentality DM and/or players.
Sul_Zain_Aserbet
07-09-07, 09:50 PM Problems for large creatures pop up when the DM remembers them or wants to remind you of the trade-off of playing a large creature in a world designed for medium size (humans, specifically).

Our DM usually makes a point of this from time to time. Nothing deadly (like the only passageway out of a room filling up with poisonous gas is 3 feet tall) but usually annoying. Every dungeon inevitably has one encounter in a space cramped for large creatures, or after a job well done the large hero has to sleep in the barn because there are no beds for him. Having your hero roll fatigue checks because he's been walking to keep up with PC's on horses. The village blacksmith never can make anything for your size, the tanner never has anything in your size... stuff like that.
runestar
07-09-07, 10:19 PM Problems for large creatures pop up when the DM remembers them or wants to remind you of the trade-off of playing a large creature in a world designed for medium size (humans, specifically).
The tradeoff should be in the LA you have paid for playing a large race.

I don't mind roleplaying this drawback out to some extent (like being forced to sleep in stables as no inn has a large enough room to accommodate me etc). But at the end of the day, I should be getting my money's worth for the powerful race I am playing.
Apocolypse_77
07-09-07, 11:49 PM ok so all this being said, with possible large downsides to being large, depending on the DM. Is there any way to temporarily reduce your size to medium, without the help of a caster? Such as for use in confining dungeons.
Kobold_Avenger
07-10-07, 02:54 AM The tradeoff should be in the LA you have paid for playing a large race.

I don't mind roleplaying this drawback out to some extent (like being forced to sleep in stables as no inn has a large enough room to accommodate me etc). But at the end of the day, I should be getting my money's worth for the powerful race I am playing.

I agree with Runestar, most LAs are killer as it is... adding fatigue penalities is simply sadistic... Realism be Darned...
Legdiwena
07-10-07, 01:02 PM Doesn't the DMG have rules for squeezing into and fighting in spaces smaller than your size?
snakeman830
07-10-07, 02:34 PM Doesn't the DMG have rules for squeezing into and fighting in spaces smaller than your size?

So does the PHB.
Sul_Zain_Aserbet
07-10-07, 05:18 PM The tradeoff should be in the LA you have paid for playing a large race.

I don't mind roleplaying this drawback out to some extent (like being forced to sleep in stables as no inn has a large enough room to accommodate me etc). But at the end of the day, I should be getting my money's worth for the powerful race I am playing.

Its a bummer that some DMs tack on extra annoyances in addition to an LA, but it happens, and I don't really blame the DM for doing it. After all, as a role-playing game non-mechanical issues crop up all the time. For instance, in addition to paying a ball-busting +7 LA to play a mind flayer, your character still gets to be hated and loathed by most of the world. In a more traditional campaign anyways.
ccggenius12
07-10-07, 06:39 PM there is an item is savage species that reduces the users size category by 1 step when active.
ragoftag
07-10-07, 08:56 PM A big question is: how big are the world's other races? I recently played through a goblin warren and the whole place was too small for my human. We're looking at a dungeon run into an old giant area, so I'll get the opposite problem set. Can't wait to 'get back at' the gnome mage after crawling all over the goblin caves.

The real problem is going to be the glacier that has sideswiped the place, again: environment. Our GM is wont to over emphasize such background, but it does make for interesting encounters. As I type this, my character is sleeping in a child's bed while the gnome got the cradle next to the fire! My cup at the dinner table held most of a gallon and I got a whole haunch as my share of dinner.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Apocolypse_77 07-09-07, 09:09 AM	I was just wondering if anyone here has ever had problems while playing large characters? From personal expirience have you guys had problems inside of dungeons with 5 foot hallways with your large characters and how bad were these problems.
runestar 07-09-07, 09:18 AM	Generally speaking, if your dm allows you to play a large race, then he should go one step further and accommodate you accordingly by ensuring that corridors are at least wide enough for you to maneuver comfortably, IMO.:)
snakeman830 07-09-07, 09:23 AM	Generally speaking, if your dm allows you to play a large race, then he should go one step further and accommodate you accordingly by ensuring that corridors are at least wide enough for you to maneuver comfortably, IMO.:) I fully agree with this. However, I don't make all passageways large enough for large creatures, or sometimes even medium ones that don't have good escpe artist. I encourage people to play small races as well. Naturally, if they don't take those passageways, its not game-breaking at all.
Tema69 07-09-07, 09:38 AM	I DM'ed a campaign with a Half-Ogre once, but no dungeons or corridors were really involved, so I did not get that problem. My suggestion is, as people have said before me, make sure there is enough space for Large characters to squeeze through. Or let the Small or Medium characters squeeze through small spots to open larger doors, gates or whatever, permitting the large (and probably not Rogue) character to come in. Large (and larger) creatures are not at home crawling in 5 feet wide corridors, so don't force 'em. TEV
BW0222 07-09-07, 10:03 AM	Apocolypse_77, Large creatures, let alone large PCs, does create problems and IMO, expecting the DM to meta-game the campaign world into some place you aren't constantly excluded from participating is just wishful thinking. The fact is that most campaigns are human(iod) centric. Cities, towns, ships, many dungeons, etc. are designed by medium-sized humaniods, for medium-sized humaniods. Expecting that the inn room door will be 5' wide so that you can actually meet with the person offering you the job, that the sewars where the wererats are have 5' man holes or 10' wide passages so that you can fight isn't realistic in most settings. You also have the issue of transporting yourself in typical adventures. Mounts, ropes, small bridges, canoes, etc. make just getting to the dungeon a hassle. IMO, unless the campaign setting is designed specficially for large characters then you'll be excluded from a lot of roleplaying, constantly penalized by size in combats, needing to take extremely measures just to adventure, etc. Nearly all of the published campaign settings -- Greyhawk, Arcanis, Ebberon, FR, etc. -- are all humanoid based and in 70%+ of the published modules out there you'll be unable to participate in a lot of the encounters.
Breetai 07-09-07, 10:31 AM	Generally speaking, if your dm allows you to play a large race, then he should go one step further and accommodate you accordingly by ensuring that corridors are at least wide enough for you to maneuver comfortably, IMO.:) Gotta disagree with that. I gotta be honest IMO the mentality where PC's should be accomodated like that in general requires a "Monty Haul" mentality DM and/or players.
Sul_Zain_Aserbet 07-09-07, 09:50 PM	Problems for large creatures pop up when the DM remembers them or wants to remind you of the trade-off of playing a large creature in a world designed for medium size (humans, specifically). Our DM usually makes a point of this from time to time. Nothing deadly (like the only passageway out of a room filling up with poisonous gas is 3 feet tall) but usually annoying. Every dungeon inevitably has one encounter in a space cramped for large creatures, or after a job well done the large hero has to sleep in the barn because there are no beds for him. Having your hero roll fatigue checks because he's been walking to keep up with PC's on horses. The village blacksmith never can make anything for your size, the tanner never has anything in your size... stuff like that.
runestar 07-09-07, 10:19 PM	Problems for large creatures pop up when the DM remembers them or wants to remind you of the trade-off of playing a large creature in a world designed for medium size (humans, specifically). The tradeoff should be in the LA you have paid for playing a large race. I don't mind roleplaying this drawback out to some extent (like being forced to sleep in stables as no inn has a large enough room to accommodate me etc). But at the end of the day, I should be getting my money's worth for the powerful race I am playing.
Apocolypse_77 07-09-07, 11:49 PM	ok so all this being said, with possible large downsides to being large, depending on the DM. Is there any way to temporarily reduce your size to medium, without the help of a caster? Such as for use in confining dungeons.
Kobold_Avenger 07-10-07, 02:54 AM	The tradeoff should be in the LA you have paid for playing a large race. I don't mind roleplaying this drawback out to some extent (like being forced to sleep in stables as no inn has a large enough room to accommodate me etc). But at the end of the day, I should be getting my money's worth for the powerful race I am playing. I agree with Runestar, most LAs are killer as it is... adding fatigue penalities is simply sadistic... Realism be Darned...
Legdiwena 07-10-07, 01:02 PM	Doesn't the DMG have rules for squeezing into and fighting in spaces smaller than your size?
snakeman830 07-10-07, 02:34 PM	Doesn't the DMG have rules for squeezing into and fighting in spaces smaller than your size? So does the PHB.
Sul_Zain_Aserbet 07-10-07, 05:18 PM	The tradeoff should be in the LA you have paid for playing a large race. I don't mind roleplaying this drawback out to some extent (like being forced to sleep in stables as no inn has a large enough room to accommodate me etc). But at the end of the day, I should be getting my money's worth for the powerful race I am playing. Its a bummer that some DMs tack on extra annoyances in addition to an LA, but it happens, and I don't really blame the DM for doing it. After all, as a role-playing game non-mechanical issues crop up all the time. For instance, in addition to paying a ball-busting +7 LA to play a mind flayer, your character still gets to be hated and loathed by most of the world. In a more traditional campaign anyways.
ccggenius12 07-10-07, 06:39 PM	there is an item is savage species that reduces the users size category by 1 step when active.
ragoftag 07-10-07, 08:56 PM	A big question is: how big are the world's other races? I recently played through a goblin warren and the whole place was too small for my human. We're looking at a dungeon run into an old giant area, so I'll get the opposite problem set. Can't wait to 'get back at' the gnome mage after crawling all over the goblin caves. The real problem is going to be the glacier that has sideswiped the place, again: environment. Our GM is wont to over emphasize such background, but it does make for interesting encounters. As I type this, my character is sleeping in a child's bed while the gnome got the cradle next to the fire! My cup at the dinner table held most of a gallon and I got a whole haunch as my share of dinner.