Hi!
Forgive me if this has been answered else where but what effects does increases a existing monster size do for the monster? For example a Grindylow can grow bigger the small and gain the giant trait. So if it where to increase in size to say Large size how would that affect the base creature? Obviously the Dexterity would shrink , Strength and Con would increase but by how much?
Incorrect. The stats change based on what the specific ability says. Nothing more, nothing less.
For the Grindylow in particular it's not actually an ability, it just says:
While most grindylows are Small, a minute percentage of these creatures keep growing throughout their lives. Those that become Large or larger gain the giant trait and often become champions of their schools.
In essence, what this means is that if you made a higher level grindylow, or applied the Elite template, you might decide that it is large instead of small. This still doesn't inherently alter its stats, but you could decide when you were creating it that being big and clumsy made sense and base its abilities on that. It's just a guideline, though - you could have a high level small grindylow, or an agile large grindylow.
When it comes to enlarging via a spell or other magical effect, Captain Morgan is exactly right - what the spell says it does, nothing else.
Thanks for the responses, I like the different options just trying to make sure I was picking something fair and balanced, I didn't want my players to get overwhelmed, as I am new to second ed. I didn't want to create something accidentally something too powerful for my players to handle. The GM guide has some rules for creating some quick monsters so I will use those as a guideline. Thanks again.
Yeah as long as your monster is within the parameters of the GMG you should be fine. Worth noting that while the ability scores of a bigger than average example of a species would probably be different, they don't really matter because ability scores don't directly determine usable stats on monsters like they do on PCs.
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Hi!
Forgive me if this has been answered else where but what effects does increases a existing monster size do for the monster? For example a Grindylow can grow bigger the small and gain the giant trait. So if it where to increase in size to say Large size how would that affect the base creature? Obviously the Dexterity would shrink , Strength and Con would increase but by how much?
Second Edition doesn't use size modifiers to stats like first edition did. The main effect of size are:
- The monster takes up more space on the battlefield, so it can block off areas, be harder to flank etcetera.- Some maneuvers cannot be done against enemies much bigger than you. So a big monster is protected from some of the players' maneuvers.
- Big monsters usually have more Reach so they can also threaten a bigger part of the battlefield.
Also, larger creatures are capable of holding more bulk and have more bulk when creatures try to carry them.