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Contrary to what they say, size does matter, but not necessarily in the ways you might think! From powerful giants
to mighty mites, Size & Mass Powers looks at the very
big and the very small, along with changes in mass and
density and all the things you can do when you see the
world from the perspective of a different size.
Size Descriptors
Size is the key descriptor for the powers in this profile,
as they are based on a characters size relative to normal
human size.
Size: The effects of different size ranks are summarized in the Size Rank Modifiers table (page 224
of the Heros Handbook) and discussed under Size
Effects, following. Like many effects in Mutants &
Masterminds, size ignores a number of scientific realities, from the square-cube law (which would make it
physically impossible for giant-sized humanoids) to
the conservation of mass and the question of where
a size-changers additional mass comes from or goes
to when they change size. Like all values on the
Measurements Table, size rank actually represents
a range of sizes; so size rank 1 ranges between 31
feet (just greater than rank 0) and 60 feet. Similarly,
a size rank 5 creature is somewhere between 6 and
12 inches tall. Size rank 2 (normal size) ranges from
just over 3 feet to around 8 feet tall.
Countering: Since they primarily affect the user,
most size powers are not especially useful in countering effects other than involuntary changes in size.
Clever players may come up with relevant applica-
Size Features
Feature effects associated with size powers include the
following. The GM may declare some of these default features of size powers in the setting, requiring no Feature
ranks.
Size Effects
The primary size powers are the Growth and Shrinking
effects from the Heros Handbook (pages 110 and 128, respectively), which describe the effects of different sizes on
characters. Each effect is a package of pre-determined
Growth
Growth applies the following modifiers:
Modifiers
Every 2 ranks adds a +1 circumstance bonus to Intimidation checks but subtracts 1 rank from Dodge
and Parry defenses.
Innate: Permanent duration Growth or Shrinking reflecting a characters normal size due to race, species,
etc., should generally also be Innate, meaning it
cannot be countered (although Affects Others and
Attack effects can still change the characters size).
Shrinking
Shrinking applies the following modifiers:
Every 2 ranks increases your Dodge and Parry defenses by 1 and impose a 1 circumstance penalty to
your Intimidation checks.
Every 4 ranks reduces your size rank by 1 (starting from 2 for a normal human) and reduces your
Strength rank by 1.
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Jonathan Lotzer (order #3664316)
Internal Attack
A more accurate, but also more complex, way of determining the active defense modifier is to compare the attacker and defenders size ranks and apply a 2 modifier
for each rank the defender is larger than the attacker, and
a +2 modifier for each rank smaller. So opponents of the
same relative size have no modifiers against each other.
Example: Junkpile (Growth 4, size rank 1) is fighting Redwood (Growth 17, size rank 2). Redwood is
3 size ranks larger than Junkpile, so his usual 8
modifier to active defenses is only 6 and Junkpile
has no modifier against Redwood.
Offensive Powers
Offensive size powers take advantage of relative differences in size, or alter the size of attacks or unwilling targets!
Growth Momentum
You use the momentum of your increase in size to inflict
additional damage with a close attack, literally growing up
underneath your target. Take as many ranks as you expect
to change size ranks; if you have Shrinking 16, you can have
up to 4 ranks of Growth Momentum damage (at which
point you reach your normal size rank and cannot grow any
further). The additional damage is still limited by power level.
Growth Momentum: Strength-based Damage, Limited to
size rank difference between you and your target 1 point
per 2 ranks.
Massive Missile
You can take a small object able to fit into the palm of
your hand and throw it, causing it to grow as it flies, until it
lands on your target as a massive area attack!
Massive Missile: Burst Area Ranged Damage, Quirk
(Requires objects to throw, 1 point) 2 points for rank 1 +
3 points per rank.
Shrink-Ray
You project a beam that causes your target to shrink to a
tinyand largely helplesssize. Drop the Ranged modifier if you must touch a target to shrink it. Apply a suitable
Area modifier like Cone for a wide angle beam or Cloud
for a shrinking gas bomb.
Shrink-Ray: Ranged Progressive Affliction (Resisted by Dodge,
Overcome by Fortitude; Transformed reduced to tiny size),
Limited (Third Degree Only) 3 points per rank.
Defensive Powers
Size powers make characters more difficult to target or
provide defensive changes in mass, making it harder for
attacks to affect their target.
Density Decrease
You reduce your bodys density to the point of becoming
ghost-like, unaffected by most forms of physical attack.
Density Decrease: Insubstantial 4 (Incorporeal) 20 points.
Massive Armor
At increased size, your skin and muscle become more
dense and resistant to injury.
Massive Armor: Impervious modifier on Toughness 1 point
per rank.
Shrinking Dodge
Reflexively reducing your size, you become a smaller target
to avoid attacks. Compare the attack check against your
modified Dodge and Parry defenses to determine if it hits.
Shrinking Dodge: Reaction modifier on Shrinking (when
attacked) 1 point per Shrinking rank.
Movement Powers
In addition to the modifiers to normal speed provided by
different sizes, shrinking characters may be able to use
other forms of movement related to their size.
Microflight
At reduced size, you can fly through the air. This may
involve channeling the kinetic energy of your size-change
or you may have the Gliding modifier to ride air currents
at your reduced weight. Increase the value of the Quirk 1
point if the character must be particularly small to fly.
Microflight: Flight, Quirk (Must be using Shrinking, 1 point)
1 point for rank 1 + 2 points per additional rank.
Microport
Shrinking to atomic size, you can ride a carrier wave like
an electrical or radio transmission, disappearing into the
transmission from one end and emerging from the other.
Microport: Teleport, Accurate, Extended, Medium
(transmission networks) 3 points per rank.
Microverse
You can shrink down past the atomic level to the point
where you shift out of the physical universe altogether
and into an alternate micro-universe. You reverse the
process in order to return to the physical universe in the
same spot you left. In addition to this power, you may also
have an Alternate Effect, making your Shrinking into equal
power points of Growth while you are in the microverse.
Microverse: Movement 1 (Dimensional Travel 1, microverse) 2
points.
Utility Powers
Size powers are useful for a number of different things in
addition to the basic effects of being a different size.
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Jonathan Lotzer (order #3664316)
Density Increase
Rather than increasing your size, you increase only your
mass, becoming more dense, and therefore stronger and
tougher, without changing size. This removes the following modifiers from Growth: active defenses (Dodge and
Parry), Intimidation checks, and size rank. Only Strength,
Stamina, and mass ranks increase. Speed rank actually decreases: 1 to speed per 8 ranks.
Gamemasters should enforce the significant limitations of
the characters increased mass; a character with 10 ranks
of Density Increase weighs 100 tons! Few, if any, conventional structures will support the characters weight.
Density Increase: Growth, Does Not Change Size (+0 modifier)
2 points per rank.
Mass Compaction
The smaller you become, the more dense you become,
compacting your body mass, making your smaller size
effectively stronger and tougher. You must have Shrinking with the Normal Strength modifier to take this power.
Typically, due to power level limits, the character should
hit the limits at minimum size, being well below them
while normal-sized.
Mass Compaction: Enhanced Strength and Toughness, Limited
to active Shrinking rank 2 points per rank.
Mass Dispersal
The larger you get, the less dense you become, spreading your body mass out until you become a giant cloud.
In your dispersed form you may have additional powers
based on the forms found in the Air Powers and Water
Powers profiles.
Mass Dispersal: Insubstantial Linked to Growth, Limited to
Increasing Size Only (2) 5 points per Insubstantial rank + 1
point per 2 ranks of Growth.
Microvision
You can perceive extremely small things close up, perhaps
down into the microscopic, molecular, or atomic levels. If
you can peer into micro-universes as well (see the Microverse power) apply a rank of the Dimensional modifier.
Microvision: Senses (Microscopic Vision) 1 point per rank (to a
maximum of 4 ranks).
Shrinking Storage
You can shrink various items in order to more easily keep
them on your person (in pockets or pouches, for example).
Your Feature rank is the total mass rank in material you
can carry with no effort whatsoever. You can withdraw
and restore an item to its normal (fully-functional) size as
a free action. With sufficient ranks (7 or more), you could
even store an entire vehicle in your pocket!
Size Complications
Size powers give characters a whole different perspective
on the world. Sometimes this is a good thing, but it can
also lead to various complications.
Accident
To a giant, the entire world is small and fragile. It is not difficult for giant-sized characters to cause accidents without
meaning to: just brushing past a building may knock it
down and just walking on a street can leave foot-shaped
craters for cars to plow into. Causingand more importantly, dealing withthese accidents can earn characters
hero points for the complications they create.
Addiction
Catalysts for size-changing powers, from drugs and chemicals to strange radiation, may have addictive side effects,
causing the character to over-use the catalyst, furthering the
cycle of addiction and making it difficult to overcome. Size
changers may also be addicted to drugs or other medical
treatments used to deal with the complications of their size,
such as a shrunken hero addicted to pain-killers to deal with
the constant physical strain caused by his reduced size.
Disability
Its worth noting that the various physical complications associated with being a permanent size other than
Power Loss
Size-changers often depend on some outside source for
their powers; take that source away, and they lose the
ability to change size along with it. Sometimes this Power
Loss complication does not remove the power so much
as it removes the characters ability to turn the power off,
rendering it effectively Permanent for a time. This is an instance where the being stuck at a different size is a complication worth a hero point award.
Prejudice
Size-changers certainly look odd, and there is a natural
human tendency to assume giant creatures are threatening and tiny ones are harmless, or even helpless. This is
reflected in the Intimidation check modifiers for size, and
may influence other aspects of peoples behavior towards
the character.
Quirk
Larger and smaller sizes are fairly literal metaphors for
superiority and inferiority complexes, and size-changing
characters may manifest them. Giants tend to be arrogant,
overconfident, and callous towards the little people
while shrunken characters feel vulnerable, small, and insignificant. Of course, it can also be interesting to play
against type, such as a diminutive hero with boundless
confidence, or even a tiny megalomaniacal villain!
Temper
Like other incredible strong characters (see Strength
Powers), giants may have fierce tempers, particularly
concerning their grace or intelligence (or lack thereof ).
Similarly, smaller-sized characters (villains especially) may
be sensitive when it comes to remarks about their height,
losing their temper when such things come up.
Weakness
Some of the weaknesses of size-changing are built-in
to the effects, particularly presenting a bigger target at
larger size and losing a proportion of strength and speed
while smaller. Size-changers may suffer from other weaknesses, such as metabolic vulnerabilities due to the strain
of their different sizes.
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Jonathan Lotzer (order #3664316)
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