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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 3088866" data-attributes="member: 19675">1) I'm not a mind-reader of game designer motives, but I'd wager taht its because they were trying to be consistent with earlier editions of the game by presenting the original D&D races...and then adding some.2) I'm not sure that everyone would agree with your assessment of halflings and gnomes as "subpar in nearly all respects."  They have their strengths- its just not in melee combat with larger opponents.Its a fact of life- by and large, in a fight between 2 individuals of equal training, their physical attributes are going to be a (not the) deciding factor.  The larger opponent is probably stronger than a smaller one & will have superior reach to his opponent, both giving him an edge in melee.The little guy has to use superior tactics, like fighting in an area that favors his smaller stature, or by using ranged weapons and avoiding close-range combat.Consider that, right out of the starting gate, a halfling is +3 with a sling (+1 from his dex bonus, +1 from his range bonus, and +1 from his racial bonus with the weapon).  They also have a greater effective encumberance limit because while they can only lift 3/4ths as much as a size M PC of the same Str, their equipment weighs 1/2 as much as it does for M PCs.Not worse, not better...different. I'd counter that it does exactly what its supposed to do- make using inappropriately sized weapons a less-than-optimal decision by using a simple modifier in a highly abstract system.</blockquote>

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