I have some changes to object/creature size I'd like to make. Currently, a halfling is small and a longsword is medium. Because of the size difference, a halfling is unable to use the sword at all. The same goes for armor - if its not your size, you simply can't wear it.

I'd like to change these all-out-restrictions to penalties. For every size category difference, there would be a -4 penalty - so a halfling wielding a large weapon would have -8 to hit. There could strength requirements instead; 10 + 4*difference, so the aforementioned halfling would need atleast 18 strength to wield the weapon (this could only really apply to larger weapons).

Armor is trickier - an ogre won't fit into a suit of halfling plate mail. For this reason, if you are larger than the armor, you can't wear it. If you are smaller than the armor, there could be a 50% AC penalty for every size difference, meaning a halfling wearing medium would get 1/2 the AC bonus, a halfling wear large would get 0 bonus, and a halfling wearing huge armor would get 1/2 of the AC as a penalty.


Most of the items in the game right now aren't sized. I would like to change this (giving every weapon and armor a size), but I don't want to do it if it means small races are cut off from 75% of the items.

Please post your suggestions. I'm going to start sizing items in a way that will not affect current gameplay; when we're ready for the switch, things should progress quickly.

For weapons: I think the idea of decreasing thac0 would work, though what about large sizes wielding small weapons? You could do something like....decrease damage.

For armor: A small size wearing up a size of armor - the armor should not provide much less protection, since its materials are still the same. What it should do, though, is act as a stat modifier, by decreasing dexterity.

That's all I can think of at the moment.

Chuckle, max-dex for each armor, just like D&D!

I was thinking of a penalty to AC because a small person trying to stumble around in big armor is going to be an easier target. This would work as a Dex penalty though, since they'd still get a penalty to AC for having a hindered dexterity.

Edit: I thought medium versions of weapons and armor were usable by all (your longsword example). And only small is able to use small, and only large is able to use large?


Weapons -

Larger using smaller: increased rate of fumbling/decreased damage. This can be explained by the inability to properly hold the weapon in the appropriate fashion.

Smaller using larger: penalty to thac0/additional weapon attack delay. Add another second to the attack timer (even if it is already 4 or 5 seconds) because of the difficulty in using such a cumbersome weapon.

Armor -

Larger using smaller: lowered durability. Ever wear someone else's jacket and hear a ripping noise?

Smaller using larger: AC penalty. Preferably not dex, since that would affect other things besides AC. If this change were to be made, then all the light armor wearers would call for the ability to wear heavy armor, at some dex penalty, instead of not being able to wear it at all.

For standard items and weapons you should just allow the mob to drop multiple sizes. ie. grim stilletos for small/medium/large races. If you are going this route, weapons and armor that are usable will become harder to get. In order to combat this, I suggest increasing the durability of all weapons/armor to a much higher percentage. Not only should the items be more durable, but the ability to repair them should be cheaper and much easier to do.

Another idea is to allow blacksmiths to tailor the item to your size. Say an ogre finds a halfling sword. The ogre can then take the "sword" to a blacksmith who will turn it into a knife that he can wield. Tailoring the weapon to the ogre's size will then diminish the negative effects of having a small weapon to half or nil.

IMO, weapons should last MUCH longer... I mean some weapons literally last 5-20 minutes of play. In other MUDs I've played a single weapon could last for a week or longer because of durability and the ability to continuously repair an item. just my 2 cents.