Smallest thing in D&D

[ariasderros]

Just wondering, what is the absolute smallest thing in D&D. Smallest object or creature, doesn't matter, just smallest, but it must have its size mentioned in a D&D book.
Smallest I can think of are Cerebral Parasites from the XPH p68.

[zook1shoe]

Silithar particles?

[ksbsnowowl]

Silithar particles?

Yeah, probably this.  Lords of Madness.

[Jackinthegreen]

A dwarf's willingness to shave his beard.

[Ithamar]

An optimizer's role playing ability. [/stormwindfallacy] 

[awaken_D_M_golem]

smallest Swarm creature is:
10' x 10' / 12000 = 1.2 sq. inches,
smaller than a 9/8ths square space
or say a 26x26 mm square.
Let's call it 1 inch.


http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicPowersOverview.htm#diseaseCerebralParasites
"Cerebral Parasites are tiny organisms, undetectable to normal sight."
So even an Omniscificer infinity Spot check fails ... (maybe)?

[ariasderros]

A Silithar particle is "no more than 1/2 inch diameter"
A_D_M_G already referenced the relevant part of the parasites.
Even if I assume a sling bullet is the same size as a real world sling-ammo marble (.68 caliber, or .68 inches diameter) you get something the same size as the Silithar particle.

So far, the microbe is the smallest.

What spawned this question:

(click to show/hide)

Atoms don't exist by D&D physics, and there's no size category smaller than Fine.

Matter is made of atoms, what else should it be made of?
Note that the Fine size category is only defined as "6 inches or less". Note also that it only pertains to creatures.

Matter in D&D is made of the prime elements, plus either negative or positive energy. Four elements, two energies.
Earth, Air, Fire, and Water each comes in a multitude of variants, and coalesce each in their own way.

A 50lb granite rock in D&D is not 20-trillion atoms in just the right configuration. It is 50lbs of Earth element of the granite variety.

Support for what you claim:

Despite the fact that weird shit happens, physics operate normally

Support for what I (and Prime) claim:

Within the D&D cosmology, four basic elements and two types of energy together make up everything. The elements are earth, air, fire, and water. The types of energy are positive and negative.
The Material Plane reflects a balancing of those elements and energies; all are found there.

Note: heavily redacted from the original source in order to leave only pertinent data.

So I was curious, given my granted assumption / interpretation, what would be the smallest thing in D&D.
Even going so far as steam not being tiny droplets of water, but rather its own variant of material combining Water and Air elements.

[Maat Mons]

It doesn't say the reason they're “undetectable to normal sight” is because they're tiny.  Perhaps they're the actual size category tiny and have some sort of quality that renders them invisible. 

[littha]

There were also some mini elementals somewhere, you could buy jars of them...

[zook1shoe]

It doesn't say the reason they're “undetectable to normal sight” is because they're tiny.  Perhaps they're the actual size category tiny and have some sort of quality that renders them invisible.

Who knows

[Captnq]

Depends.

Do you subscribe to the modern physics view point of matter, or are you using the classical "Elemental" view point?

If you accept that the crashed spaceship from Expedition to Barrier Peaks is indeed an ejected scout ship from metamorphosis alpha, then the smallest thing is a quark.

If you accept d&d immortals Boxed set cosmology, then the smallest object would be a 0 dimensional point existing in a 1 dimensional universe off the astral plain.

If you are referring to 3.X, then the smallest object would be a virus, which we know exists since the SRD clearly states that Cascade FLU exists. And the flu is caused by viruses.

[Maat Mons]

And the flu is caused by viruses.

That's like saying “Water exists in D&D.  Water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen atoms.  Therefore, hydrogen atoms exist in D&D.”  D&D may very well operate according to humorism and miasma theory. 

[FlaminCows]

And the flu is caused by viruses.

That's like saying “Water exists in D&D.  Water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen atoms.  Therefore, hydrogen atoms exist in D&D.”  D&D may very well operate according to humorism and miasma theory.

One theory I've heard for how diseases work in D&D is that they're microbial undead.

Why? Well, Contagion is a Necromancy (Evil) spell, just like Animate Dead. Also decay is a feature of negative energy, and in the fluff it says that zombies can arise spontaneously in places with a large amount of decay, and thus a large amount of negative energy: battlefields, mass graves, and the like. It also says that living things are powered by positive energy, the opposite of negative. This means, logically, that the decay cannot be due to microbial living creatures like it is in real life. Therefore, the bacteria (or equivalent) in D&D are not living. But, since disease still spreads like it does in Real Life one can posit that they are still active despite not being alive, and therefore, diseases are undead in D&D.

Of course, the fluff doesn't say anything specific on this, but its a fun thing to discuss.

[ariasderros]

@ Captain Q
Which version I'm using was stated a few posts above yours, but is also irrelevant. The OP, with jerk level emphasis:

Just wondering, what is the absolute smallest thing in D&D. Smallest object or creature, doesn't matter, just smallest, but it must have its size mentioned in a D&D book.
Smallest I can think of are Cerebral Parasites from the XPH p68.

Since it is never stated in D&D, we cannot make the assumption one way or the other for the purposes of this thread.

[zook1shoe]

Probably those zombie mosquitoes are the smallest, individually.

[ariasderros]

Probably those zombie mosquitoes are the smallest, individually.

Bloodmotes, yes.

It doesn't say the reason they're “undetectable to normal sight” is because they're tiny.  Perhaps they're the actual size category tiny and have some sort of quality that renders them invisible. 

The way the sentence is parsed, one is left to infer the causality. If the sentences were separate, it would be different. Separate sentences would imply a separation of ideas.
However: it is left to grammatical inference, rather than being explicit; You are correct that it is somewhat open to interpretation.

[awaken_D_M_golem]

Even going so far as steam not being tiny droplets of water, but rather its own variant of material combining Water and Air elements.

hmm ... in 1e and 2e, the Para- and Quasi- elementals were their own thing separate from 4 basics.
Steam ~= Water + Positive ; Ice ~= Air + Water ... except that Steam Is Steam , and Ice Is Ice.
So Steam is not a tiny droplet of water, rather it's very own element.  It is "Steam", not all that real-life b.s.


3e technically changed that.  I wonder if the descriptive text
of say the Lightning Quasi-Elemental, defines those as being
1 element instead of a combination of 2 (or more) elements ??
SRD has: Ice Mephit comes from Air ; Steam comes from Fire.
Very different.

[awaken_D_M_golem]

Dimensions ...

Coins are very small on edge.
Paper / Parchment / Scrolls are smaller still.
But idk what the exact measurement is.



http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/duodimensionalClaw.htm
Specifies losing a dimension, to 2 dimensions.
That's really tiny.
Could you lose a fingernail during the power ...  ... ??

[Jackinthegreen]

There were also some mini elementals somewhere, you could buy jars of them...

I'm reminded of a World of Warcraft item called Tiny Abomination in a Jar.

[sirpercival]

Elementite swarm?