TEXT: Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. 
   
   
  Races 
  1 
  Monstrous Races 
  Addendum: Larger Players 
   
   
  Character Options for Playing Player Characters Above 
  Medium Size Using “Monstrous Races” 
   
   
   
  
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  Races 
  2 
  Monstrous Races 
  Addendum: Larger Players 
   
   
  Character Options for Playing Player Characters Above 
  Medium Size Using “Monstrous Races” 
   
  An expansion to Monstrous Races, this document includes rules for 
  playing races of sizes larger than medium. 
   
  by Tyler Kamstra 
   
   
   
   
   
  DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, the dragon ampersand, Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master’s Guide, D&D Adventurers League, all other 
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  express written permission of Wizards of the Coast. 
   
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  This work contains material that is copyright Wizards of the Coast and/or other authors. Such material is used with permission under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild. All 
  other original material in this work is copyright [2016] by Tyler Kamstra and published under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild. 
   
  
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  Races 
  3 
  Contents
  Contents ........................... 3 
  Introduction ...................... 4 
  How to Use This Document ............. 4 
  Design Notes ................................... 4 
  Included Art ..................................... 4 
  Being Bigger ...................... 5 
  Determing Maximum Size ............... 5 
  Large Creature Traits ....................... 5 
  Huge Creature Traits ....................... 5 
  Gargantuan Creature Traits ............. 5 
  Equipment for Larger Creatures ...... 5 
  Design Notes ................................... 5 
  Becoming Bigger ............... 7 
  Size as Racial Trait ........................... 7 
  Size as Feat ...................................... 7 
  Size as Template .............................. 7 
  Design Notes ................................... 7 
  Spells ................................ 9 
  Spell Lists ......................................... 9 
  Spell Descriptions ............................ 9 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
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  Races 
  4 
  Introduction 
  This document is an addendum and expansion for the 
  Monstrous Races series of documents. The original 
  Monstrous Races omitted rules for playing characters 
  of large or larger size, choosing instead to reduce 
  bigger creatures down to medium size in order to avoid 
  the mechanical complexity of introducing new 
  mechanics for such players. This document attempts to 
  rectify that shortcoming by providing several 
  mechanisms to allow players to attain large size.  
  How to Use This Document 
  If you have already chosen to use Monstrous Races, 
  this document is for you. However, you may need to 
  weigh the possible consequences of allowing large or 
  larger player characters in your game. If one of your 
  players is huge sized, while the others are all medium, 
  they may have trouble with simple things like walking 
  down a crowded street or entering a building. You 
  might choose to allow players to advance to a specific 
  size and go no further, or you might embrace these 
  complications and make addressing them part of the 
  fun.  
   Rules for creatures above medium size are 
  complicated. I make no assertion that these rules are 
  perfect, and I can make no guarantees that these rules 
  will fit into your game without issue.  
   Assuming that you have decided to allow larger 
  player characters into the game, the options presented 
  in this document will offer several mechanisms to 
  make that possible. 
  Design Notes 
  This document relies upon design work discussed in 
  the Monstrous Races series of documents. As I did in 
  those documents, I have included extensive design 
  notes to explain my thinking while writing this 
  document. These design notes are included to 
  encourage you to consider the mechanics I have 
  presented, and ideally to make changes of your own if 
  you decide to do so. 
  Included Art 
  The art included in this document is all free art taken 
  from the creator resources provided by Wizards of the 
  Coast on DM’s Guild. If you wish to reuse these images, 
  I encourage you to download the official creator 
  resources for the original images. 
   
   
  
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  Races 
  5 
  Being Bigger 
  Creatures above medium size experience the world 
  very differently from their smaller counterparts, and 
  their large stature grants certain advantages. This 
  section details traits for player characters above 
  medium size, as well as details on equipment for larger 
  creatures. 
  Determining Maximum Size 
  Monstrous Races presents races at medium size, but 
  some creatures may become larger depending on their 
  race. To determine a creature’s maximum size, see 
  monster entry on which the racial traits are based. The 
  original creature’s size is the race’s maximum size. 
  Player characters may advance to this size, but no 
  further using options presented in this document. 
  Player characters may still alter their size by other 
  mechanisms such as enlarge/reduce. 
   For example: Monstrous Races presents hill giants at 
  medium size. The entry in the Monster Manual for hill 
  giants lists hill giants at Huge size, which becomes the 
  maximum size for hill giant player characters attainable 
  by means included in this document. 
  Large Creature Traits 
  • Carrying Capacity. You can bear twice as much 
  weight as a medium creature with equal Strength. 
  • Space. You occupy a 10 ft. x 10 ft. space. 
  Large (Centauroid) Creature Traits 
  Some creatures have bodies which are large but have 
  humanoid portions which behave as though they were 
  medium. These creatures, which we’ll call 
  “Centauroids” until a better word presents itself, use 
  the same traits and armor as large creatures, but use 
  weapons and other items sized for medium creatures. 
  Huge Creature Traits 
  • Carrying Capacity. You can bear twice as much 
  weight as a medium creature with equal Strength. 
  • Space. You occupy a 15 ft. x 15 ft. space. 
  • Reach. Your reach is 10 ft. 
  Gargantuan Creature Traits 
  • Carrying Capacity. You can bear twice as much 
  weight as a medium creature with equal Strength. 
  • Space. You occupy a 20 ft. x 20 ft. space. 
  • Reach. Your reach is 10 ft. 
  Equipment for Larger Creatures 
  Weapons, armor, clothing, and some items like 
  backpacks for creatures above medium size cost and 
  weigh more than those items for medium creatures.  
   This cost multiplier applies only to mundane items 
  (magic items are not affected) and does not include the 
  x4 cost multiplier for barding. 
  Size 
  Large 
  Huge 
  Gargantuan 
  Cost 
  x2 
  x4 
  x8 
  Weight 
  x4 
  x16 
  x64 
  Weapons 
  Weapons for creatures above medium size deal 
  additional damage, as indicated on the table below. 
  Find the damage for the weapon listed in the 
  Small/Medium column, then reference the appropriate 
  column for your character’s size. 
   If your race has natural weapons such as a bite or 
  claw attack, permanently changing your size also 
  improves your natural weapon damage. To determine 
  your natural weapons’ new damage, use the same 
  method detailed above for manufactured weapons. 
   For example: a longsword deals 1d8 damage for a 
  small or medium creature. Find the row with 1d8 in the 
  Small/Medium column, then look at the Huge column 
  to find that a huge longsword deals 2d10 damage. 
  Small/Medium 
  Large 
  Huge 
  Gargantuan 
  1d4 
  1d8 
  2d6 
  2d10 
  1d6 
  1d10 
  2d8 
  3d6 
  1d8 
  1d12 
  2d10 
  3d8 
  1d10 
  2d8 
  3d6 
  3d10 
  2d6/1d12 
  2d10 
  3d8 
  4d6 
  Food and Water 
  Creatures above medium size require four times as 
  much food and water as creatures of the size beneath 
  them. 
  Size 
  Medium 
  Large 
  Huge 
  Gargantuan 
  Food 
  1 lbs. 
  4 lbs. 
  16 lbs. 
  64 lbs. 
  Water 
  1-2 gal 
  4-8 gal 
  16-32 gal 
  64-128 gal 
  Design Notes 
  The first question that this document needs to answer 
  is “what do players get for being bigger than medium?” 
  That’s a surprisingly difficult question to answer. 
   There are two items in the official rules from which 
  we can draw inspiration. The first is the enlarge/reduce 
  spell, which grants players a brief taste of what it’s like 
  to be bigger than the races in the player’s handbook. 
  This spell increases the characters size category by one, 
  and increases their height and weight accordingly, but 
  
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  Races 
  6 
  does fairly little to change the creature’s statistics. The 
  subject gains advantage on Strength checks and deals 
  1d4 additional damage with their weapons. The 
  creature’s carrying capacity automatically improves 
  (see Lifting and Carrying: Size and Strength on page 176 
  of the Player’s handbook). There is no change to the 
  creature’s reach despite suddenly having much longer 
  arms. 
   The second item is a bit of text buried in the rules for 
  creating and modifying monsters. Page 277-278 of the 
  Dungeon Master’s Guide includes a subsection titled 
  “base damage on the weapon”. The sixth paragraph in 
  this subsection notes that creatures of size larger than 
  medium multiply the base damage of their weapons 
  once for each size category above medium. 
   There is also the question of reach. Creatures of sizes 
  larger than medium should reasonably have better 
  reach than smaller creatures. Unfortunately, the 
  Monster Manual is inconsistent on the point, the 
  Dungeon Master’s Guide presents no guidance on 
  setting a creature’s reach. Humanoid-like creatures like 
  giant have reach values that are totally inconsistent, 
  even when using the same weapons. It seems to be ad-
  hoc, which doesn’t help us get it right, but since there’s 
  no answer it also means it’s hard to get it wrong. 
   A creature’s size also affects what creatures can 
  grapple it or swallow it whole. This is a minor 
  consideration in the grand scheme of things, but a 
  great many monsters are designed assuming that they 
  will be eating medium-sized players. 
   We also need to consider creatures with large or 
  larger size that still use weapons smaller than their size 
  would indicate. Centaurs and similar creatures are 
  functionally a medium creature on an oversized set of 
  legs, which means that they get some of the benefits of 
  larger size, but not all of them.  
   Now that we’ve looked at our little bit of source 
  material and considered everything we need to cover, 
  let’s do some actual designing. I think enlarge/reduce is 
  going to be our best source of inspiration, and it’s 
  probably the most in line with what players will expect. 
  Based on discussions I’ve had with people who want to 
  play large races, most players don’t know about the 
  multiplied weapon damage rule, so we can largely 
  ignore it. 
   Enlarge/reduce provides two benefits explicitly 
  called out in the spell: advantage on Strength checks, 
  and a boost to weapon damage. We can’t grant 
  advantage on Strength checks across the board 
  without introducing a lot of problems, so we’ll drop 
  that part. But we definitely want to keep a damage 
  boost. Making players roll an extra d4 every time they 
  roll weapon damage is a pain and makes larger sizes 
  feel clunky, so instead we’ll generate a new table of 
  weapon damage. It’s a bit of a pain, and it’s definitely 
  reminiscent of 3rd edition, but I think it will more 
  natural than rolling 1d8+2d4 for a huge longsword. A 
  d4 adds an average of 2.5 damage, so we’ll try to keep 
  the damage die increases similar at each step. 
   We also need to address space and reach. Space is 
  easy; each size above medium adds 5 ft. to each side of 
  the creature’s space. Reach is harder because there 
  seems to be no consistency. Some creatures as large as 
  gargantuan still only have 5 ft. reach, and some 
  creatures have multiple attacks with different reach 
  values on each of them. I’m tempted to establish a 
  complicated flowchart to determine the reach of an 
  attack, but it would dramatically complicate large 
  creatures, and it would have problematic implications 
  for the traits published in Monstrous Races. I typically 
  treat natural weapons as interchangeable (a bite isn’t 
  much different from a claw), but that would break 
  down if suddenly tentacles got a bunch of reach, but 
  claws didn’t. We’ll give 10 ft. reach to Huge and 
  Gargantuan creatures and leave it at that. 
   Large size also increases the character’s carrying 
  capacity, as we discussed previously, but we’ll call it 
  out in the list of traits for each size because it’s easy to 
  miss.  
   I also want to add some changes to the cost and 
  weight of equipment. A suit of armor for a 30-foot tall 
  giant is obviously going to cost and weigh much more 
  than one for a 5-foot tall humanoid. Enlarge/reduce 
  multiplies the target’s weight by 4 when they’re 
  enlarged, so we’ll multiply cost and weight by four and 
  make it stack multiplicatively at each size increase. 
   After all that, we’re left with surprisingly little that 
  changes when a creature becomes larger than 
  medium. In a way that’s disappointing because size 
  feels like such a significant factor, but at the same time 
  it’s reassuring because it simplifies making these traits 
  available to players. 
   In the next section, we’ll discuss mechanisms for 
  players to become large or larger. 
  
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  Races 
  7 
  Becoming Bigger 
  This section presents three mechanisms to introduce 
  sizes greater than medium into your game. The three 
  mechanisms are intended to be mutually exclusive. 
  Consider each option and use the one which makes the 
  most sense for your game. 
  Size as a Racial Trait 
  Increased size may be granted as a racial trait. Like 
  other racial traits, use the Race Builder rules presented 
  in the original Monstrous Races. In many cases you 
  may be able to grant increased size by adjusting a 
  creature’s existing traits to keep the creature in a 
  normal BP range. 
   You may also consider introducing size changes 
  gradually. If you choose to do so, start players at 
  medium size and increase their size by one increment 
  each time their proficiency bonus increases until the 
  player reaches their race’s maximum size. 
  Size 
  BP  
  Tiny 
  -1.5 
  Small 
  -1 
  Medium 
  0 
  Large 
  2.5 
  Large (Centauroid) 
  0.5 
  Huge 
  5 
  Gargantuan 
  8 
  Example: Centaurs 
  Centaurs have a total BP score of 7, which puts them 
  below the target range of 8-10 BP. Conveniently, that 
  means that you can add Large (Centauroid) size for 0.5 
  BP with no further adjustment. 
  Example: Ogre 
  Ogres have a total BP score of 9.25 BP. 2.5 of that is 
  wrapped up in Furious Temper, which we created to 
  pad the ogre’s BP value. You could easily drop it and 
  replace it with large size, or you could halve the Ogre’s 
  ability score increases to make room for large size. 
  Either option will keep the Ogre within the target range 
  of 8-10 BP. 
  Size as a Feat 
  Players may select this feat as normal, or you as the 
  Dungeon Master might mandate that certain races 
  must take the feat each time they receive an ability 
  score increase until they reach their race’s maximum 
  size. 
  Increased Size 
  Your body grows as you age, gradually approaching the 
  mighty stature of your kind. 
  Prerequisite: current permanent size less than your 
  race’s maximum size. 
   
   Your size increases by one step, up to a maximum of 
  your race’s maximum size. You gain all of the traits 
  appropriate to your new size. 
  Size as a Template 
  Players may attain larger sizes by taking levels in the 
  Increased Size template. For rules for player templates, 
  see the Introduction of Monstrous Races. 
   You might allow players to take all of these levels at 
  once, or you might make players space them out in 
  some fashion. If you mandate taking these levels, I 
  suggest delaying the first template level until the 
  character’s 6th level so that players aren’t forced to 
  delay 5th-level class features which are important to 
  the game’s balance assumptions. 
  Increased Size [Template: Acquired] 
  Becoming Bigger 
  Any character below their races maximum size may 
  take levels in the Increased Size template. 
  Increased Size Traits 
  Hit Points 
   Hit Dice. 1d11 per Increased Size level 
   Hit Points at Higher Levels. 1d12 (or 7) + your 
  Constitution modifier per Increased Size level 
  Traits 
  Revenants gain the following traits at each level, as 
  indicated on the table below. 
  Level 
  Features 
  1 
  Large Size 
  2 
  Huge Size 
  3 
  Gargantuan Size 
   Large Size. Your size becomes large, and you gain all 
  of the traits of a large creature. 
   Huge Size. Your size becomes large, and you gain all 
  of the traits of a huge creature. 
   Gargantuan Size. Your size becomes large, and you 
  gain all of the traits of a gargantuan creature. 
  
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  Races 
  8 
  Design Notes 
  Now that we know what happens when a player rises 
  above medium size, we need a way to make that 
  happen. I’ve spent a great deal of time considering the 
  best way to make this happen, and I’ve never settled 
  on a single “best” answer. So instead, I’m going to give 
  you three options and make you decide on your own 
  which one you want to use. 
   We’ll start with size as a racial trait. It’s the most 
  obvious option, and it’s the easiest to understand in 
  the context of race design, but it’s not without 
  problems. The size-based traits we described in the 
  previous section are powerful. A gargantuan 1st-level 
  character dealing 4d6 damage with a greatsword could 
  easily unbalance your game. Still, we need to 
  determine a BP value. 
   Each size category above medium has roughly the 
  same effects: double the creature’s carrying capacity, 
  add 2-3 damage on average with weapon attacks, 
  increase the creature’s space, and for Huge and 
  Gargantuan raise the character’s reach. Conveniently, 
  we have a few examples of similar traits that we can 
  combine to get an idea of how much this is worth. 
   The damage bonus is most easily compared to a +2 
  Strength increase. A fixed +2 increase is 2 BP. We could 
  debate the precision of this comparison, but I think it’s 
  close enough that it will suffice. 
   Powerful Build is 0.25 BP and replicates the weight 
  capacity changes of increased size, which makes it an 
  excellent comparison. 
   Increased reach is difficult to assess, and the only 
  time we’ve done it is for the assessment of the official 
  Bugbear. We landed on a BP value of 0.5 BP. 
   That brings use to 2.25 BP for large size, 2.75 BP for 
  the jump up to huge, and 2.25 for the jump from huge 
  to gargantuan. That’s roughly 2.5 on average, so we’ll 
  fudge the numbers a bit to 2.5 BP, 5 BP, and 8 BP. 
   Let’s also look at centaur-like creatures, which we’ll 
  call Centauroids until someone finds me a better word. 
  They get the enlarged space and increase carrying 
  capacity, but that’s all. I think we’ll call it 0.5 BP, but 
  honestly that might be too high. Larger space means 
  your reach goes further, but it also means that 
  maneuvering is more difficult. It’s hard to objectively 
  weigh those two points, so we’ll call 0.5 BP an 
  educated guess. 
   With BP values defined, we can throw them on the 
  table of race sizes and we’re done with size as a racial 
  trait. 
   Next, we’ll look at feats. Each size increase is roughly 
  2.5 BP, which conveniently falls within our target BP 
  range of 2-4 BP. So, we’ll make a single feat which 
  increases the player’s size by one stage, and I think 
  that’s all we need to do. If you don’t think that’s 
  enough, consider giving your players a +1 Strength or 
  +1 Constitution increase as well. For centauroid 
  creatures, I recommend giving them their size increase 
  at first level using the Size as Racial trait option 
  because the BP value is so low. 
   Finally, we’ll look at templates. Leveled templates 
  have a larger target BP range than feats, so we’ll need 
  to include some extra stuff to make the templates 
  make sense. I think we’re going to deviate from normal 
  design parameters here and not make the first level of 
  the template worth additional BP because I don’t want 
  going from medium to large be more appealing than 
  going from large to huge. 
   Our target range for each template level is 4-5 BP. 
  We’re locked into 2.5 BP for the size increase, cutting 
  our BP budget in half. For hit dice, I think we’ll use d12s 
  because they’re the biggest, and that seems somehow 
  appropriate. That’s another 2 BP per level, which 
  brings us to 4.5 BP. As startling quick as that was, that 
  means we’re done. 
  
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  Races 
  9 
  Spells 
  This section includes spells which make sense the 
  context of intelligent creatures larger than medium 
  size. 
  Spell Lists 
  Bard 
  2nd Level 
  • Resize Magic Item 
  Cleric 
  2nd Level 
  • Resize Magic Item 
  Druid 
  2nd Level 
  • Resize Magic Item 
  Sorcerer 
  2nd Level 
  • Resize Magic Item 
  Warlock 
  2nd Level 
  • Resize Magic Item 
  Wizard 
  2nd Level 
  • Resize Magic Item 
   
  Spell Descriptions 
  Resize Magic Item 
  2nd-level Transmutation (ritual) 
  Casting Time: 8 hours 
  Range: Touch 
  Components: V, S 
  Duration: Permanent 
  Upon touching a magic item, you may cause its size to 
  increase or decrease in size to suit creatures one size 
  category smaller or larger than the size creature it was 
  intended for it was when it was created. Small and 
  medium equipment are treated as the same size, and 
  items may not be made larger than gargantuan or 
  smaller than tiny. 
   For example: A medium +1 longsword could become 
  a large +1 longsword or a tiny +1 longsword. 
   Casting this spell a second time on the same item 
  replaces any existing resize magic items spells in effect 
  on that item. If the spell is dispelled or suppressed, the 
  item instantly returns to its original size. If the item is 
  worn by a creature and becomes too small, the item 
  falls off, landing at the former wearer’s feet. 
   At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a 
  spell slot of 4th level or higher, you may alter the size of 
  the item by one additional size category for every two 
  spell levels above 2nd. 
   
  
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