Size

Version 0.21: 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 seven categories, as follows from smallest to largest:

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

Player Sizes

Player size mostly affects which weapons and armour can be used, how bad the penalties are for using shields, and how evasive you are. Less dramatically, it also affects your odds of falling down shafts accidentally, being pushed around by monsters with 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 species tend to differ a little from monster species of the same kind.

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 dwarf
• Deep elf
• Demigod
• Demonspawn
• Draconian
• Formicid
• Gargoyle
• Ghoul
• Gnoll
• Hill orc
• Human
• Merfolk
• 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, large shields, longbows, scythes, triple swords, or javelins. Furthermore, broad axes, double swords, magical staves, tridents, and demon tridents are treated as two-handed weapons, and all shield penalties are harder to overcome.

Two player species are small:

• Halfling
• 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
• Shields

Two player species are little:

• Felid
• Spriggan

Tiny

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

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

Hybrids

The hybrid races have large-sized bodies but medium-sized torsos, and may wear anything medium-sized characters wear except for boots. Instead, they may wear their species' bardings. Their larger-than-average mass lets them carry shields more easily, but their unusual frames cause body armour to grant half the normal base AC bonus. Additionally, they don't fumble when attacking while wading through shallow water (though they still get the normal movement penalties).

• Centaur
• Naga

Large

Large species are subject to all the same restrictions as little species, except that they can use shields and large shields but can't use bucklers. However, they can 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 have an easier time wielding shields than medium or smaller races, and they can use melee attacks with no penalty when in shallow water.

• Ogre
• Troll

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

Big

No species are considered big, but Hydra Form temporarily increases your size to big, with all the advantages and disadvantages that entails.

Giant

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

Giant creatures have a quality known as "fake amphibious": they can move through deep water without drowning. (Apparently, they are tall enough that their heads stay above water.) Unlike creatures that are truly amphibious or native to water, they get penalties to fighting when standing in deep water. They are also too large to be trapped in throwing nets or webs (and will in fact destroy any webs they pass through).