If I'm understanding correctly, you want to change the row height of a table cell? By default, if you have text and create a table, the row height is based on leading (I think this is what you're calling slug?) plus any offset (buffer). To change this, go to Table > Cell Options > Rows and Columns and from the Row Height pull-down menu choose either At Least or Exactly and enter a value amount. You can also add a maximum amount. Hope that helps.