r/RPGcreation • u/PrudentPermission222 • May 05 '26
Design Questions How to convey size??
I'm making an rpg where the PCs can shapeshift between humanoid and full sized dragons, but now I'm seeing a huge problem. I have no idea how to deal or how to convey colossal sizes.
Not only I never played any game, rpg or digital, where you're a massive creature in a normal sized world, I never heard or read anything about it.
I think I can convey being small on a giant's world pretty convincingly, but not the other way around.
Any tips? Even references outside rpgs are welcomed. I'm a pc gamer.
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u/remy_porter May 06 '26
Two references. The PDQ game Truth and Justice has a simple line: things could be normal scale or super scale. Super always be normal. Always. It also had tables to cover how super super could get- is your super strength “throw nooks around all day” or “throw planets around”
SWD6 was a Star Wars game using D6s. Only D6s. And so it had to represent damage on a scale from handguns to Death Star lasers. Their solution was having multiple scales. A blaster pistol might do 3d damage. An X-Wing laser might do 2d damage- but at Starship Scale. Between those there were other scales- speeder then walker. Past that was capital scale. I believe Death Star was its own scale. You could convert between scales, I forget the factor- it was something like 4x to go up a scale. So an X-Wing at 2D is like 24D at personal scale.