Technical question about damage

[Maat Mons]

You can cast personal-range spells on your familiar.

[Drelua]

I suspect this was an intentional design choice so the size of a dragon is usually indicative of its power for its colour. If a wyrmling dragon can embiggen itself to the size of a colossal great wyrm it causes an extra layer of complexity identifying them…

and also is 100% something a dragon would do. Fear me, for I am mighty, my tiny baby wings will black out the sun!

I'd give a pretty big penalty to a dragon trying to bluff that it's naturally bigger than it usually is, like -4 per size category or something. Or just a fairly easy knowledge check. If LotR style camera trickery were used in a movie to make a bear cub look as big as it's mom, you would not think those two bears were the same age. (sorry if I'm responding too seriously to a joke, I tend to do that)

[KillianHawkeye]

I'd give a pretty big penalty to a dragon trying to bluff that it's naturally bigger than it usually is, like -4 per size category or something. Or just a fairly easy knowledge check. If LotR style camera trickery were used in a movie to make a bear cub look as big as it's mom, you would not think those two bears were the same age. (sorry if I'm responding too seriously to a joke, I tend to do that)

You're right that a giant baby doesn't look exactly like an adult though, no matter what species you're talking about. It might be able to fool someone who's never seen a dragon before, but not someone who is trained in identifying dragons.

[sreservoir]

penalty:

Thus - a negative modifier is a penalty by the definition
Racial penalty is a "penalty"
Size penalty is a "penalty"
Heck - even if you generated the character with naturally low Str - no additional modifiers - it's still a "penalty"

Hold on, it's only a penalty when it applies to a die roll! Obviously, this works when you roll stats, but not for point buy/fixed array charge!

[ShurikVch]

Hold on, it's only a penalty when it applies to a die roll! Obviously, this works when you roll stats, but not for point buy/fixed array charge!

Even if you don't roll for your stats (which isn't the default assumption) - low Str still penalizing you attack rolls, damage rolls, and Str checks (which are also include die rolls most of the time)

[InvisibleBison]

Even if you don't roll for your stats (which isn't the default assumption) - low Str still penalizing you attack rolls, damage rolls, and Str checks (which are also include die rolls most of the time)

That's not what penalty means.

[ShurikVch]

That's not what penalty means.

Penalty is "A negative modifier to a die roll"
Take Pseudodragon: you roll 1d3 - it's the damage their natural weapon does; but then you apply -3 - it's penalty (for low Str)

[Kitsuneymg]

Penalty is "A negative modifier to a die roll"
Take Pseudodragon: you roll 1d3 - it's the damage their natural weapon does; but then you apply -3 - it's penalty (for low Str)

The ability says "You gain immunity to any penalty, damage, or drain to your Strength."

To your strength. Not to things to which your strength applies. A strength of 4 is still applying a -3 to melee attacks. That’s a penalty from strength. Not a penalty to your strength. You just won’t take penalties (including size) to your strength.

Size penalties are penalties. They are called penalties. Racial ability score modifiers are not. They are not applied to die rolls (so the bad/natural language wording in the glossary doesn’t even apply) but rather to your ability scores. Just because those create modifiers that are added to die rolls doesn’t communicatively make racial ability score modifiers into “penalties.”

Your pseudo dragon still does 1d3-3 even with this ability. Because this ability only stops these things from applying to str score, not strength based rolls.

[ShurikVch]

Your pseudo dragon still does 1d3-3 even with this ability. Because this ability only stops these things from applying to str score, not strength based rolls.

Pseudodragon would have normal Str score - no worse than a Human, thus - no penalty

Hold on, it's only a penalty when it applies to a die roll! Obviously, this works when you roll stats, but not for point buy/fixed array charge!

Your question, actually, refers to one of the most widespread dysfunctions in the whole game:

So, we all know what an AC bonus is, right? It's a number, usually typed, that adds to AC and makes someone more difficult to hit.

WRONG. A "bonus" is defined as a "positive modifier to a die roll" in the glossary. AC is not a die roll.

What, exactly, this means I don't know, but I think this might just be the single most ridiculously large dysfunction in the entire history of the thread.

Not just AC, but ability score bonuses are exist too
And "penalties" are just a flip-side of "bonuses"
Let's not argue about it anymore...

[Darg]

Ability scores are assumed to be rolled for.

Also, is a modifier not a modifier just because you take 10 or 20 on a skill roll? In the same vein, you can find armor class, spell DCs, saving throws, etc. One can see that they all are parts of rolling to oppose or be opposed. As far as I can tell, modifiers modify a roll directly or an opposition to a roll. While this is a loose reading, it does in fact modify a die roll. Maybe not in the number, but in its chance to fail or succeed.

[AsuraKyoko]

You're right that a giant baby doesn't look exactly like an adult though, no matter what species you're talking about. It might be able to fool someone who's never seen a dragon before, but not someone who is trained in identifying dragons.

The descriptions in the Monster Manuals for the various dragons actually talk about how they change with age, too. For example:

On hatching, a gold dragon’s scales are dark yellow with golden metallic flecks.

The flecks get larger as the dragon matures until, at the adult stage, the scales are completely golden. Gold dragons’ faces are bewhiskered and sagacious; as they age, their pupils fade until the eyes resemble pools of molten gold.