Flame Blade and Pixies, and rescaled maps.

[Warchon]

The Flame Blade spell description explicitly calls the resulting weapon a three foot blade. Any reasonable person would assume that by RAI that should just be 'a longsword' and a Giant or a Grig would get weapons appropriate to their size. Obviously, I wouldn't be posting here if I thought I was playing with reasonable people, and we're going with the (much more entertaining) RAW description.
Would any of you deny a Large or larger creature their natural reach for using a Flame Blade? Or allow a Tiny or smaller creature to attack from adjacent squares with it? Since the spell says you are considered proficient, and since the weapon doesn't weigh anything, I don't think imposing any other penalties/benefits is called for.
An argument could also be made that Large/larger creatures would only lose five feet -of- their natural reach, rather than giving up all of it.

On a related note, does anyone here have any experience with rescaling maps so that the squares represent increments other than five feet? In a full party of Tiny fey (and one Reduce Person'd halfling who thinks it's quite funny) it seems like it might make the combat flow a little more intuitively, and perhaps more importantly, impose a more powerful sense of scale by having that ordinary elf wizard tower over them from a four square inch base, but I'm not sure what pitfalls there might be in trying to adapt the mechanics in that fashion.

[OgresAreCute]

Well, considering an Ogre attacking bare-handed or with a dagger still has 10 foot reach, I don't see why that same Ogre would lose reach from using a small weapon. Also, pixies are small, not tiny.

[Uncle Pine]

For reference:

Flame Blade
Evocation [Fire]
Level: Drd 2
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 0 ft.
Effect: Sword-like beam
Duration: 1 min./level (D)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes

A 3-foot-long, blazing beam of red-hot fire springs forth from your hand. You wield this bladelike beam as if it were a scimitar. Attacks with the flame blade are melee touch attacks. The blade deals 1d8 points of fire damage +1 point per two caster levels (maximum +10). Since the blade is immaterial, your Strength modifier does not apply to the damage. A flame blade can ignite combustible materials such as parchment, straw, dry sticks, and cloth.

The spell does not function underwater.


Would any of you deny a Large or larger creature their natural reach for using a Flame Blade?
No, as neither scimitars nor weapon sizes alter reach.


Or allow a Tiny or smaller creature to attack from adjacent squares with it?
No, as neither scimitars nor weapon sizes alter reach. A Diminutive creature wielding a Diminutive sizing weapon that casts enlarge weapon (CS) and subsequently activates sizing to make its weapon Colossal still has a reach of 0 ft.



Since the spell says you are considered proficient, and since the weapon doesn't weigh anything, I don't think imposing any other penalties/benefits is called for.
You aren't automatically proficient in a flame blade. However, as it's a druid spell, most casters will be proficient in its use. On the other hand, I wouldn't impose any penalty for inappropriately-sized weapons simply because a flame blade has no specified size (just like flames produced by a similar spell that is also in the PHB (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/produceFlame.htm)).


On a related note, does anyone here have any experience with rescaling maps so that the squares represent increments other than five feet? In a full party of Tiny fey (and one Reduce Person'd halfling who thinks it's quite funny) it seems like it might make the combat flow a little more intuitively, and perhaps more importantly, impose a more powerful sense of scale by having that ordinary elf wizard tower over them from a four square inch base, but I'm not sure what pitfalls there might be in trying to adapt the mechanics in that fashion.
Considering creatures of any size still have movement speed measured in 5 ft. increments, I'd suggest to simply use a grid with larger squares because even if you used a 1 ft. grid every creature would move, attack, cast spells, and see in multiples of five squared.