Thistleland People Sizes (Patreon)

Big things come in small packages. In this case, the sizes of the various 'People' in general within Thistleland turned out to be a bit of a nightmare for quite a few reasons. 

By now the lore for Thistleland is progression along quite nicely. There are a number of people, a number of creatures/monsters (56 being worked on at last count!), several continents and factions and much more beside. 

However, despite all that, Thistleland had no framework for one of the most basic principals in fantasy, one that is oft overlooked and was becoming more and more of a concern as time went by: How big is everyone?

Not only did I have to work out such a framework, but also incorporate it into the creature sizes (Especially considering some creature abilities) in a way that allowed the two to challenge each other, and other things such as how it affects factions, pred/prey aspects, towns, and more besides.

After trialling a couple different possibilities the size scale above was worked out, based on a roughly S-shaped curve so that smaller and larger creatures are showing not as much variance as medium sized creatures. The results seemed to work out, especially with most predator/prey type creatures.

Naturally, this system for people sizes is having a knock-on effect with other aspects of Thistleland, most notably with buildings that need to cater to both small and large, and the Avala burrow homes. Some parts of Thistleland lore were actually enhanced by the new size system: It becomes more obvious as to why Avala has fewer surviving large sized creatures when you consider they are reported to have hid from the horrors by living in underground tunnel networks.

Some of the smallest lore updates also offer some of the nicest details. Consider, for example, stairs. In Thistleland stairs must accommodate both larger and smaller creatures. In most of Thistleland this is done by having a central stairway for larger creatures, flanked by a smaller staircase each side for smaller folk. In some towns, this system is used either as a means to deliberately discourage smaller folk, or a way to save money regarding drainage. In such places the smaller staircases double as a gutter for water in rainy times, making such streets far less pleasant for smaller folk. In more accommodating townships, the larger folk walkways are used as drainage if required, as such water amounts is proportionately less of a problem. It's just one extra way a town might subtly show it's feelings, cultural disposition or general consideration for the smaller or more preyish of folk.

At currently there isn't too much to show for all this work. There's no public sheet for creatures sizes yet (though they are all now calculated for creatures that have artwork), and the people sizes sheet only has the R.A.G, Tea Spot and Chai Patch. Both of these sheets will be expanded (or created!) as the reference artwork sketch for each character or creature is officially made.

All in all this has been a lot of work for longer term benefits. Thankfully, with it now sorted, I can focus on things that are honestly more fun. I've been stuck on the matter of size for a rather.. large.. amount of time!

Bonus notice!

As one of the changes that will be rolled out over the next few days, this post will be available to all patrons regardless of payment or none. I'll be editing past pots to reflect this soon, as well as editing a lot with this Patreon account. Stay tuned for updates!