Snakes, Hexes, Reach, Height, Oh My!
Oh, dear... There's something that's been bothering me for a long while - snakes. The way they work in GURPS just isn't intuitive and, to be honest, convoluted and poorly explained. More often than not, rules just don't make sense. Serpents of Legend and Combat Writ Large (Pyramid #3-77) made some things clearer, didn't explain other things, and raised new question. So, it's time to consolidate the rules and patch up the holes to the extent of my abilities.
The question of the number of hexes a snake takes up is quite clear, but the resulting Size Modifier may feel a bit off. However, I speak as someone who has never fought a snake, especially not a fantastically huge serpent. Let's see what rules say.
GURPS Basic Set, p. 19: "When creating a creature that is larger or smaller than a human, find its SM by looking up its longest dimension..."
This sounds 100% clear. If the snake in question is 7 yards long and maybe a foot or so in diameter, then the snake has SM+3. But really, is it that much easier to hit such snake in melee or from a distance? Does this snake deserve a -30% discount on ST and HP? However, we have something hidden later in the book (organization is not GURPS's forte).
GURPS Basic Set, p. 550: "If an object is much smaller in two of three dimensions (e.g., a steel cable 100 yards long but only 2” thick), use the smallest dimension instead of the largest."
DFRPG Exploits, p. 97 adds "... when shooting it with a missile or stabbing it with a thrusting attack."
If we look at the wording pedantically, we see that everything prior says "objects or characters," but this part says "object," which may imply that it's reserved for inanimate objects only, but that's probably not the intention. So, would a 7-yard-long and 1-foot-thick snake have SM-5 then? That doesn't feel right either. Where is the breakpoint when the smallest dimension should be used instead?
Let's find some more rules that might be relevant here.
GURPS Martial Arts, p. 116: "Slithers: As Legless, unless you have both Constriction Attack (p. B43) and Double-Jointed (p. B56). Then the exception under No Fine Manipulators (above) applies."
The exception in question: "Exception: Constriction Attack (p. B43) and Double-Jointed (p. B56) together enable grapples, takedowns, pins, chokes, locks, and breaking free at no penalty, using the torso – just like a python. Such attempts are equivalent to two-handed."
However, this only applies to grapples using the torso, and not teeth. For anything else, you are treated as Legless, i.e. as if fighting from the ground (-4 to attack, -3 to defend). Quite harsh!
Pf, that's confusing. Isn't there some book that features snakes that we can use as an example? Sure, there are a few. Let's check some of them out and see how long the snakes are and what their SM are.
DFRPG Monsters:
Frost Snake: SM+0; length not specified.
Giant Constrictor: SM+2; 15'-long (five-hex). This checks out - 5 yards is SM+2.
Giant Viper: SM+0; 8' to 12' long. A 8'-long viper technically should have SM+1, and a 12'-long one should have SM+2.
Ice Wyrm: SM+5; 35'-long. Yep, SM+5.
Leaping Leech: SM-9; size of a human pinky. On this scale, it doesn't really matter.
DFRPG Nordlond Bestiary:
Blister Worm: SM+3; 15'-feet long. Should be SM+2.
Bore Eel: SM+1; 5' to 8' feet long. 5'-6' should be SM+0, but SM+1 probably is an average. Also, a bit unrelated, but this thing has both Flexibility and Vermiform (that includes Double-Jointed, a better form of Flexibility).
Fallen Worm: SM+2; length not specified.
Giant Centipede: SM+0; length not specified.
Burrow Worm: SM+6; 60'-long. Yep, SM+6.
Sea Serpent: SM+7; length not specified.
Ice Centipede: SM+4; length not specified. (Also has Flexibility for some reason).
Crushing Worm: SM+4; 7-10-yard-long. 7-yard-long should be SM+3, but the rest is within SM+4. (Again with Flexibility!)
Steel Serpent: SM+4; 10-yard-long. Yep, SM+4.
Winged Worm: SM+4; 30-feet-long. Yep, SM+4. (This one has No Fine Manipulators and Vermiform that includes No Manipulators. So, what is it?)
Guardian Spirit: SM+2; length not specified.
Viper: SM-3; 2-foot-long. Yep, SM-3.
Now, let me digress a little bit. Bites in GURPS have Reach C, unless you have a long neck, but I'll mention this again later. If using Combat Write Large from Pyramid #3-77, then bites' Reach benefits from high SM as per p. B402, but the Reach is calculated from the center of your figure. The monsters listed above have very random bite reach. In some cases, it seems appropriate for their SM (as in C + bonus from p. B402), but in some cases reach is shorter than that. In the case of the viper, that is 2-foot-long at most, the bite has Reach C-1! How does that even work?
I should also note that none of these creatures have Horizontal. And none of them say anything about snakes being effectively lying prone and fighting at -4/-3. I'll talk about this more soon.
DFRPG Serpents of Legend
What could be better than a dedicated book about snakes? It talks more about the vermiform posture, saying that snakes, worms, and other vermiform creatures normally rear up when fighting. This lets them attack normally, not as if they were legless, and adds their SM-dependent bonus to bites. They can use Dodge and Drop, and switching from "lying down" and "reared up/standing" takes only one Change Posture maneuver.
Now, just how high can a snake raise its head? I found a scientific article that claims that "1/3 of the snake's length" is a good rule of thumb. Thus, I suggest treating snakes as having SM based on 1/3 of their length.
By the way, I see nothing in the books that would say that a "prone" creature with No Legs (Slithers) would use full Move. I think this is a common sense thing and will say that both upright and slithering snakes use their full Move.
The book also adds "turret mode" mechanics for snakes coiling up. Very cool stuff. However, I have to disagree with it giving Peripheral Vision - snakes probably should have it at all times, but the coiled up posture reduces their "hex footprint" and reduces the number of side hexes.
Let's have a couple of examples.
#1: A 7-yard-long snake.
When upright, it has a height of 7 feet, which corresponds to SM+1.
When "prone", it takes up 7 hexes, but when "standing" it is only 21-7=14 feet long, so it takes up 5 hexes. SM+1 makes upright bites have Reach C-1.
#2: A 15-yard-long snake
When upright, it has a height of 5 yards, which corresponds to SM+2.
When "prone", it takes up 15 hexes, but when "standing" it is only 15-10=10 yards long, so it takes up 10 hexes. SM+2 makes upright bites have Reach C-1. Wait, that doesn't sound right! Shouldn't 5 yards of height give it Reach of ~5 yards?
This is when I remembered that GURPS Animalia is a thing. Snakes there do indeed have SM lower than what their length would indicate, and it's often close to what a third of their length would give. All snake templates have Stretching 4 (Always On, -10%) [8]. But why does it cost 8 points, when Stretching costs 6/level? I failed to find any explanations. Neck Only is a -50% limitation, but Stretching 4 (Always On, -10%; Neck Only, -50%) costs 10 points. I suspect that this was written before Long Neck [3/level] became a canonical advantage. Long Neck 4 [12] costs exactly the same as Stretching 4 (Neck Only, -50%) [12].
Let's have a few examples again, but let's inverse the order.
#1: A 7-yard-long snake.
This should be a SM+3 creature.
Let's give it Long Neck 4 and subtract 4 from its SM.
Now, it is a SM-1 creature with a Reach bonus of a SM+3 creature (Reach C-2).
When upright, it should be ~1.5 yards tall.
#2: A 15-yard-long snake
This should be a SM+5 creature
Let's give it Long Neck 4 and subtract 4 from its SM.
Now, it is a SM+1 creature with a Reach bonus of a SM+5 creature (Reach C-5).
When upright, it should be ~3 yards tall.
Wait, that isn't right, is it? It seems that Long Neck 3 should work better. Let's try that.
#1: A 7-yard-long snake.
This should be a SM+3 creature.
Let's give it Long Neck 3 and subtract 3 from its SM.
Now, it is a SM+0 creature with a Reach bonus of a SM+3 creature (Reach C-2).
When upright, it should be ~2 yards tall.
#2: A 15-yard-long snake
This should be a SM+5 creature
Let's give it Long Neck 3 and subtract 3 from its SM.
Now, it is a SM+2 creature with a Reach bonus of a SM+5 creature (Reach C-5).
When upright, it should be ~5 yards tall.
#3: A 30-yard-long snake
This should be a SM+7 creature
Let's give it Long Neck 3 and subtract 3 from its SM.
Now, it is a SM+4 creature with a Reach bonus of a SM+7 creature (Reach C-10).
When upright, it should be ~10 yards tall.
And now it seems to work perfectly! Of course, a snake's neck would be at +3 to target, but that sounds reasonable (and yes, snakes do have necks). Obviously, when a snake is "prone", its Reach is reduced to C. Let's summarize this and show some pretty hex pictures.
Summary
1. Find what SM a snake would have using its full length, subtract 3 to get effective SM, and add Long Neck 3 [9] to the template. Of course, if you want a snake that has a higher or lower upright posture, you can adjust the Long Neck level.
2. When assessing effective SM for the purpose of height difference (Pyramid #3-77, p. 4), do not reduce an upright snake's SM for it having no legs.
3. When "prone", the snake's bite reach is reduced to C, and it fights as a prone creature.
4. Switching between "prone" and "standing/upright" can be done with a single Change Posture maneuver.
5. SM+0 and larger snakes also can use turret mode from Serpents of Legend.
This diagram shows the 7-yard-long snake from the example. On the left, we have a "prone" snake with bite reach C (shown in red). In the center, we have an upright snake. It takes up 5 hexes, as it has its head lifted up 2 yards. Bite has Reach C-2. On the right, we have a coiled up snake in turret mode. Reach is at least C-2, but Step is added to it. We don't know this snake's Step. The exact shape of the "snake blob" may vary in all cases, snakes are snaky after all.
Boy, it feels great to finally get it off my chest.
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