Kamikaze Midget said:
Sorry, this is kind of wrong. It's not the size of the object that's important, it's the size of the intended wielder. And honestly, that's my main beef with the new weapon size rules...too much similar terminology creates a lot of unnessecary confusion.
This may be true, but the -exact same- problem existed in 3.0. In 3.0, a longsword was "medium" but it was not a medium sized object. To be medium-sized, it would have to be as big as a human. Simlarly, a greatsword was "large" but not large. At least now the size descriptors actually have some bearing to object size even if the size is the size of the user instead of the object. In 3.0, the weapon sizes were a completely distinct type of sizing.
The large dagger problem existed in 3.0 as well, at least in 3.5 there is a penalty for doing so, there was no such penalty in 3.0. (A large dagger is +1 damage for -2 to hit; a half effective power attack)
I used to hate the new weapon rules because I was so used to thinking the old way. Now I feel that they are the single best change in 3.5. It took just one look at the AU weapon lists for me to come to that conclusion.
CombatWombat51 said:
I'm not griping, but honestly confused... why'd they do all that weapon size stuff in 3.5? How is it better than what existed before?
Here's what is better:
1) Races of any size can use any weapon. No weird proficiency problems (such as a small rogue have effective longsword proficiency while medium-sized rogues did not)
2) There is now a penalty for using weapons of the wrong size. No more using a large dagger (2d6 damage) with Simple Weapon Prof.
3) No need to worry about different weapon sizes when making a new weapon.
4) The little guys actually get their own magic items now.
Here's what is worse:
1) Races need to use weapons of their own size. The Frodo shortsword problem (of course, whose to say he wasn't taking -2 to hit).
2) Races need their own specialized magic items. Makes randomly generated treasure less useful.
3) Small reach weapons still have reach. A small longspear is just as long as a regular longspear just lighter (and with fewer hit points). To me this is a problem with reach needing to be on 5' boundries. Logically, a human should have more reach than a halfling normaly anyway. (You can make a battemat with 2.5' squares, and solve both problems if they bother you)
All other problems with the new rules existed in the 3.0 rules as well (such as centaurs needing larger weapons and no way of distinguishing between "hand size" and "body size")
Aaron
