Size

Version 0.30: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Crawl uses a discrete system of sizes to decide how large or small a monster is. There are six categories, as follows from smallest to largest:

• Tiny (bat-sized)
• Little (spriggan-sized)
• Small (kobold-sized)
• Medium (human-sized)
• Large (ogre-sized)
• Giant (giant/dragon-sized)

Player Sizes

Player size mostly affects which weapons and armour can be used and how evasive you are. It also affects your odds of being knocked back from trample attacks and being grappled by monsters with constriction attacks. While monsters also use these sizes, it is best to treat them separately, as player characters tend to differ from monsters (even those of the same species).

Bear in mind that some species have specific restrictions above and beyond those listed below, and that certain species (felids and octopodes) simply cannot wear armour at all.

Medium

The majority of player species are medium, and can use almost every kind of item. Only giant clubs, giant spiked clubs, large rocks, and bardings are not available.

• Barachi
• Deep elf
• Demigod
• Demonspawn
• Djinni
• Draconian
• Formicid
• Gargoyle
• Ghoul
• Gnoll
• Hill orc
• Human
• Merfolk
• Meteoran
• Minotaur
• Mummy
• Octopode
• Tengu
• Vampire
• Vine Stalker

Small

Along with the item restrictions medium species face, small characters cannot use the following: bardiches, battleaxes, dire flails, executioner's axes, glaives, great maces, great swords, halberds, tower shields, longbows, scythes, triple swords, or javelins. Furthermore, broad axes, double swords, magical staves, tridents, and demon tridents are treated as two-handed weapons.

Only one player species is small:

• Kobold

Pig Form makes players small-sized, but disables most types of equipment.

Little

Little players cannot wield anything that small players cannot, and are also prevented from wearing the following:

• Any body armour but robes, troll leather armour, or any kind of dragon armour
• Any gloves
• Any boots
• Helmets
• Kite shields

Two player species are little:

• Felid
• Spriggan

Tiny

No playable species are small enough to qualify as tiny, but there are several transformations that shrink characters down that small. This grants them a considerable boost to evasion but often imposes significant drawbacks (not least of which is the inability to use most equipment).

• Spider Form
• Bat Form
• Wisp Form
• Fungus Form

Hybrids

The hybrid species have large-sized bodies but medium-sized torsos, and may wear anything medium-sized characters wear except for boots. Instead, they may use bardings. They are large enough to remove the melee attack penalties from shallow water (movement penalty remains). However, their unusual frames cause body armour to grant half the normal base AC bonus.

• Naga
• Armataur

Large

Large species are subject to all the same armour restrictions as little species, except that they can use kite shields and tower shields, but can't use bucklers. However, they may use any weapon they find, including giant clubs, giant spiked clubs, and large rocks, some of the most devastating weapons in the game. Like hybrids, they ignore the melee attack penalties from shallow water. Also, large species move at normal speed in shallow water.

• Ogre
• Troll

Players in Ice Form are also considered large, but cannot make use of any equipment.

Giant

There are no giant species, but Dragon Form will make you this size.

Giant creatures have a quality known as "fake amphibious" that lets them move through deep water without drowning. (They are tall enough that their heads stay above the water.) Unlike creatures that are truly amphibious or native to water, they get penalties to fighting when standing in deep water. Dragon Form gives permanent flight, making this moot. Giant creatures are also too large to be trapped in throwing nets.

History

• Prior to 0.30, size affected shields. Hybrid/Large species would receive less encumbrance from their shields, though they received slightly less SH from shields. Small species would be encumbered more, but get slightly more SH from shields. Also, large player species had a movement penalty while walking in shallow water.
• Prior to 0.28, some monsters were Big-sized (between Large and Giant).
• Prior to 0.16, smaller monsters and players had a better chance to escape shaft traps.