Alright, I am running Dungeon of the Mad Mage. And they are about to enter Maddgoth's Castle. This Castle is unique in that it is effectively a large Doll house and When most creatures and characters Get close enough they all shrink to 1/12th their size. However not all creatures are affected by this, the most notable exceptions. A fairy Dragon and a Homunculus.
Here is the Rub. There is a PC that when she made her Character she wanted to be an unusually small Halfling rogue. She took a penalty to strength to achieve this. So rather than being around 3 feet tall she is more like 1 1/2 feet tall. She has essentially been using our barbarian to toss her like a football at enemies. Which has been fun.
I think that it might be funny that if by some reason Halister (the mad mage of dungeon of the mad mage) made it to where Halflings are not affected by the Shrinking field. So now she is a giant compared to everyone else. However, Given that most of the hallways are 10 inches wide this effectively means that she is unable to enter the castle.
I don't want it to seem like I am punishing her or leaving her out. So I need to give her something to do or at least contribute while they are exploring this castle. According to the book the Castle is indestructible. So unfortunately that means she can't just punch holes into the walls. I'm thinking of throwing some tiny enemies at her so she can do a godzilla thing which might be fun. Give her a boost to strength and constitution but give her a penalty to stealth. But I feel like that might get old fast. (For context when she plays she has been fairly Murderhobo like.)
I'd just have the magic make everyone a set height, not 1 /12th their size, that way everyone will shrink but they will all shrink different amounts. Think of it as the spell having a target height rather than a formula to make them 1 /12th their size.
Sometimes you just have to throw out the ideas that you think are funny. If it means she can't adventure with the party and you need to set up a whole side-quest just for her, it's probably not worth the amount of amusement the idea generates.
Since you're well into homebrew already with this character, you could say that the same thing that made her unusually small is the same type of magic Halister is using - so she had already been three-quarters-shrunk or whatever - and so going into the field reduces her size significantly less than the others. This way she could still end up being comparatively big without being too big to stay with the party. And as a bonus you might have an interesting thing to explore as to how she had encountered that same magic earlier in life.
Just scale up the size of the castle so that the halfling just fits. I would also try to come up with some other explanation for why the halfling isn't affected than just because they are a halfling since it tends to make it feel like you are singling out this character.
So I'd suggest something like the castle's magic reduces the size of creatures that won't fit by 1/10 or 1/8. Any creature that can fit is unaffected and make the size of the castle able to just fit the halfling with their head touching the ceiling or maybe even crouched a bit. A 6' character would work out to about 7.2" which would be about 1/2 to 1/3 the height of the halfling - so you'd get the effect you are looking for without singling out the halfling as the reason for the effect.
One of the many skills and responsibilities of the DM is to throw the books and modules out the window whenever it becomes necessary or appropriate. Scale the castle up a little, so that the halfling can enter without shrinking, and let the comedy ensue.
For example, a Medium creature can fit into a Small hole. It is pretty plausible that a 1 1/2 foot halfling can crawl through a 10 inch corridor. The only thing is that when you are in a space smaller than your size, you have disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throws, and other creatures have advantage on attack rolls against you.
I'm hoping the castle isn't all 10 inch ceilings, and that some rooms have high ceilings. That's where you can get into some fun godzilla action.
I think it could be fun to have her shrink enough to fit but is still substantially larger than the other PCs. You could make it so that she has to stoop and is giant sized compared to everything but can manage to squeeze through most of it. Then you give her the opportunity to play more of a bruiser role and can play against class a bit.
For example, a Medium creature can fit into a Small hole. It is pretty plausible that a 1 1/2 foot halfling can crawl through a 10 inch corridor. The only thing is that when you are in a space smaller than your size, you have disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throws, and other creatures have advantage on attack rolls against you.
I'm hoping the castle isn't all 10 inch ceilings, and that some rooms have high ceilings. That's where you can get into some fun godzilla action.
This.
Let the tiny halfling squeeze. It will really play up the idea of how gigantic they are in this situation, that someone who is usually knee-high can barely fit into places, and probably be the only time it happens. And the other players can use her for cover. Then let the rooms and chambers open up a bit, so they don't have to squeeze all the time. Do one, maybe two fights in a hallway, just to make it meaningful, but don't overdo it to the point it becomes annoying. Do thee one pretty early, just so they understand the problem it will be, and that should be enough to keep in in their head that its something they want to avoid.
Just change the curse slightly. It's still the same effect, but gives you more freedom to dictate the sizes of the group. Rather than "1/12th the size", the curse dictates that "the bigger they are, the more they shrink". Same general results, more freedom to dictate specifics (i.e. with "1/12th the size" a 6ft creature shrinks 5.5ft, whereas a 4 ft creature shrinks ~3.67ft - the bigger the person, the more they shrink), and still fits the mentality of a mad mage.
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Alright, I am running Dungeon of the Mad Mage. And they are about to enter Maddgoth's Castle. This Castle is unique in that it is effectively a large Doll house and When most creatures and characters Get close enough they all shrink to 1/12th their size. However not all creatures are affected by this, the most notable exceptions. A fairy Dragon and a Homunculus.
Here is the Rub. There is a PC that when she made her Character she wanted to be an unusually small Halfling rogue. She took a penalty to strength to achieve this. So rather than being around 3 feet tall she is more like 1 1/2 feet tall. She has essentially been using our barbarian to toss her like a football at enemies. Which has been fun.
I think that it might be funny that if by some reason Halister (the mad mage of dungeon of the mad mage) made it to where Halflings are not affected by the Shrinking field. So now she is a giant compared to everyone else. However, Given that most of the hallways are 10 inches wide this effectively means that she is unable to enter the castle.
I don't want it to seem like I am punishing her or leaving her out. So I need to give her something to do or at least contribute while they are exploring this castle. According to the book the Castle is indestructible. So unfortunately that means she can't just punch holes into the walls. I'm thinking of throwing some tiny enemies at her so she can do a godzilla thing which might be fun. Give her a boost to strength and constitution but give her a penalty to stealth. But I feel like that might get old fast. (For context when she plays she has been fairly Murderhobo like.)
Any ideas?
I'd just have the magic make everyone a set height, not 1 /12th their size, that way everyone will shrink but they will all shrink different amounts. Think of it as the spell having a target height rather than a formula to make them 1 /12th their size.
Sometimes you just have to throw out the ideas that you think are funny. If it means she can't adventure with the party and you need to set up a whole side-quest just for her, it's probably not worth the amount of amusement the idea generates.
Since you're well into homebrew already with this character, you could say that the same thing that made her unusually small is the same type of magic Halister is using - so she had already been three-quarters-shrunk or whatever - and so going into the field reduces her size significantly less than the others. This way she could still end up being comparatively big without being too big to stay with the party. And as a bonus you might have an interesting thing to explore as to how she had encountered that same magic earlier in life.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
Just scale up the size of the castle so that the halfling just fits. I would also try to come up with some other explanation for why the halfling isn't affected than just because they are a halfling since it tends to make it feel like you are singling out this character.
So I'd suggest something like the castle's magic reduces the size of creatures that won't fit by 1/10 or 1/8. Any creature that can fit is unaffected and make the size of the castle able to just fit the halfling with their head touching the ceiling or maybe even crouched a bit. A 6' character would work out to about 7.2" which would be about 1/2 to 1/3 the height of the halfling - so you'd get the effect you are looking for without singling out the halfling as the reason for the effect.
One of the many skills and responsibilities of the DM is to throw the books and modules out the window whenever it becomes necessary or appropriate. Scale the castle up a little, so that the halfling can enter without shrinking, and let the comedy ensue.
Technically you can fit into a smaller space than your size.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/combat#SqueezingintoaSmallerSpace
For example, a Medium creature can fit into a Small hole. It is pretty plausible that a 1 1/2 foot halfling can crawl through a 10 inch corridor. The only thing is that when you are in a space smaller than your size, you have disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throws, and other creatures have advantage on attack rolls against you.
I'm hoping the castle isn't all 10 inch ceilings, and that some rooms have high ceilings. That's where you can get into some fun godzilla action.
I think it could be fun to have her shrink enough to fit but is still substantially larger than the other PCs. You could make it so that she has to stoop and is giant sized compared to everything but can manage to squeeze through most of it. Then you give her the opportunity to play more of a bruiser role and can play against class a bit.
This.
Let the tiny halfling squeeze. It will really play up the idea of how gigantic they are in this situation, that someone who is usually knee-high can barely fit into places, and probably be the only time it happens. And the other players can use her for cover. Then let the rooms and chambers open up a bit, so they don't have to squeeze all the time. Do one, maybe two fights in a hallway, just to make it meaningful, but don't overdo it to the point it becomes annoying. Do thee one pretty early, just so they understand the problem it will be, and that should be enough to keep in in their head that its something they want to avoid.
Just change the curse slightly. It's still the same effect, but gives you more freedom to dictate the sizes of the group. Rather than "1/12th the size", the curse dictates that "the bigger they are, the more they shrink". Same general results, more freedom to dictate specifics (i.e. with "1/12th the size" a 6ft creature shrinks 5.5ft, whereas a 4 ft creature shrinks ~3.67ft - the bigger the person, the more they shrink), and still fits the mentality of a mad mage.