I have a player with a Large awakened bulette character, so I need to know whether Large characters are able to use smaller sized weapons, shields, and gear that they acquire during their adventures.
We know that Medium and Small characters can use Large-sized weapons but are clumsy 1 for doing so, but what of the reverse?
Armor obviously needs to be sized appropriately, but I don't see a reason why a Large character couldn't use a Medium-sized longsword, despite the following text:
Creatures of sizes other than Small or Medium need items appropriate to their size. These items have different Bulk and possible a different Price.
The operative word "need" makes me think that it's mandatory and that larger characters can't use smaller sized gear of any sort, meaning they need to transfer runes to appropriately-sized weapons.
You're correct, it is mandatory. For narrative justification, a large size hand probably won't even fit on the grip or a medium sized longsword.
If you want a house rule, you could let let large characters treat medium two handed weapons as large one handed weapons. So a medium great sword is treated as a longsword with a d8 damage. Since the weapon wasn't balanced for use this way, it won't retain it's D12 damage.
A medium sized one handed sword probably has too small a grip, but you could probably treat a longsword as a short sword if you really wanted to.
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There are also the Improvised Weapons rules. That is what I would use for any time a character wants to use an item as a weapon when it isn't a weapon designed for their character's physiology.
It's worth noting that all rare ancestry have something that either defies common sense for the sake of balance or creates a weird corner case. I think that's part of why they are rare-- so GMs can decline to include those options for tables where these concessions break immersion.
Large sized creatures not being able to use medium weapons is pretty tame compared to, robots and undead needing to breathe or strix and pixies being unable to fly.
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It's worth noting that all rare ancestry have something that either defies common sense for the sake of balance or creates a weird corner case. I think that's part of why they are rare-- so GMs can decline to include those options for tables where these concessions break immersion.
Large sized creatures not being able to use medium weapons is pretty tame compared to, robots and undead needing to breathe or strix and pixies being unable to fly.
True, but it is also easier IMO to devise easily accepted fantasy justifications for these more outlandish cases.
I have a Large awakened giant spider rogue that wields Medium bolas, nets, and slings to great effect with the setae on her legs.
It hasn't caused any issues whatsoever.
There's no reason she should need a Large weapon, basic crafting book, or potion to get use out of them.
I agree that armor and many other worn items should be Large though.
Just use your best judgement and don't worry about the rest.
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I have a player with a Large awakened bulette character, so I need to know whether Large characters are able to use smaller sized weapons, shields, and gear that they acquire during their adventures.
So you're the GM, and it's basically your decision, but you want to play fair by the rules?
I think this particular rule doesn't exist for game balance reasons, it's just that someone thought "gosh, it would be rather implausible if you could do that".
From a game balance & enjoyment perspective, I would not want this to be a big problem. Large characters don't get a lot of extra power from being large, you get the same damage die, ability modifiers etcetera that other characters get. But if 90% of all loot is not usable by you, that's a pretty large disadvantage, just because someone thought it would look a bit silly.
Pathfinder 1 sidestepped this to a large degree by saying magic items automatically resized to the wearer. Weapons were an exception, because in PF1 weapon size actually mattered for your damage dice. It doesn't matter in PF2 anymore.
In PF2 it would actually be even more fitting to say "magic items resize to fit you" because (1) we never bother small creatures about using medium gear or vice versa either and (2) you're investing these items, so why shouldn't that conveniently resize them too? And then why not the same for large characters?
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Strictly speaking, if you want that rule served very RAW, yeah you'd have to deal with the sizes.
But, if that makes the game a lot less fun because now there's almost no loot for some characters, you should look at The First Rule of Pathfinder:
The First Rule
The first rule of Pathfinder is that this game is yours. Use it to tell the stories you want to tell, be the character you want to be, and share exciting adventures with friends. If any other rule gets in the way of your fun, as long as your group agrees, you can alter or ignore it to fit your story. The true goal of Pathfinder is for everyone to enjoy themselves.
So if you care about playing "rules as written", altering a rule that makes players miserable IS playing according to the most important rule in the book.
I think this is a very good case to look at altering those size restrictions. IMO it's a case of people taking "realism" way too far in a game.
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About the only instance I can think of where small/medium/large sized equipment matters (besides armor) is the Giant Instinct Barbarian. And the mechanics of wielding over-sized weapons is spelled out right there.
Edit: the mechanics are spelled out for the Giant Instinct Barbarian: extra damage for Clumsy 1 plus possibly difficult to replace equipment.