Size misrepresentations

[Dander7BD]

So Bioware had a different artistic vision on the sizes of things as compared to that of WotC.

Beside of of building exteriors being shrunk. Giants and dragons appearing smaller than they are. It would seem Bioware had this idea that the game were best off with everything being able to fit into the screen. Fair enough.

Then comes the cases of relative size representations being all over the place. (Comparing size data from forgotten realms wikia with visual representation)

Example:
Gnomes have an average height of 3'0" - 3'6".
Pixies is around 2.5'. (2'6'')

Oh boy, and I've been occasionally role played that Ming (pixie familiar) would fit in one of Frin's pockets or on/under his hat! >.<
If that doesn't give weird imagery. Think every time a half orc tried to lick her. >.<

Gnomes and Halflings is considered to be of small stature and thus the tentacles in the Evard spell won't be able to target them. Lazy Bioware artists just slapped on a different texture on the Entangle spell effect, making the tentacles appear smaller than gnomes and halflings. Have in mind that this is strictly visual misrepresentation! As the halflings and gnomes is flagged small, and it is clearly stated in the Evard spell description that it can't touch creatures that are small or smaller due to tentacles being to big to grapple them.

Thoughts? Any other visually misconceptions you have encountered? Embarrassing revelations?

[Dander7BD]

My familiar Ming's speech impediment was entirely motivated by her being so small that she would avoid the r-sound as she shouts on the top of her lungs at the comparably giants around her.

Dammit Bioware!

[Dander7BD]

Took a look at the height of halflings. Average height of: 2'8" - 3'4"

The shorter halfling is just a couple of inches taller than a pixie. Duct tape fake wings on and then dip them in some sparkly green color, and then see if the dust licking half orcs can tell the difference.

[Lliira]

That sounds awfully large for a pixie! I would have guessed 4-6", not 2'+. >.<

I guess that NWN's pixies are more like Atomie: "The atomie is the lightest and quickest of all the sprites, standing at less than one foot tall. An atomie has elven features, with pale skin with a hint of woodland green, and four dragonfly-like wings. An atomie's voice is high-pitched, sounding like the buzzing of a bee. Atomies have magical abilities, and sometimes carry weapons as well. Upon hearing an intruder, atomies hide and try to make the intruder go away, using false lights, clattering voices, and pesky, summoned insects. Atomies live in forests, in the upper branches of old hardwood trees, one family per tree. Each family hollows out a series of tiny rooms, decorating with walnut chairs, woven pine needle rugs, acorn dishes, and the like. A network of balconies, landings, and rope bridges connects the dwellings, forming a village high above the forest floor. Atomies seldom bother with outsiders."

Sprites are represented as tiny in 4.0 and 5.0. Possibly a foot tall, maybe slightly more.

[raradra]

I also thought that pixies would be 5-6 inches.

[Richard_Uther]

This is an old subject. When NWN2 was in development, they had a suggestion thread and properly scaled creatures was one of the most popular ones. Obsidian did listen and in NWN2 every creature has the size described in the manuals by default. Which led to players complaining because "My halfling is too small for the screen" and "Dragons occupy most of the screen, even in the furthest away zoom level, it's very hard to navigate around them" and so on. This is why we used a lot of scale scripts and fixed camera angles in Nordock 2, but it still didn't fix most of the issues, but it leads to what we had in mind and applies to NWN1 as well:

Don't look at the screen as a correct representation of the scale of what you're seeing. Imagine that things are either bigger or smaller than what you're actually seeing. This applies to creatures, buildings, travel distances and so on.

[raradra]

Imagine that things are either bigger or smaller than what you're actually seeing. This applies to creatures, buildings, travel distances and so on.

We are a RP server after all Everyone should have a great imagination!

[Dander7BD]

So it is best that I RP my pixie familiar Ming as if she is actually 2+ foot tall. Impact is the following:

• She is actually wielding her dagger as a dagger/short sword, not as a great sword/halberd/spear.
• No more hiding in Frin's pockets. Sure he is a tailor but he rather do other things than constantly repairing his robes. Bag of Holding is still a plausible hiding spot for her.
• Speech impediment is now only motivated by her desire for attention and to trick others into getting her free candy/cookies. (Her intelligence is 16 if I recall correctly)
• Next time an half-orc tries to lick her: Expect an increase of black eyed half-orc population.

On second thought. It could be that the 2'6'' is their actual size, but they have the ability to alter it at will. It is easier to hide and sustain a population if the inhabitants keeps them self tiny. Impact would be that Ming would keep herself tiny at most of the time. Whenever she is in battle grows back to normal size, as the AC dodge bonuses she get is the same as halflings/gnomes. Makes more sense whenever she have got herself turned into an arrow pincushion and still somehow is alive.

[Xillie]

"It is best".......?

I respect your choice if it is your own.
If you'd ask me I'd say Ming could well be Nordock's most known pixie, therefor defining what pixie means in Nordock.
In other words: I hope you don't feel externally pressured or anything to alter your RP, is your decision scribed in stone yet?

Also, you're from Scandinavia.......I would say if you want to know everything about fairies; do not ask an anglesaxon but ask a german or scandinavian.....right? Well except for leprechauns perhaps. (how tall are they? )

Anyway, to me you are Nordocks pixie-master, so you decide what a pixie in Nordock means

greets,

Xillie

[Xillie]

Btw, I have read pixies can alter size of anything once per day. So they would be quite masters of Einstein's field equations' scaling factor.....offering size plasticity.