The Trox was the only Large race to be presented in a Bestiary, before the Advanced Race Guide broke down a few more, with other supplements. Did Pathfinder run into a problem with budget (Large races need more expensive stuff) or dungeon building (Large races can't squeeze into tight spaces that easily)?
I just think it's weird that we didn't get the equivalents of half-giants or goliaths...
By comparison, Starfinder has a truckload of Large alien races.
Large size is much less of a benefit in Starfinder than it is in PF. Size overall is less of a factor, really.
That's why.
You can always Homebrew large PC races if you want to. Use the Creating New Races page to create custom races, and you can add the [Giant] subtype and make your race Large-sized for 7 Race Points (RP).
I use these rules in almost all my campaigns, and I usually let the PC's go up to 15 RP with whatever race they want to create. 15 RP's offers plenty of customization options without becoming overpowered and breaking your campaign.
I guess there are numerous reasons. Three come to my mind:
1) They would weaken the great "David vs. Goliath" feeling when adventurers take down monsters much larger than themselves.
2) A simple enlarge person would turn them into Huge creatures, magnifying the issues with required space, reach, damage etc.. Even if the spell didn't work due to type restrictions, sooner or later a PC has access to become a size category larger.
3) They should be balanced with the Medium races, when it comes to melee. Otherwise many players will simply play Large races for melee, ignoring the many Medium choices. That's like the current common ignorance of Small races for melee, but it's worse, since even more races will be ignored.
Ignored races are a problem, because people will perceive Pathfinder as a game with less options, hence duller, with (subjectively) less replayability.
IMO it's really challenging to balance both sizes. What do you want to give to Medium races so they are en par? What can you take away from Large races without undermining the fun a player expects?
You can always Homebrew large PC races if you want to. Use the Creating New Races page to create custom races, and you can add the [Giant] subtype and make your race Large-sized for 7 Race Points (RP).
I use these rules in almost all my campaigns, and I usually let the PC's go up to 15 RP with whatever race they want to create. 15 RP's offers plenty of customization options without becoming overpowered and breaking your campaign.
Well, yeah, that's always possible, as well as using other 3rd-party stuff.
My questioning is more about why there weren't many official Large-sized races in P1E, and that there might not be so in P2E.
Largely because they don't want to design all adventures going forward to be able to accommodate PCs that don't fit in a 5' square.
Because being large is a big power boost, you get better damage from using bigger weapons, higher CMB and more reach.
Sure you could make a large race that is stuck with medium weapons and has no reach, but then it'd be pretty bad, because you'd have the extra cost on armour, issues fitting in medium sized locations, penalties to AC and attack rolls and no benefit.
Personally, I don't see Large races as OP, and in fact, I think it adds even more flavor to a game that already has a ton of flavor.
As far as an explanation for why Paizo didn't include Large races, I don't have a good one, but I can only speculate that since 3.5 didn't have any mainstream Large races, they didn't include them in Pathfinder. 3.5 had Half-ogres, Half-Minotaurs, and Centaurs that were large playable races, but those were typically GM-permission races that came from specific books (not-mainstream). In the same way, Pathfinder has Driders, Ogres, Centaur, and Gargoyles, etc. as large playable races, but due to their RP's, they're not mainstream races.
Small races literally CAN reduce their size even further just as easily as a theoretical Large race theoretically could increase their size... and given that magic > melee... I don't see a problem with Large races.
Pocket Wizards are harder to deal with than giants... from a GM standpoint, the bigger the PC's get, the further away I can engage them. Did you know you can turn a Divination Wizard into a sniper with a Ballista? So go ahead, grow Huge, use a reach weapon, take Lunge... your reach is still shorter than that of a bow...
You are literally a bigger target. Generally, you will get noticed, targeted, and hit more often. You cannot hide behind or use the same cover/concealment, nor can you fit in the same caves/hallways. Your size may set off multiple traps at the same time, or subject you to area/splash damage more often. Your gear is more expensive, you require more food/water, and you take up more space on a boat/carriage... Kevin Smith has a thing about being Too Fat to Fly. Lol.
I think the negatives associated with being Large balance out any advantage it might provide in melee...
I think the problem with large races without using the Bestiary Monsters as PC-rules ends up kind of wonky flavorwise.
Many of the weaker large creatures like ogres, minotaurs, or even herd animals like the aurochs have a CR of 2 or higher and enormous strength scores.
If you just made normal balanced large pc races like a "Goliath", that uses the orc statblock, but replaces weapon familiarity and Ferocity with being large, those races would look pathetic next to actual large sized creatures.
Normally players and monsters use the same rules in 3.PF. Some Advanced Race Guide Races ignore this, but it clashes with the inner logic og the game.
game world logistics. :P
As an example, look up any story about Andre the Giant and then double that.
game world logistics. :P
As an example, look up any story about Andre the Giant and then double that.
In the Bad Grandpa movie, there is a story about Andre the Giant and five playboy bunnies...
Reach.
The answer to your question is Reach.
Pretty much this.