It seems like this should be obvious but I have not been able to find this stated outright in the CRB, other than refering to bulk:
The listed stats for weapons and other equipment are the same for bothe medium and small creatures, right? So the 3' halfling can use the same rapier as his 7' half-orc buddy, doing the same basic weapon damage die, etc.? Or do I have to modify the weapons for small creatures?
I always assumed they would be using the same size weapons, but I have to admit, the picture of a 3' halfling wielding a normal sized rapier ("normal" for a human irl being on average 3'6'', with ideal size for an individual often quoted as "ground to navel") is kind of odd...
So the 3' halfling can use the same rapier as his 7' half-orc buddy, doing the same basic weapon damage die, etc.?
This is correct.
Heck, they can all wear the same suit of armor, too. <shrug> It keeps the game simple.
It is to keep this element of the game simpler. Easy to houserule if you want.
It works as you expect for every size outside of small and medium though.
No, this is the way I've always thought it worked and never really paid much attention to it. Until I tried to build a small rogue and stumbled over the fact that its rapier is longer than the creature itself, which seemed odd. I went and tried to look it up and couldn't find anything on it, hence my post.
I'm perfectly fine with having rules simplify life to make play easier :).
IIRC correctly, weapons are sized for their users, and I believe you take a penalty for using inappropriately sized weapons.
The giant instinct barbarian entry points towards this at least, since it specifically says it gives you access to weapons of a greater size and gives a special mechanical effect for wielding larger sized weapons.
But there is no statistically difference (barring specific things granted by class or other abilities) between different size weapons. A medium longsword does the same damage as a small size longsword, and has the same bulk. Bulk is relative to the character, a smaller character has proportionally smaller gear, at least that's the theory.
IIRC correctly, weapons are sized for their users, and I believe you take a penalty for using inappropriately sized weapons.
Nope, that was PF1. Now Small/Medium weapons (and armor) are interchangeable, there's only a penalty for using Large weapons. (They don't bother to say "don't even think about using Huge weapons.)
I'm pretty sure the following are the entirety of RAW on the subject.
The Bulk rules in this chapter are for Small and Medium creatures, as the items are made for creatures of those sizes. Large creatures can carry more, and smaller creatures can carry less, as noted on Table 6–19.
These rules for Bulk limits come up most often when a group tries to load up a mount or animal companion. The rules for items of different sizes tend to come into play when the characters defeat a big creature that has gear, since in most cases, the only creatures of other sizes are creatures under the GM’s control. In most cases, Small or Medium creatures can wield a Large weapon, though it’s unwieldy, giving them the clumsy 1 condition, and the larger size is canceled by the difficulty of swinging the weapon, so it grants no special benefit. Large armor is simply too large for Small and Medium creatures.
They also don't bother to go into "what if a Large creature uses a Medium weapon."
Hmm, I guess I was thinking of it in context of medium to large because I don't play small creatures typically.
I guess its simplifies things to make small and medium completely interchangeable, but it is weird that going from medium to large is a problem.
I might house rule the same effects from medium to large for small to medium, because I don't like the asymmetry.