> > why its easier for halfling to hit a barn from 200 feet then for giant to hit the
>same barn with
> > same weapon from 200 feet.
> Because the barn is a larger target for the halfling.
Unless its dogmatic for d20 (which is conceivable) - that the key point I want to hear
some
arguments for.
> > In melee - yes. Barn from 200 feet looks pretty much the same for halfling and
>giant. Even from
50'.
> You don't know that. There are neither halflings nor giants in the real
> world, so we can't say for certain.
Agreed. But we use halfling and giant just as examples with <... size="Small"> and <..
size="Large"> attributes respectively, right? Basically we can replace 'em with human
shooting from
his knees (or shooting while sitting) vs. human firmly standing on the ladder or
stilts. "Enlarge"ed
and "Reduce"ed humans. Specially selected short humans and large humans, etc. Its the
size which is
part of the attack bonus formula, not the race.
> You asked why the rules are as they are. If you have *better* rules, by
> all means express them.
Haven't even thought about that... just trying to find out 1) Am I missing something
very obvious?
2) Does anyone else is noticing a problem here? So far looks like answers are no and
no.
quite unproven gut feeling: "+ size modifier" rule will be wrong more times for ranged
fire then its
right. Perhaps adding to it <ruleText>size modifier does not apply for ranged attack
for medium and
smaller creatures farther then point-blank range. Larger then medium creatures
attacking farther
then from point blank range add the inversed (i.e. positive) size modifier to their
ranged attacks
to reflect their effective higher elevation</ruleText> - that *may be* will make it
correct more
often then not. Not sure.
> The reason comes down to game balance; it's just easier to work it as
> they do.
Game balance is tricky concept. During famous Giant-Halfling war of 794 squad of 11
giants with
45-gauge boulders maneuvered into squad of 11 halflings with "Elven-o-Matics-12"
shortbows of
similar stats. Giants loose the barrage of stones while halflings respond with rain of
arrows.
Because giants get quadruple (!) penalty in ranged fire vs. halflings (-1 for giant
size to
attack, -1 to own AC. +1 to halfling AC, and +1 to their attack. i.e. total +4
halflings bonus on
ranged fire duel) the best they can do is run away screaming "Halflings! Halflings!
Run for your
lives!". Not so gamely and not so balanced in my book.
> I didn't bother to point out that dwarves are slower... but you *do*
> have a point.
To make a point even more brutal - if I shoot 10 arrows from crossbow standing and
then shoot 10
arrows on my knees (even crawling if you like) - why should my down-the-earth shoots
should be more
precise? Throwing grenade while crawling vs. while standing - what is more precise?
Anyone can do as simple experiment (and i strongly suggest you do it right away! Its
bad for your
health to sit so long before computer without moving! ;) ) - lay down on the floor and
start looking
at distant object in the room - like a chair at the far end. Yes, they seem "bigger"
because your
perspective changed, and you are used to see objects in such perspective when they are
physically
big or tall. But will it really help you hit that remote chair or window with
paperclip (rock) or
pencil (javelin)?
> btw, this isn't "my" logic. It's the core d20 logic.
I know ;) If that's system dogma, its ok and makes certain sense. Just wanted to
clarify.
- Max
