Races: Medium-size = or ≠ Small-size?

[Ambrus]

Are the various bonuses and penalties tied to a creature's size intended to be roughly equal power-wise? That is, does a small creature's +1 to hit, +1 AC, +4 to Hide, reduced carrying capacity and penalties to grapple/bull rush/overrun/etc balance with a medium creature's selection of larger weapons and various proportional bonuses to grapple/bull rush/overrun/etc?

I'm wondering whether reducing the size of typically medium-sized creatures (such as the genasi, fey-touched, aasimar and tieflings for instance) to small-size while keeping the rest of their racial bonuses, penalties and abilities the same would prove to be a balanced choice or not. The default assumption with these races is that they're all of mixed human ancestry and so they end up being of medium size, but I don't see any reason why they couldn't just as easily be of halfling, gnomish or goblin descent (for example) and be of small size.

Thoughts?

 

[Ambrus]

Uh, anyone?

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

imho, Med to Small does not have a significant balance issue. Going to Tiny or Large is where size makes a difference.

But thats not a mechanical analysis, simply a gut feeling

 

[Arkhandus]

In general, Medium size is a bit better than Small size, but it's not the case with spellcasters who don't rely on melee or ranged weaponry. For them, Small size is just an advantage of +1 AC and +1 on attack rolls with rays and such. The typically-lower speed of a Small race doesn't matter as much when you only move around a little and summon/blast/enchant stuff to do your bidding. Nor do the other drawbacks of Small size matter as much.

No, shrinking aasimar and stuff to Small size wouldn't really balance them against the core races. Not to mention being wierd since they're supposed to be human-outsider hybrid descendants.

In general I consider Small size to be a minor disadvantage, overall. But some people will harp and rave about how great it is for casters and rogues, making a mountain out of a molehill or however the saying goes. It's +1 AC, +1 to attack rolls, and +4 to Hide. For reduced speed (usually), vulnerability to grappling and such, minimal melee capacity, low treasure-hauling capacity, lightly to moderately reduced weapon damage output, and being much easier for monsters to swallow/trample/otherwise mangle. And usually too slow to run away.

It's nice in some ways, but nowhere near awesome. Large size is generally an awesome benefit, but Small size? Heck no. Powerful Build is roughly as awesome as Large size, but without the reach, yet also without any of the drawbacks. I'd value Small size as something like, -1 feat, and give a race a feat-like benefit to compensate. But not the kind of ability score bonuses planetouched races get.