D&D 3E/3.5 [3.5] Size replaced by Handedness?

[Storm Raven]

So, if we have 3 categories of handedness:

light
one-handed
two-handed

I assume then that light weapons are 1 size below their wielder, one-handed are equal to their wielder, and two-handed are one above their wielder?

No. Size categories don't work that way any more. Now a light weapon for a human is a "medium size light weapon", and a one-handed weapon is a "medium size one-handed weapon" and so on.

 

[WizarDru]

Weapons will still be classified as 'light', 'one-handed', or 'two-handed'. The size will reflect the size of the weilder.

So, in 3.0, a human's greataxe is a Large weapon (which means it must be weilded with two hands).

In 3.5, it is a Medium two-handed weapon.

Hmm. Are there any Large one-handed weapons in 3.0? As I sit here and think about it, off the top of my head I can't think of one. At first it sounded pretty horrible, but described this way, it's not too bad. It sounds a tad confusing, but not hideous.

So, let's take this a bit further. I'm an ogre. I wield a Huge Greatclub in 3.0. In 3.5, this would be, what? A large two-handed weapon, yes? Hmmmm. I'm warming a little more to this than I was, maybe.

 

[melkoriii]

Hmm. Are there any Large one-handed weapons in 3.0? As I sit here and think about it, off the top of my head I can't think of one. At first it sounded pretty horrible, but described this way, it's not too bad. It sounds a tad confusing, but not hideous.

So, let's take this a bit further. I'm an ogre. I wield a Huge Greatclub in 3.0. In 3.5, this would be, what? A large two-handed weapon, yes? Hmmmm. I'm warming a little more to this than I was, maybe.

Yes a Ogre wields a Large Geatclub in 3.5

A Storm Giant wields a Huge Longspear and a Pixe wields a Tiny Longbow.

 

[Staffan]

There's no "the greataxe" anymore. There are now "small greataxes" (meant for use by Small creatures), "medium greataxes" (meant for use by Medium creatures) and "large greataxes" (meant for use by Large creatures. Each would wield the greataxe in two hands, because it's a two-handed weapon.

Size refers to the size of the intended wielder, not an absolute measure of the weapon. I think this is a good change, personally - especially for newbies. Saying "That ogre is Large, so he's wielding a Large greatclub in two hands" makes more sense to me than "That ogre is Large, so he's wielding a Huge greatclub in two hands."

It also occurs to me that it fixes a minor thing that needed patching in the 3.0 rules: dual weapons. Now you no longer need to include the special rule that says you need to use them in two hands to get the dual-weapon benefit even if you're big - because they'll just be two-handed weapons.

 

[AuraSeer]

I like the change. It may not seem necessary right around human size, but nearer the edges of the scale it makes things a lot clearer.

Consider reach weapons. In 3E, all the reach weapons were Large, so the concept of reach was useless to Small characters. Things also got wonky as you moved up the scale. A Huge giant could extend its reach 5' by using a normal (Large) longspear in one hand, as it is a reach weapon. But if the same giant used a halfspear on his own scale (Huge), it would not grant reach, despite being physically bigger than the longspear. A lot of house rules were invented to get around this.

In 3.5 all that weirdness goes away. A halfling can double his reach with a Small longspear. A Huge giant can double his reach with a Huge longspear. Simple.

IMO the change also helps the flavor of different-sized weapons. A Diminutive faerie might wield a faerie-sized greatsword, but was it intuitive for that Tiny weapon to be equivalent to a normal dagger? The balance would be all wrong for a larger character, and the hilt might not be big enough for even one human hand, yet a Colossal titan could still wield the thing at no penalty. The new rules tell us exactly who can use the weapon, and whether there's a penalty.

If you can't do without the weapon equivalencies, the new DMG reportedly still includes the rules. They're listed as a variant, but you can still have a human's longsword be identical to a halfling's greatsword, if that's what floats your boat.

 

[drnuncheon]

Hmm. Are there any Large one-handed weapons in 3.0? As I sit here and think about it, off the top of my head I can't think of one.

Nope - at least, not for a Medium-sized character, since 'one size larger' was how two-handed weapons were defined. (Until you get into weird stuff like monkey grip).

J

 

[AuraSeer]

Hmm. Are there any Large one-handed weapons in 3.0?

No, in 3.0 that's sort of a contradiction in terms. The definition of a Large weapon is that it's two-handed for Medium creatures. (Only a Large or bigger creature could use it in one hand.)

 

[MadScientist]

I thought the old system was simple and elegent. I liked that a longsword was a one handed weapon for a human and two handed weapon for a halfling. Made sense to me.

What issues were they trying to address here? What happens if you do try to swing a weapon two size categories bigger than you? They could have just added a rule that says you get a -4 atk for each size category larger the weapon is than you could normaly weild, i.e a halfling swinging a greatsword would get a -4 atk. a tiny creature swinging the same sword -8 atk or something like that. A similar rule would work to determine what happens if a human decided to swing a greatsword one handed as well, -4 atk.

Do they want characters to be able to take advantage of their feats with alternate sized weapons? This actually seems silly to me. If your specialized in longsword it seems a "large" long sword would be different enough to warrent you not getting the advantage of your WF and WS.

Admitedly I haven't completely seen the new system, but it sounds like it will be one of my most hated changes!

Edit: Okay I do see the need for small characters and reach weapons needing to be addressed...... Eh I guess I'll have to see it before I can really judge the new system.

 

[HeavyG]

See, all you have to do to solve this problem is ban demihumans from your game. A most effective solution.

That could work, but I have found banning weapons to be simpler. Everbody does d8 damage per attack (plus other modifiers). They are free to describe their attacks as using weapons, but this is only flavor text.

 

[MadScientist]

In the new system if I'm a human and pick up a halfling great sword what happens? Is it a one handed or two handed weapon? If I have WF greatsword do I get my +1 atk? Is their a penalty for using a small greatsword?

Does a tiny lonspear have reach? How about a small one? How much reach do they have? If a small lonspear and a medium lonspear have the same reach wouldn't this seem a little weird?

I guess I really need to understand the answers to these questions.