Settle down vtuder. I'm saying let them use small greatswords. Which do 2d6 like all other greatswords. Since hit points arent meat, we dont need special rules for a slightly smaller greatsword. The halfling/gnome is already dealing less damage than most by virtue of not getting a strength bonus. They don't need to be penalized for using 2 handed styles due to lack of the great weapon fighting feat.
Says you. Hit points represent physical injuries when below 50%, according to the rules as written.
The D&D rules are very clear, from the very first edition onwards, that smaller, lighter weapons deal less damage than heavier, larger ones. A dagger does 1d4 damage, a greatsword does d10 or d12 or 2d6 depending on the edition. That means you need two or three successful attacks to lay low a first level fighter with a dagger, but possibly only one with a greatsword. That's not abstract. Two hits instead of one is a 100% difference in the number of hits it takes to kill someone.
Halflings not being able to wield greatswords effectively is a simulationistic way to represent their small stature in the combat model of 5th edition. In the weapon table, they are trying (and have since 1st ed) to approximate the relative difference of damage that one weapon can do compared to another. That means that a weapon's relative damage is not abstract, meaning the damage they do is because they injure foes they hit more grievously. Meaning those injuries are meat. Attacks dealing injuries through HP loss is meat.
It takes at least two (with mods) or three hits from a proficient dagger wielder to kill a first level fighter. A single attack from a greatsword can fell the foe. How else do you explain this? Look at the way D&D is designed, look at the weapons damage table and tell me they aren't trying to have a plausible or semi-realistic model of how they work? At least in terms of relative damage.
Sorry dude, no 2d6 longswords for halflings.
If people complain to Wizards in surveys and they actually listen to them, they are jumping the shark here. If people's survey says that it makes them sad that their halfling can't pick up GWM or PM and so can't deal as much damage with a great heavy weapon as the biggest, baddest half orc barbarian can, and Wizards actually changes the rule for halflings to allow that, I will be so angry with them I might even sell my books and quit tabletop gaming permanently.
It is really that ridiculous to me that these "HP aren't meat" rationalizations for wonky mechanics keep popping up all the time. As many people have written in this thread, there are plenty of ways for halflings and other small PCs to contribute greatly, both in damage and in other ways. But while their small stature closes a few doors, it opens others, like beast master rangers with medium sized pets carrying them as mounts.
What does vtuder mean mean? Verisimilitude? I'm glad D&D was designed with some common sense. "Small greatswords", lol. That's weird.
Size category is not fluff in 5th edition. It has mechanical significance. There is probably zero chance of a halfling ever wielding a 2d6 greatsword in 5th edition effectively, except through magic.
Just be lucky they even allow wielding it at disadvantage. At my table, if a 3 foot tall, 60 pound humanoid tried to swing around a 15 pound, 6 foot long sword, he falls over. Forget about attacking with disadvantage, he cannot attack with it. Period. I own swords and have seen my 6 year old nephew who is more than 4.5 feet tall, try to pick up a 5 foot long sword that weighs at most 5 pounds, using both hands mind you, and he couldn't even hold it let alone attack with it. My girlfriend can't even lift it, and she's a fully grown woman. Halflings with mini greatswords, totally ridiculous. They're called longswords, and even being able to use one of those two-handed was a gift.
You can refluff a longsword to be a "mini greatsword" all you want, but it does 1d10 damage and cannot be used with great weapon master. That's just too bad. Pick another race if it matters that much to you. Or just pretend a dwarf is a halfling from the North and beefy enough to do it.