Hulking Size

[Barrington]

So. What are all of your thoughts on the Hulking Size power, and it's limits? I've seen a lot of talk about exactly how big you have to be to get it.

My thought is that, as long as your size matches the criteria (has a hard time interacting with human size stuff, etc.) than you can do it. In my Human Giant thread, someone mentioned how creatures like grizzly bears are too small to have Hulking Size since they can be stealthy. I think that's a bit off. Grizzly bears would definitely be big enough to have hulking size (some of them weigh almost 2000 pounds) but they have Inhuman Speed as well, so stealth becomes a possibility.

Using that criteria, an Andre The Giant sized human could conceivably have Hulking Size at the lower end of the scale. He'd still have a hell of a hard time interacting with things designed for the normal human size range, and without superhuman powers, he'd never be able to sneak around. But that's just my opinion. Thoughts?

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YOU ARE SO SMALL! IS FUNNY TO ME! - Heavy, Team Fortress 2

[Attercap]

Hulking size doesn't immediately preclude stealth, it just makes it harder for something massive to hide than for something human-sized. I interpret the rules not as "hulking size folk blunder about, making noise with their footfalls" so much as, "there's less stuff one can hide behind when they're the size of a tank". It's not about agility, it's simply about size; they need more shadow to hide in.

To use your example, bears have stealth because they can move silently and quickly but also because they're camouflaged in their native environment. A bear in the city? Harder to hide--even if he's in a nice suit. That natural camouflage and surrounding environment adds to their stealth the same way their size subtracts from it. It's just harder to find camo for an urban environment than rural. So, by default, something with hulking size has a Stealth of Mediocre, but they can still purchase the skill and gear up. They just can't get a lot of shifts on their stealth roles once everything plays out.

[Lanir]

The thing that has me pondering Hulking Size isn't really the stealth bit. Locking it at Mediocre (+0) just means you don't get any benefit from your skill when you go skulking around. And Inhuman (or any other rating) Speed doesn't really help stealth, it just minimizes potential penalties for trying to stealth and move at the same time.

The thing that had me wondering about Hulking Size was actually the Easy to Hit, Hard to Hurt part. I'm not sure size would ever not be a factor in an attempt to hit you and physically do harm. Area effects wouldn't get it but anything else probably would. Getting two more boxes to soak up physical stress is nice but the +1 to hit would translate into a +1 or more to damage on a successful attack (+1 if you would have hit anyway, +whatever if you would have missed by 1 without the bonus). So a handful of exchanges in and it might be doing you more harm than good.

[JosephKell]

Hulking size doesn't immediately preclude stealth, it just makes it harder for something massive to hide than for something human-sized. I interpret the rules not as "hulking size folk blunder about, making noise with their footfalls" so much as, "there's less stuff one can hide behind when they're the size of a tank". It's not about agility, it's simply about size; they need more shadow to hide in.

To use your example, bears have stealth because they can move silently and quickly but also because they're camouflaged in their native environment. A bear in the city? Harder to hide--even if he's in a nice suit. That natural camouflage and surrounding environment adds to their stealth the same way their size subtracts from it. It's just harder to find camo for an urban environment than rural. So, by default, something with hulking size has a Stealth of Mediocre, but they can still purchase the skill and gear up. They just can't get a lot of shifts on their stealth roles once everything plays out.

Or, bears have stunts to move the Skulking and Ambush trappings to another skill (Survival?) that isn't defaulted to mediocre.

[mostlyawake]

Or, bears have stunts to move the Skulking and Ambush trappings to another skill (Survival?) that isn't defaulted to mediocre.

Sneaky, tricky bears.

[JosephKell]

That is why they are Nature's Killing Machine (it's an aspect too).

[ironchicken]

My thought is that, as long as your size matches the criteria (has a hard time interacting with human size stuff, etc.) than you can do it. In my Human Giant thread, someone mentioned how creatures like grizzly bears are too small to have Hulking Size since they can be stealthy. I think that's a bit off. Grizzly bears would definitely be big enough to have hulking size (some of them weigh almost 2000 pounds) but they have Inhuman Speed as well, so stealth becomes a possibility.

Yes, I agree. FUDGE/FATE are descriptive engines, qualitative rather than quantitative. Hulking means hulking and as long as you share a view with your players it will work. In your game a grizzly might be hulking, in some else's an elephant is the base. It may also be as much about power as size.

[Belial666]

Just remember that Magog has Hulking Size and he's only 800 pounds. However, Magog has added to his weight metaphysically (just like Harry added to Murphy's Harley enough metaphysical weight that it knocked aside an entire car without being harmed)

[Barrington]

I thought I'd bump this thread back up since I noticed someone just made a new one asking questions about this power. A new Hulking Size question has come up with me and my players as well, and I thought I'd put it to all of you. Say you have an American Alligator who is at the top of the recorded size spectrum for those animals. He's over fifteen feet long and weighs upwards of one thousand pounds. I say that anything that huge and heavy has to at least be a candidate for Hulking Size, even if it's at the small end of the spectrum. My player maintains that because gators are low-slung and short, some of the trappings of the power would not apply. What do you all think?

[Tedronai]

'easy to detect' is the only trapping that I'd consider questionable as applied to a particularly large alligator, but then, I think it's just generally a clunky trapping to begin with, and would be better represented as providing a bonus to opposing perception rolls than as a flat 'no greater than mediocre' to the possessor's stealth rolls