I've been mulling over a story of mine, and I'd like to make the lead character's primary power to be size-shifting. Seems like something that would allow for no shortage of CMoAs, and the chance to have the heroine power-bomb a dragon. Problem is, I want to make sure she's balanced in the story proper — a lethal force, of course, but not so crippled that she's useless. To say nothing of the depth it could give her character.

So here's what I've been thinking so far. The story's set in a fantastic Sword And Sandal world, and at the outset the heroine's a relatively normal single mother (save for a few bovine traits). But she gets cursed, and travels the land in search of a cure. Or...something like that.

Anyway, she has two modes: a fun-size mode where she's magically locked at 20 feet, and her "Super Mode" size of 200 feet. From there, here are some pros/cons I've come up with:

Pros:

• She’s really damn strong.
• Whether she’s at 20 feet or 200, she’s got an advantage over rank-and-file soldiers and monsters. Kind of a one-woman army situation.
• She can take a beating; physical attacks from weaker enemies can just be laughed off.
• She can clear long distances with greater ease than the average human — swimming across oceans, climbing mountains, things like that.

Cons:

• She’s SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOW. Even if she’s fighting a small enemy, the tables are evened by the fact that she has to catch her enemy first. Which leads into…
• Unskilled, but Strong: she’s all about brute force and physical attacks, while her enemies are often significantly more battle-hardened. Like any good David Versus Goliath situation, a savvy fighter can still give her a rough time - or to put it another way, it’s like how a tick can kill a horse. Which then leads into…
• Her primary weakness is that she’s quite vulnerable to magic attacks. Against a monster, it might not be so bad; against a human, there’s trouble. Against an army of magic-slinging soldiers, well…
• Normal or super, she’s going to cause a lot of property damage. Not a nice thought, considering the Fantastic Racism against giants in-universe…

Naturally, there’s probably a lot more issues that I could include (chief among them, the relationship between the big mama and her son) — which is why I need you handsome/beautiful tropers to throw some ideas my way. What kind of issues would a giant face?

I’ll leave it to you, comrades!

And before anyone asks, Magic Pants and the like are in effect. I like to keep it clean, you know?

What about adding a mini-state for her to become, too?

A mini-state? Hmmm...well, the intent was for the 20-ft form to BE the mini-state, but I can see what you're getting at. Maybe if she gets hit by enough magic, she could shrink to a tiny form for a short time.

Interesting, indeed...

I don't know if you've already figured this part out yet, but how will her clothes stay on?

I won't lie - I had a good laugh at the sight of this question.

Anyway, when I say Magic Pants, I mean magic pants. As in, one of the other characters enchants her clothes so that they'll grow/shrink along with her, like Ant-Man of The Avengers. It also helps that it's a Leotard of Power, so there's that.

It's pretty much the only clothes she has (or chooses to wear, by her own admission), but it serves her well. She's weird like that.

Hmm... while I know physics are not the point, maybe you could put something about the square-cube law.

The reason she's slow seems to be to counteract that for a start, but maybe one or two things more.

Also, post some other characters from the series, to see if we have a baseline.

I've considered the Square-Cube Law a little bit (but, not being a math/science expert, only at a few glances). From what I've gathered, though, the heroine - Ursa, in case you were wondering - gets super strength with the curse, and a gair degree of durability as well. Build-wise, she's a bit on the heavy side; not fat, but with some "meat on her bones", as they say.

Even so, I was mulling over one of her issues as a giant to be the stress it puts on her organs. At rest and in motion, Ursa's all right; if she pushes herself too hard, though (which is bound to happen, natch), then maybe her heart/circulatory system could start to screw up. Or something like that. Again, I'm not much in the way of science, so feel free to correct me or add suggestions.

As for more characters? Ask, and you shall receive!

• Her son Canis is, arguably, the most important character in the story. Though he's only 10 years old, he's eerily mature, and incredibly soft-spoken. Basically, he's the complete opposite of his mommy; she skirts the line between adult and child, is pretty outgoing, and relies on power. Canis - her travelling partner throughout most of the story - is small, cunning, and appearance-wise looks kind of creepy; he's the Wander to Ursa's colossus, so to speak...although, he's uncannily good at magic - a result of being genetically gifted, with a tattoo on his face that confirms his potential...to the detriment of his social status. Again, it's a counter to Ursa; she quickly sees her power as Cursed with Awesome, while Canis, grim and apologetic as he is, sees his power as Blessed with Suck.

• Tina is the girl that Canis has a crush on at story's outset, and thanks to her troublemaking ways, indirectly causes Ursa's curse. A foul-mouthed troublemaker and genius mage, she's out to collect all the treasure she can get her hands on, and frequently pops up in the story. She's got a strong rivalry with Ursa; Tina usually calls her a fat cow, and Ursa (justifiably) thinks that Tina will lead Canis to an untimely death.

• Abel, a member of the royal family of the Empire of Light...and the resident Butt Monkey. He's a nice guy, and does everything in his power to help Ursa - something that she needs, on account of her becoming public enemy number one - and is a pretty competent swordsman in his own right. He doesn't get a lot of respect in-universe, and he's on the receiving end of hundreds of beatings/humiliations, but he's a pretty important character overall. In the early part of the story, he offers her asylum in his home. It doesn't go well.

There are more, of course, but this post is already as thick as the bible, so I'll leave it here for now.

edited 13th Feb '11 5:10:23 PM by Voltech44