diff --git a/src/network/NetworkMessage.h b/src/network/NetworkMessage.h
index 42a924b..0138102 100644
--- a/src/network/NetworkMessage.h
+++ b/src/network/NetworkMessage.h
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@
 #include <cstdint>
 #include <cstring>
 #include <vector>
+#include <cassert>
+
+#define VARINT_MAX_SIZE 5
 
 namespace Feather::Network
 {
@@ -45,7 +48,9 @@ namespace Feather::Network
             NetworkMessageCounter packetSizeCounter;
             packetSizeCounter.WriteVarInt(size);
 
-            m_data.reserve(size_t(size) + size_t(packetSizeCounter.GetSize()));
+            size_t initialSize = size_t(size) + size_t(packetSizeCounter.GetSize());
+
+            m_data.reserve(initialSize);
             WriteVarInt(size);
         }
 
@@ -72,10 +77,13 @@ namespace Feather::Network
             std::memcpy(&m_data[oldSize], string, size_t(stringSize));
         }
 
-        const uint8_t* GetData()     const { return m_data.data(); }
-        size_t         GetDataSize() const { return m_data.size(); }
+        inline virtual const uint8_t*   GetData()       const { return m_data.data(); }
+        inline virtual size_t           GetDataSize()   const { return m_data.size(); }
+
+    protected:
+        // Used by subclasses with their own constructors
+        NetworkMessage() {}
 
-    private:
         std::vector<uint8_t> m_data;
     };
 
@@ -89,4 +97,78 @@ namespace Feather::Network
             x(message, args...);                       \
             return message;                            \
         }
+
+    // This class provides an alternative to NetworkMessageCounter, instead performing
+    // one count and prepending the size marker to the start of the buffer.
+    // 
+    // To do this, you must call Finalize() before GetDataSize() or GetData()
+    class DynamicNetworkMessage : public NetworkMessage
+    {
+    public:
+        DynamicNetworkMessage(int32_t expectedSize) : NetworkMessage()
+        {
+            size_t initialSize = VARINT_MAX_SIZE + expectedSize;
+
+            m_data.reserve(initialSize);
+            m_data.resize(VARINT_MAX_SIZE);
+        }
+
+        void Finalize()
+        {
+            PrependVarIntSize();
+            m_finalized = true;
+        }
+
+        // Inlining and 'final' should ideally avert vtable lookups
+        // TOOD: Make these separate functions if vtable is not averted
+
+        inline virtual const uint8_t* GetData() const final
+        {
+            // You must call Finalize() first
+            assert(m_finalized);
+            return m_data.data() + m_startOffset;
+        }
+
+        inline virtual size_t GetDataSize() const final
+        {
+            // You must call Finalize() first
+            assert(m_finalized);
+            return m_data.size() - m_startOffset;
+        }
+    private:
+        int m_startOffset = 0;
+        bool m_finalized = false;
+
+        void PrependVarIntSize()
+        {
+            uint8_t sizeBytes[VARINT_MAX_SIZE];
+
+            // compute the size of the packet excluding the size marker
+            int value = m_data.size() - VARINT_MAX_SIZE;
+            int index = 0;
+
+            // perform WriteVarInt into the static buffer sizeBytes
+            do {
+                uint8_t temp = uint8_t(value & 0b01111111);
+                value >>= 7;
+                if (value != 0)
+                    temp |= 0b10000000;
+
+                sizeBytes[index++] = temp;
+            } while (value != 0 && index < VARINT_MAX_SIZE);
+
+            // where to start writing the size marker
+            // if we used all 5 bytes, this is zero
+            // if we used 3 bytes, this would be 2
+            int startIndex = VARINT_MAX_SIZE - index;
+
+            // Copy sizeBytes into our actual buffer, but align it to the right
+            for (int i = 0; i < index; i++)
+            {
+                m_data[startIndex + i] = sizeBytes[i];
+            }
+
+            m_startOffset = startIndex;
+        }
+    };
 }
\ No newline at end of file