Why is bigger always better?

[Water Bob]

Gary Gygax once said in a thread (I believe here) that he once considered removing damage variations entirely from melee weapons. As he studied he came to believe that weapons used mattered less than skill and familiarity. Besides, an inch of steel in the gut kills, whether or not from a knife or a sword.

Yes, I've played games like that before. You hit with a weapon to try to inflict a type of wound instead of reducing hit points.

It does make you look at weapons more realistically.

And, in the d20 Conan RPG, most of the weapons do more damage than their D&D counterparts. A lot of weapons also do the same damage. (the Top Secret/SI game was like this too) The broadsword, cutlass, battleaxe, heavy and light lances, sabre, heavy mace, and war spear all do 1d10 damage.

This really does make you start looking at the other characteristics of th weapon: It's armor penetrating ability, how many hands it takes to use it, how easy it is to break, how long it is, etc.