Size Modifier (SM)

Size Modifier rates a person or object’s most significant dimension: length, width, or height. It is a modifier to rolls to hit you in combat and to Vision rolls made to spot you. Thus, it is a bonus for large creatures, a penalty for small ones. Although large creatures are easier targets, a positive SM qualifies them to buy ST and HP more cheaply by taking the “Size” limitation. Most humans – and humanoids, robots, etc. that can pass for human – have SM 0, and can ignore this rule. Nonhumans use the SM on their racial template. However, your SM may deviate from racial average if you are not full-grown, or if you are a genetic dwarf or giant.

When creating a creature that is larger or smaller than a human, find its SM by looking up its longest dimension – height for upright creatures such as giants, length for horizontal creatures such as cats and dragons, diameter for blobs – on the Size Modifier Table (above).

If a creature’s longest dimension falls between two entries on the table, base its SM on the higher value. Box-, sphere-, or blob-shaped characters add +2 to SM; elongated boxes, like most ground vehicles, add +1.

It is neither an advantage nor a disadvantage to have a nonzero SM – the benefits and drawbacks tend to cancel out. The exceptions are genetic dwarfism and gigantism, as these conditions affect bodily proportions (notably relative arm and leg length) and have social ramifications (you stand out in a crowd).

Size of Target:
The larger the target, the easier it is to hit. The modifier to hit an object due to its size is its “Size Modifier” (SM). Humans have SM 0. Objects larger than man-sized give a bonus to hit, while smaller objects give a penalty. The statistics for most nonhuman races, vehicles, etc. include SM. You can find the SM of other things using the table. Simply look up the being or object’s longest dimension (e.g., height, for a humanoid) in the “Linear Measurement” column, and then read across to the “Size” column to find SM. If size falls between two values, base SM on the next-highest size.
Box-, sphere-, or blob-shaped objects or characters add +2 to SM; elongated boxes, like most ground vehicles, add +1. If an object is much smaller in two of three dimensions (e.g., a steel cable 100 yards long but only 2” thick), use the smallest dimension instead of the largest.

Examples: A giant whose longest dimension is 4 yards has SM +2. A car with the same dimensions would have SM +3. A building 4 yards across would have SM +4.

VISION

Make a Vision roll whenever it is important that you see something.
Modifiers: Modifiers for the size and range of the target.

A list of interactions Size Modifiers have with Abilities, Skills, and Combat:

Abilities

Purchasing ST:
Large creatures may purchase ST more cheaply. -10% x Size Modifier, to a maximum limitation of -80% (for Size Modifier +8 or higher).

Purchasing HP:
Large creatures may purchase HP more cheaply. -10% x Size Modifier, to a maximum limitation of -80% (for Size Modifier +8 or higher).

Skills

Camouflage:
Modifiers: Apply a penalty equal to the Size Modifier of a large object (e.g., -5 for a tank with SM +5).

Disguise:
Differences in Size Modifier usually make Disguise impossible.

Intimidation:
Size matters: Add your Size Modifier and subtract the subject’s.

Shadowing:
If you belong to a visibly different race than most of the people around you, the penalty is up to the GM; it is never smaller in magnitude than the difference between your Size Modifier and that of those around you.

Smuggling:
The difference between the Size Modifier of the package, vehicle, or room in which you are hiding the item and that of the item itself;
e.g., to hide a bottle of liquor (SM -5) in a family car (SM +3), you would roll at +8.

Combat

Ranged Combat
Figure your adjusted chance to hit by:

Taking your base skill with your ranged weapon.
Adding your weapon’s Accuracy (Acc) if you preceded your attack with an Aim maneuver.
Applying the target’s Size Modifier (SM).
Modifying for the target’s range and speed (done as a single modifier).
Modifying for circumstances (rapid fire, movement, darkness, cover, etc.), including any special conditions determined by the GM.

Grappling
You get +1 to hit when you grapple per +1 SM advantage you have over your target.

Pin
You may only attempt a pin if your foe is on the ground and you are grappling his torso. Roll a Regular Contest of Strength. The larger fighter gets +3 for every point by which his Size Modifier exceeds that of his foe.
Choke or Strangle
If your Size Modifier exceeds your foe’s, you can grapple and squeeze his torso instead, in which case you roll at -5 unless you have Constriction Attack.

Firing Through Occupied Hexes
These rules assume human-sized or smaller combatants. A fighter with a Size Modifier 2 or more greater than yours (3 or more if they're kneeling or have the Horizontal disadvantage, 4 or more if they're prone) completely blocks your line of sight – you can’t shoot past them – unless you’re higher up.

Trampling
You can trample a victim if your Size Modifier exceeds his by 2 or more – or by only 1, if he’s lying prone and you’re not.

Size Modifier and Reach
If your SM is greater than 0, you have a longer reach with your arms.
Increase the upper end of the reach of any melee weapon according to the following table.

Example: A giant with SM +3 gets +2 to the upper end of reach – a weapon with reach 2-3 has reach 2-5 in his hands! If he grapples a human (SM 0), he gets +3 to hit. He gets no bonus to grapple another giant.

A reach “C” weapon increases to reach 1, but there are no other effects.

Effects of Reach
If your weapon or Size Modifier gives you more than one yard of reach, each yard past the first brings the foe three feet closer to you. This does not bring you any closer to your foe!

For example, a greatsword (two-yard reach) would let you fight as if your foe were three feet closer. If you were standing six feet below him, you would fight as though he were only three feet higher. He would not enjoy a similar benefit unless he, too, had long reach.

Fragmentation Damage
The fragments attack everyone else in the area at skill 15. Only three modifiers apply: the range modifier for the distance from the center of the blast to the target, the modifier for the target’s posture (prone, etc.), and the target’s Size Modifier. It is possible for several fragments to hit! For every three points by which the attack roll succeeds, one additional fragment strikes the target.

Damage from Falling Objects
A falling object with a Size Modifier equal to or greater than that of whoever it lands on impedes the victim’s movement. He may move only one yard on his next turn, and his active defenses are -3. These penalties result from bulk, not mass, so ST is irrelevant.

Overruns
If the Size Modifier of the striking object in a collision exceeds that of the struck object by two or more (e.g., a car hitting a man) the striking object “overruns” the struck object.

Pressure Damage
Over 10 x native pressure: You may be crushed! On initial exposure and every minute thereafter, roll vs. HT at a basic +3, but -1 per 10 x native pressure. If you fail, you suffer HP of injury equal to your margin of failure. If your Size Modifier is +2 or more, multiply injury by SM.
With Pressure Support 2, read this as “Over 100 x native pressure” and “-1 per 100 x native pressure.”
With Pressure Support 3, you are immune to pressure.

Poison Delay
Most poisons require a few seconds to several hours to take effect.
This is nearly always true for digestive agents.
Delays given are for victims with Size Modifier 0. The victim’s size modifies delay: each +1 to SM doubles the delay; each -1 to SM halves the delay.

For example, if the delay is 1 hour, someone with SM -2 is affected in only 15 minutes.

Occupant Hit Table
Use this table when an attack penetrates an object containing occupants (e.g., a vehicle body). Cross-index the number of occupants with the vehicle or structure’s Size Modifier, and then roll 3d against the resulting number; the more tightly packed the object, the higher the number. On a roll of this number or less, an occupant is hit. If multiple occupants could be hit, the GM determines who was hit randomly or by fiat.

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