Do you prefer the 3.5 or the 3.0 weapon size rules?

[Bagpuss]

The way I see it, the problem isn't the 3.5 size rules, it's the lack of magic stores in the campaign . If the halfling can easily turn a +1 Medium shortsword into a +1 Small longsword, I'm sure he'll complain less.

And you do that in the middle of the Underdark how exactly?

 

[lukelightning]

This is not something that the rules should be deciding; it is a campaign decision. And do you think kobolds and goblins don't make lots of weapons?

I also prefer the 3.0 setting flavor that smaller races don't have the same war production as humans.

 

[Quickbeam]

I definately prefer the newer rules for fantasy play. They make more sense in a world where smaller and larger races craft their own weapons.

I'd still stick to 3.0 rules in modern games though. They work better for mass-produced, machine made weapons like firearms.

I pretty much agree with this, and yet I've had a hard time really coming all the way around to embracing the 3.5 weapon size rules. I think this is just one instance where my brain is stuck in the past and is having a hard time moving forward for no discernible reason.

 

[FireLance]

And you do that in the middle of the Underdark how exactly?

Wandering sverfneblin merchants . Or maybe a community of duergar who are unfriendly but still willing to do business. A resistance movement or some other power group sympathetic to the PCs in an otherwise hostile drow city. The PCs can also trade instead of selling, buying, and carting around a sackful of coins in between. All the DM needs to do is to place someone with items the PCs want who is willing to give them up for items that the PCs have.

 

[Kahuna Burger]

Just to throw a wrench in to the realism factor - Mindflayers have four fingers instead of 5 and long skinny hands. Is the mindflayer short sword going to fit perfectly in the half-orc's hand, or should he have as much trouble with it as with the halfling longsword? Seems to me having the size classes changes things just enough to be annoying but not enough to be realistic.

(and I say unto you STING! STING!!!!!!!)

 

[icedrake]

I'm with Psion on houseruling away some of the penalties.

Though the new weapon guidelines are great for character larger than Small, the shorter races get a huge penalty to both strength and base weapon damage. If anyone plays a halfling or gnome in my game, they will be using daggers that do 1d4 damage, not 1d3. They can use shortswords as "small" longswords and bastardswords as "small" greatswords. I feel halfling should be able to use the exact same daggers that humans use.

I hate having to roll a d6 and round up whenever a player rolls for damage. For simplcity's sake, I went out a bought a 1d3...but then again, I'm a dice nut, too.

 

[ThirdWizard]

(and I say unto you STING! STING!!!!!!!)

The whole Sting thing works just as well under 3.5 as 3.0...

 

[Ranger REG]

Well I am not so sure I agree, but fine Generally speaking I'd say yes, better to have a rule since the start; but if the purpose of the rule is to help sort-of-advanced gaming (such as playing a large character), I prefer them as a variant. Savage Species was the best place, since it's a book about playing "monstrous" character smaller than small and larger than medium, while the core PHB is only about playing medium or small creatures. This has slightly changed in 3.5 (e.g. the core MM has LAs).

Not just for advanced gaming, but what if you need to stat giant NPCs as BBEG or big bosses? The game is very human-centric. Everything is benchmarked for human. A human wizard can wield a dagger but a giant wizard will have to spend their own feat to wield an equivalent of a dagger (human greatsword?).

On other side of the size spectrum, who says that a bastard sword is exclusive to human culture? Why can't halfling -- be it pastoral or feral -- craft their own version of a bastard sword?

 

[Li Shenron]

Not just for advanced gaming, but what if you need to stat giant NPCs as BBEG or big bosses?

It's not that in 3.0 you could not have larger versions than standard weapons. The MM already had creatures with Huge Greatclubs or Gargantuan Warhammers. If the DM wanted, it would also have been easy to toss in a Small Bastard Sword.

But it was simpler, that size already told everything about how can you wield such a weapon. Now it's slightly but unnecessary more complicated. As I said, it's not a big difference, but having to choose I prefer the earlier version.

A human wizard can wield a dagger but a giant wizard will have to spend their own feat to wield an equivalent of a dagger (human greatsword?).

Only if the DM cannot get free from the rules' grip This scenario doesn't bother me enough to need a change to the basic rules, because it's about an NPC, and a DM who feels limited because of this, is not using the rules but being used by the rules (to quote Psion ). And if it's a giant PC, we're in advanced gaming territory where variants roam free.

 

[genshou]

My custom title makes my view on this one a dead giveaway.