[3.5] Races of variable size?

[Luckmann]

Are there any races in 3.5 that are of variable size, as in, on character creation, having a choice between being medium or large, or between being small or medium?

I'm working on a homebrew thing that carries fluff and crunch over from 2e, and one aspect is that there's different sizes. If there's anything official like that in 3.5, I'd like to see how it's written/handled.

[Kayblis]

There's always the Jotunbrud feat for humans, you're treated as Large for the most useful bits other than reach. I don't believe there's this kind of option with 3.5 races, but maybe a subrace somewhere has different sizes by default.

[Zaq]

I don’t know of anything as written.

Psionic duergar have innate size-changing power, but it’s temporary, and they suck otherwise.

Races with Powerful Build (like goliaths and half-giants) or Slight Build (like kobolds) are kind of on the borderline between two size categories, but that’s not quite the same thing.

Technically the Draconomicon has rules for playing dragons of different ages and therefore different sizes, but those are dragons, and there significant problems (like unnecessarily punishingly high LA) with the rules as presented.

There’s a poorly-written spell in an Eberron book that instantaneously reduces the size of a target with the Giant type, so you could use half-giants and have some of them be exposed to that spell and some not?

[Troacctid]

Warforged can be either medium or small.

[inuyasha]

Tieflings and Aasimar are usually called out as being able to be small or medium if you have one who isn't necessarily of human descent, granting a slightly different appearance and a different size category, but no other racial trait changes.

[ShurikVch]

Adult Neogi is Small; Dwarf Neogi is Tiny

If 3rd-party stuff is OK - Naga from Warcraft the RPG are starting game with various mutations, and one of those is increases size category - at the cost of either +1 LA, or +2 racial HD (may be taken twice) - depending on which version of rules DM allowed

[Kelb_Panthera]

If you're comfortable with dragon material, there's the tibbit. Small in humanoid form, tiny in cat. Lycanthropes of various types also work if you can stomach the ECL adjustment.

[Luckmann]

Thanks for the help, guys. None was entirely what I was looking for, but the input was helpful.

[Thurbane]

Along the same lines as Tibbit is the Hengeyokai (OA).

Spriganns (FF) are a monster race that has two forms of different sizes.

Arcana Unearthed has a race that can evolve into forms of different sized, the Faen, which can become a Quickling (small) or a Spryte (tiny).

[frogglesmash]

Tieflings and Aasimar are usually called out as being able to be small or medium if you have one who isn't necessarily of human descent, granting a slightly different appearance and a different size category, but no other racial trait changes.

Do you happen to recall where the text that supports this ruling can be found?

[Florian]

Are there any races in 3.5 that are of variable size, as in, on character creation, having a choice between being medium or large, or between being small or medium?

I'm working on a homebrew thing that carries fluff and crunch over from 2e, and one aspect is that there's different sizes. If there's anything official like that in 3.5, I'd like to see how it's written/handled.

I don't know any playable 3.5 or PF race that comes with a choice of size attached, sorry. Closest thing are the sidebars when it comes to the "touched" races (Tiefling, etc.), that cover the topic how they are based on bog-standard human ancestry and how to either refluff or resize them to fit a different ancestry. The PF Advanced Race Guide also includes a race builder section to either create new ones or recreate existing ones.

[Fizban]

If one were to write up Awakened [plant] as a race, sizes could vary dramatically depending on age or time of awakening.

Strongheart Halflings from FRCS get an unspecified bonus feat, basically making them Small Humans with some other stuff in place of the skill points (while there are other Human variants that trade the skill points for other things).

If all you need is the difference between Medium and Small, essentially all evidence points to -2 str and usually +2 dex, and reduce 30' speed to 20' speed unless you specifically decide the small version is faster. Those are the changes used for the Warforged Scout, and they're found on basically every small race- goblins and kobolds keep 30' speed but have more stat penalties.

Since the difference between small and medium isn't generally a problem, I would guess you've got something larger. Or, Large-er. Large size generally comes with much greater racial strength bonuses, as well as the grapple and other maneuver bonuses, and increased reach. A Large version of a creature (innately, not from a template) generally needs its own entry, has LA of +2 or more, and almost always includes racial hit dice to account for their innate toughness. Tiny and smaller creatures generally aren't assumed to be playable by their entries, and they similarly get so much dexterity on top of their size bonus that they also start needing their own statblock and level adjustment considerations.