Animal Sizes
by Mark D F Shirley
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One thing that the fourth edition of Ars Magica lacks is
a scale of sizes. Humans are said to be Size +0, and several animals
are given in the mundane Bestiary beginning on p. 259 in the main
rules, however the list is far from complete. As Size is an important
factor when dealing with magics that affect animals (creating
familiars, for example, or casting Creo Animal spells), the following
chart has been compiled. It includes many mundane animals whose
size should be meaningful to the average player of Ars Magica.
The source for most of these is the Mediaeval Bestiary. Animals
whose names are underlined have been given a size that differs
from official sources, either through contradiction between sources
or because I disagree with the original source. Animals in italics
could not be found in official sources and have been added. Only
'natural' beasts have been included, even if credited with supernatural
powers.
From the Mammals section, the following generalisations can be
calculated. Note that Size is a combination of length and weight.
If an animal is longer than 5' but weighs less than 100lb (a snake,
for example), it may well belong in the Size +0 category. Likewise,
birds are sized according to wingspan, as they are invariably
lighter than an equivalently-sized mammal. Also note that Size
is an exponential scale - the difference between Size +4 and Size
+5 is larger than the difference between Size +3 and Size +4.
Average values are charted below - the range is quite large, particularly
in the categories greater than +0.
SIZE
| mean length | mean weight
|
-5 | < 1'
| < ½lb |
-4 | 1'
| 2lb |
-3 | 2'
| 5lb |
-2 | 3'
| 15lb |
-1 | 4'
| 40lb |
+0 | 5½'
| 120lb |
+1 | 6½'
| 350lb (~3 cwt) |
+2 | 8'
| 950lb (~8½ cwt) |
+3 | 11'
| 2700lb (~1.2 tons) |
+4 | 16'
| 7800lb (~3½ tons) |
+5 | 22'
| 22, 500lb (~10 tons) |
Mammals
SIZE
| Domestic mammals | Herbivores
| Predators | Others
|
-5 | | mouse
| | |
-4 | | mole, rabbit
| weasel | |
-3 | cat |
hedgehog, hare | fox, otter, polecat
| infant human |
-2 | hound |
beaver | badger, wild cat
| child |
-1 | | wild pig / boar, hind, wild goat
| wolf, hyaena, lynx | ape, adolescent
|
+0 | sheep, ram, deerhound
| antelope, hart | | adult human
|
+1 | pony |
reindeer | leopard, panther |
|
+2 | horse, camel, wild ass, cow, mule
| stag | lion, tiger, bear |
|
+3 | ox, draught horse
| elk (= moose) | polar bear
| |
+4 | | rhinoceros
| | |
+5 | | elephant
| | |
Birds
SIZE
| |
-5 | sparrow
|
-4 | lark, nightingale, swallow, plover, bat, crow
|
-3 | hawk, owl, raven, quail, cock, magpie, dove
|
-2 | eagle, peacock, vulture
|
-1 | stork, swan
|
+0 | |
+1 | |
+2 | |
+3 | |
+4 | |
+5 | |
Serpents and Fish
SIZE
| Serpents | Fish
|
-5 | |
|
-4 | dispa |
remora |
-3 | salamander, sepus
| eel, pike, grey mullet, red mullet,
|
-2 | asp, javelin snake
| |
-1 | water serpent
| |
+0 | horned snake
| dolphin, swordfish |
+1 | | shark
|
+2 | | crocodile
|
+3 | |
|
+4 | |
|
+5 | |
|
+6 | | whale
|