Hey guys! This is my 1st post so idk it I'm doing it right but I have questions on how big creatures actually are.
Firstly, I understand that a creature's size in D&D is the area it can effectively control in combat. Like how medium creatures aren't actually 5 feet wide. However, I don't understand how an adult dragon can only control a 15 by 15 foot area. I don't see how that area could be smaller than a creatures body. If a dragon was only 15 feet long from snout to tail it could comfortably fit in my dining room and that doesn't sit right with me. Is it representative of the distance from the shoulder to the base of the tail? I just don't understand that, and help for me to understand what it represents would be really helpful.
Secondly, is there any way to figure out how large these creatures are? Like how big is a dragon, or a hill giant, or an aboleth. If it's indicative of how large an area a creature can effectively control but that area can be smaller than the creatures body is there any way to accurately determine and describe size.
Lastly, would it be rule breaking if I change the size of a creature but keep all the stats the same? Or to keep things balanced would it be better to change the hit dice size?
If any of my questions need to be clarified please ask, I'm writing this at nearly 2 am so this might not make a ton of sense to anyone well rested. Thank you all in advance.
However, I don't understand how an adult dragon can only control a 15 by 15 foot area. I don't see how that area could be smaller than a creatures body. If a dragon was only 15 feet long from snout to tail it could comfortably fit in my dining room and that doesn't sit right with me. Is it representative of the distance from the shoulder to the base of the tail? I just don't understand that, and help for me to understand what it represents would be really helpful.
It's not representative of the monster, it's a game abstraction to make things work more smoothly. If it helps, factor in the reach of the creatures attacks.
Secondly, is there any way to figure out how large these creatures are? Like how big is a dragon, or a hill giant, or an aboleth. If it's indicative of how large an area a creature can effectively control but that area can be smaller than the creatures body is there any way to accurately determine and describe size.
Not from its game statistics, no
Lastly, would it be rule breaking if I change the size of a creature but keep all the stats the same? Or to keep things balanced would it be better to change the hit dice size?
"Rule breaking" is a weird, almost inapplicable, concept when it comes to the DM. The DM cannot "break" the rules because the DM makes the rules. The DM changing and modifying the game rules is literally codified into the rules themselves.
If you're asking if it would break the balance or fairness of the game, most likely not. However, if you're asking if it goes against the design intent of the game, yes. For monsters, their hit point dice is determined by their size category; tiny creatures have a d4, small a d6, small or medium and medium a d8, large a d10, huge a d12, and gargantuan a d20. Reducing a creatures size category without also reducing it's hit point dice—and accordingly adjusting it's average hit points—doesn't follow the design principles of monster design. However, this shouldn't break anything or be unfair or unbalanced as far as my experience has been. The assumed reason for the size category-hit point dice relationship is that the smaller a monster, the fewer enemies that can get with melee range of it at once (on average) and thus the less HP needed, with the inverse being true. Also smaller monsters tend to be more frail. However, this is also balanced by the fact that smaller monsters tend to have a slightly higher AC on average due to being more dexterous.
But will going up or down one size category make a huge difference? Most likely not.
I don't understand how an adult dragon can only control a 15 by 15 foot area. I don't see how that area could be smaller than a creatures body.
Lets use a school bus. You have driver, can they see someone at the rear of the bus outside? Maybe because they have a mirror, but if something is going on in the front, they aren't looking at the mirror, and if a person is directly behind the bus the driver will never see them. If someone is at the front and one on each side, will the driver see them all probably not.
Even though the bus is huge, it is unable to control all of the space it occupies.
Adult dragons have a reach of around 15 feet, and we can assume that they can't really bite anything at the maximum length their neck will extend to, and their tails are probably very long, so an adult dragon could easily be upwards of 50 feet long, probably more.
The big issue I could see with changing the size is reach. If a dragon is 15’ across and has 10 feet or reach, it controls a35’ square. Changing the size goes to 40’ square, which, depending on terrain, may or may not matter. By the same token, it makes it a larger target, so it’s easier to catch one part of it in an AoE. This may matter if the party is trying to surround the creature, but the wizard really wants to fireball the thing. A bigger target could (sometimes) be easier to hit while still avoiding enemies.
I don’t think those would be game breaking, but they are considerations.
As Dayvd said, there’s no RAW about how big something is. And this next bit also isn’t RAW, but it may help. One thing I like to think is that the creature doesn’t control a square but a cube. So a PC is in a 5x5 square that’s also 5 feet tall. Where that dragon would be in a 15x15 square that’s also 15’ tall. So it’s not controlling 9 times more space than a PC, but 27 times more space, which may help it make more sense with how much more massive it is.
This also allows some room for you to describe it being outside its box. Lots of PCs are more than 5 feet tall, and still only control one cube even though they poke into the one above them. So if your dragon controls a 15’ area, but you describe it having, I don’t know, a 25’ wingspan, that could still work pretty easily.
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Hey guys! This is my 1st post so idk it I'm doing it right but I have questions on how big creatures actually are.
Firstly, I understand that a creature's size in D&D is the area it can effectively control in combat. Like how medium creatures aren't actually 5 feet wide. However, I don't understand how an adult dragon can only control a 15 by 15 foot area. I don't see how that area could be smaller than a creatures body. If a dragon was only 15 feet long from snout to tail it could comfortably fit in my dining room and that doesn't sit right with me. Is it representative of the distance from the shoulder to the base of the tail? I just don't understand that, and help for me to understand what it represents would be really helpful.
Secondly, is there any way to figure out how large these creatures are? Like how big is a dragon, or a hill giant, or an aboleth. If it's indicative of how large an area a creature can effectively control but that area can be smaller than the creatures body is there any way to accurately determine and describe size.
Lastly, would it be rule breaking if I change the size of a creature but keep all the stats the same? Or to keep things balanced would it be better to change the hit dice size?
If any of my questions need to be clarified please ask, I'm writing this at nearly 2 am so this might not make a ton of sense to anyone well rested. Thank you all in advance.
It's not representative of the monster, it's a game abstraction to make things work more smoothly. If it helps, factor in the reach of the creatures attacks.
Not from its game statistics, no
"Rule breaking" is a weird, almost inapplicable, concept when it comes to the DM. The DM cannot "break" the rules because the DM makes the rules. The DM changing and modifying the game rules is literally codified into the rules themselves.
If you're asking if it would break the balance or fairness of the game, most likely not. However, if you're asking if it goes against the design intent of the game, yes. For monsters, their hit point dice is determined by their size category; tiny creatures have a d4, small a d6, small or medium and medium a d8, large a d10, huge a d12, and gargantuan a d20. Reducing a creatures size category without also reducing it's hit point dice—and accordingly adjusting it's average hit points—doesn't follow the design principles of monster design. However, this shouldn't break anything or be unfair or unbalanced as far as my experience has been. The assumed reason for the size category-hit point dice relationship is that the smaller a monster, the fewer enemies that can get with melee range of it at once (on average) and thus the less HP needed, with the inverse being true. Also smaller monsters tend to be more frail. However, this is also balanced by the fact that smaller monsters tend to have a slightly higher AC on average due to being more dexterous.
But will going up or down one size category make a huge difference? Most likely not.
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Lets use a school bus. You have driver, can they see someone at the rear of the bus outside? Maybe because they have a mirror, but if something is going on in the front, they aren't looking at the mirror, and if a person is directly behind the bus the driver will never see them. If someone is at the front and one on each side, will the driver see them all probably not.
Even though the bus is huge, it is unable to control all of the space it occupies.
Adult dragons have a reach of around 15 feet, and we can assume that they can't really bite anything at the maximum length their neck will extend to, and their tails are probably very long, so an adult dragon could easily be upwards of 50 feet long, probably more.
The big issue I could see with changing the size is reach. If a dragon is 15’ across and has 10 feet or reach, it controls a35’ square. Changing the size goes to 40’ square, which, depending on terrain, may or may not matter.
By the same token, it makes it a larger target, so it’s easier to catch one part of it in an AoE. This may matter if the party is trying to surround the creature, but the wizard really wants to fireball the thing. A bigger target could (sometimes) be easier to hit while still avoiding enemies.
I don’t think those would be game breaking, but they are considerations.
As Dayvd said, there’s no RAW about how big something is. And this next bit also isn’t RAW, but it may help. One thing I like to think is that the creature doesn’t control a square but a cube. So a PC is in a 5x5 square that’s also 5 feet tall. Where that dragon would be in a 15x15 square that’s also 15’ tall. So it’s not controlling 9 times more space than a PC, but 27 times more space, which may help it make more sense with how much more massive it is.
This also allows some room for you to describe it being outside its box. Lots of PCs are more than 5 feet tall, and still only control one cube even though they poke into the one above them. So if your dragon controls a 15’ area, but you describe it having, I don’t know, a 25’ wingspan, that could still work pretty easily.