Under Half-orc alternative traits there two traits that puzzle me.
Beastmaster: Some half-orcs have a spiritual kinship with fantastical beasts, capturing them for sport or living and hunting with them. A half-orc with this trait treats whip and net as martial weapons and gains a +2 bonus on Handle Animal checks. This racial trait replaces the orc ferocity racial trait
Chain Fighter: Some half-orcs have escaped from slavery and reforged the chains of their imprisonment into deadly weapons. Half-orcs with this racial trait are proficient with flails and heavy flails, and treat dire flails and spiked chains as martial weapons. This trait replaces the weapon familiarity racial trait.
I've seen similar wording in other sections of the book too..
Can someone explain to me what it means to treat a weapon as a martial weapon? Is there a difference in attack or damage rolls?
There isn't any different in attack or damage. Whips, nets, and spiked chains are usually exotic weapons which require a feat to use. If they're treated like martial you can use them without penalty if you have martial weapon proficiency. Some classes don't get martial proficiency such as wizards or Inquisitors, but for fighters or barbarians who really want to use those weapons it can be a good boon.
The penalty for using a weapon you aren't proficient with is -4.
That makes a lot of sense. Thank you.
The MWP feat only grants access to a single weapon. It quite usually takes a class feature to grant proficiency with all martial weapons. That said, those treated as martial due to race would automatically gain you proficiency with said class feature.
Buri I dont see how it would automatically gain you proficiency. Because "Half-orcs with this racial trait are proficient with flails and heavy flails, and treat dire flails and spiked chains as martial weapons." They say that you get proficient with flails and heavy flails but it doesn't say that your proficient with dire flails or spiked chains.
You aren't. As I said, some classes don't have martial weapon proficiency. So... Your out of luck if your an inquisitor or rogue, but its a good day to be a barbarian. That said, most exotic weapons are awful and not worth the feat. Half a feat maybe. You can also get them with hierloom weapon trait.
It doesn't automatically gain you proficiency. It makes the cost of gaining proficiency as easy as taking the class that has MWP, rather than taking that class AND adding the EWP feat to get the weapon.
MrSin nailed it. No need to complicate it.
For clarification's sake, most half-orcs are going to go the way of fighter or barbarian, so this takes that choice for granted and saves them a feat. It does nothing for a half-orc who becomes a wizard.
Edit: Oops! Sorry, MrSin. Looks like you were faster to the clarification.
Buri I dont see how it would automatically gain you proficiency. Because "Half-orcs with this racial trait are proficient with flails and heavy flails, and treat dire flails and spiked chains as martial weapons." They say that you get proficient with flails and heavy flails but it doesn't say that your proficient with dire flails or spiked chains.
You gain proficiency when you take a class that is "proficient with all martial weapons", which would include the exotic weapons that your racial trait lets you treat as martial weapons.
Also, if you're taking a class that's not martially proficient, you can spend your 1. level feat slot to take martial weapon proficiency with the weapon in question. EWP requires BaB +1, MWP does not.
More fun with "counts as martial": You can take the "Heirloom Weapon" trait for the weapon in question.