Here's my proposal for dealing with the Halfling's small size as it pertains to weapons in the Beginner Box. Something like:
TOO SMALL FOR WEAPONS: Every weapon has a Hands box that tells you how many hands you hold it with when you use it in combat. Due to their small size, however, Halfling characters use these weapons differently. If a weapon is light, a Halfling can use it either one-handed or two-handed (for extra damage). If a weapon is one-handed, a halfling must use both hands to use it. If a weapon is two-handed, it is too large for a halfling to use. The three exceptions to this rule are the Light Crossbow, Shortbow and Sling, all of which the Halfling can use despite them requiring two hands. The only weapon a Halfling may use the Weapon Finesse Feat with is a dagger.
Halflings are not a part of the Beginner Box rules.
Correct.
...and it's things like this that are the reason why. We really wanted to avoid "If X then Y, otherwise Z, except for A, B, and C" kinds of constructions.
If that's the challenge, it's very simple to overcome:
SMALL WEAPONS: Halflings use small-sized weapons. They are treated exactly like normal weapons, but do -1 damage.
Or, even simpler:
SMALL WEAPONS: Halflings have a -1 penalty to their damage rolls.
It's just a little less flavorful than Bilbo Baggins using a dagger as a shortsword.
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Halflings are not a part of the Beginner Box rules.
If you want to use Halflings, there are already rules for them in the Core Rulebook.
You'd just have to add in:
- Size modifiers
- Stats for small size weapons
- Halfling racial modifiers
- Stats for small sized armor
- Stats for small sized equipment
The overarching principle of the Beginner Box rules is that they are a subset of the regular Pathfinder rules. Creating special rules for the Beginner Box that don't match the regular rules is not in the spirit of Beginner Box play.
Of course, it's your game. Play the way you want to.