Katana and Bastard size, DMG X PHB: who is right?

[Darklone]

I do have a gnome wielding a dwarven waraxe twohanded and it's not really gamebreaking.

I go with the large weapon with martial prof and medium with exo approach.

Tsyr:
Your bastard sword seems a bit heavy Mine is actually still a little bit too heavy since the edges are blunted to 1.5mm for using in training and it still weighs only 1.3kg. And mine is heavier than most other bastard swords over here.

But you're right that katanas and bastards are usually heavier than longswords. Real spatha should weigh about 800 gr, bastards and katanas slightly over 1 kg.

 

[Tsyr]

In fairness, what I was weighing there wasn't really a bastard sword. It's just what I call it. It's actualy a custom-build... I started with a two-handed sword that I got cheap (Like 100 dollars or so... good blade, but the handle and hilt were ruined)... I marked off the bottom 20" of the blade and tang, ground it all down to tang-width, and made a handle out of ironwood for it. Bit of work with the drillpress to make the holes for the copper pins. The hilt is bastardized from a cheep-o sword I found somewhere, cut down (It was originaly for another two-hander) and sanded into shape.

In the end, all told, it's about 2 inches of pommel, 16 inches of handle, 2 inches of hilt, and 30 inches of blade.

It can be wielded one handed quite well though, if you get to know it... The balance is wildly different from most swords, but I like it.

 

[Darklone]

Yeah, uhm, ... I tend to heavier swords too. Must be the barbarian inside.

Our smith has a longsword of about 50" too that weighs 820 gr. Feather duster.

 

[Ranger REG]

I mean, what's the big deal about a Halfling taking a Katana or something? Compared to a longsword, you spend a Feat to add one point of damage to your weapon attacks AND it's a different weapon type (invalidating any Weapon Focus/Specialization you had). That doesn't seem unbalanced to me.

Ah. I forgot about the Small folks. I guess they reduce the weapon's size category to allow halfling, gnome, and other Small folks to wield them (provided they acquire EWP feat of that weapon).

Oh, well. Let them. They are never going to wield a greatsword anyway, and they're going to need such a devastating weapon against tough creatures.