Size modifiers newbie questions

[Zeke73]

Hi everybody, recently finished reading the Conan 2nd ed rulebook and now I have some questions.

1. Page 169-170, How to calculate an Attack Bonus for melee: BAB + STR mod + Size mod + other applicable mods.

So, according to the table on top of page 170 if a creature is "large" it gets a -1 to hit modifier, if it is "huge" a -2? Why do bigger creatures get worse attack bonuses?

2. Same pages, ranged combat. Small creatures get bonuses to hit with ranged attacks? For me it would seem more natural if the size modifier table was inverted so that for example, if I shoot a bow at a "huge"creature I get a +2 to my attack bonus and if the target is "fine" there is a -8 penalty.

Could someone clarify, please? :?:

 

[Trodax]

Well, the whole idea is "hitting something larger than you is easy, hitting something smaller than you is hard, hitting something the same size as you is average". What you may have missed is that the same size modifiers are also applied to defense (page 170). This is quite important, since it ensures that the modifiers will even out for creatures of the same size (two large creatures that are fighting each other both take a -1 penalty to hit, but it doesn't really matter since they also have a -1 penalty to defense).

For me it would seem more natural if the size modifier table was inverted so that for example, if I shoot a bow at a "huge"creature I get a +2 to my attack bonus and if the target is "fine" there is a -8 penalty.

Well, you actually do indirectly (if you yourself are of medium size), because that huge guy will have -2 to defense, while that fine little fellow will have +8 to defense.

 

[Zeke73]

Thanks, Trodax, now I get it.

 

[Sutek]

A cool trick...

If your players start wanting to do head shots, or shooting a weapon out of someone's hand, etc. (and they probably will), this is know as a "called shot" and is taken care of in the d20 system by lucky rolls - getting a natural 20 and scoring a CRIT.

What ou can do in a pinch if it helps the story is count called targets as a smaller size, thus assigning a penalty to hit abd naking that shot harder.