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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Draksila" data-source="post: 4397793" data-attributes="member: 31376">I would also like to point out that the idea of resizing weapons to fit the races is unique to 3rd edition.  Basic D&D, 1st Edition, 2nd Edition, and now 4th Edition all operated with a more technically oriented idea of what size and weight make up what kind of weapon from a historical standpoint.  3rd brought in the viewpoint that races would scale their own versions of a 'longsword' or 'dagger' to fit the needs of their own species.  While this is an understandable viewpoint in a fantasy setting, it added to the complexity of treasure hoards with non-magical treasure and stretched disbelief with the concept of a halfling's dagger magically quadrupling in size to fit the hand of a minotaur, or a giant's magic club mystically shrinking to fit the hand of the party's pixie mage.  Since 4th Edition seems to be about simplifying the game and the problem of weapon sizes really never became an issue prior to 3.x, they seem to have simply gone back to the old way of doing things to avoid any wierdness with treasure allocation. Now I grant that this may not jive with a player's need for internal logic in the 'reality' that is their fantasy world, but it's frankly easy enough to houserule that it even happened in old TSR adventures on occasion.  Want a halfling greatsword?  Go to a halfling blacksmith, commission one, and invert the weapon size chart to find the damage for the thing.  What you're basically getting is a longsword blade with a modified hilt, anyway.  Or, alternately, deal with being a small creature in a world full of medium humanoids and learn to cope with using medium-sized weapons as that's what's most likely to turn up with nifty enchantments on it in a dragon's hoard. Frankly, old-school halflings seemed to always have quips and comments in the books and TSR-sponsored comics about how quick and nimble they were compared to the oversized, plodding humans.  It was part of their personality that they took solace in not being encumbered by something so unwieldy as a sword so long that it would drag the ground if they didn't wear it diagonally across their back.  Without the greatsword, they were able to fit in smaller crawlspaces and elude the enemies that the burly human would be forced to confront.  Wit versus aggression, as it were. Note that all of the above is colored by my own opinion and years of playing D&D from the Red Box up, and I understand if you choose to disagree or call me a fuddy-duddy.  I'm not campaigning on a platform of 'longswords for all sizes,' anyway, so I'll feel free to be a less politically correct DM and take comfort in the return of the idea that one size does not fit all.</blockquote>

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