Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
3E versus 3.5E: Weapon Size
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 5607647" data-attributes="member: 58197"><p>Among the various changes between 3E and 3.5E, one was the shift in how weapon size is handled.</p><p></p><p>In 3E, all weapons had a fixed size. A greatsword was, by definition, Large. A shortsword was Small, and so forth. You could use weapons of your own size in one hand, and weapons of one size larger in two hands. So a halfling fighter looking for a two-handed sword would use a longsword.</p><p></p><p>This had the advantage of making weapons more accessible. If you killed an ogre wielding a sword in one hand, that sword was a greatsword and the party fighter could pick it up and swing it in two. On the down side, it limited the options for different-sized characters, and it offered no guidance for what happened when you cast <em>enlarge</em> on the fighter.</p><p></p><p>In 3.5E, each weapon could be scaled up or down to any size. A greatsword could be Small, Medium, Large, Huge, whatever. Human and halfling fighters would both wield greatswords, but the human's would be a Medium greatsword dealing 2d6 damage, while the halfling's would be a Small greatsword dealing 1d10.</p><p></p><p>This expanded the range of weapon options available. It did, however, mean that an ogre's longsword could not be picked up and used as a greatsword. A human fighter <em>could</em> use the ogre sword in two hands, but you got -2 on the attack roll, and you treated the weapon as a longsword for purposes of Weapon Focus and the like.</p><p></p><p>Which system did you, or do you, prefer? And why?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dausuul, post: 5607647, member: 58197"] Among the various changes between 3E and 3.5E, one was the shift in how weapon size is handled. In 3E, all weapons had a fixed size. A greatsword was, by definition, Large. A shortsword was Small, and so forth. You could use weapons of your own size in one hand, and weapons of one size larger in two hands. So a halfling fighter looking for a two-handed sword would use a longsword. This had the advantage of making weapons more accessible. If you killed an ogre wielding a sword in one hand, that sword was a greatsword and the party fighter could pick it up and swing it in two. On the down side, it limited the options for different-sized characters, and it offered no guidance for what happened when you cast [i]enlarge[/i] on the fighter. In 3.5E, each weapon could be scaled up or down to any size. A greatsword could be Small, Medium, Large, Huge, whatever. Human and halfling fighters would both wield greatswords, but the human's would be a Medium greatsword dealing 2d6 damage, while the halfling's would be a Small greatsword dealing 1d10. This expanded the range of weapon options available. It did, however, mean that an ogre's longsword could not be picked up and used as a greatsword. A human fighter [i]could[/i] use the ogre sword in two hands, but you got -2 on the attack roll, and you treated the weapon as a longsword for purposes of Weapon Focus and the like. Which system did you, or do you, prefer? And why? [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
3E versus 3.5E: Weapon Size
Top