Thanks for your responses GOD and ManaSeed!
Yeah, the damage penalty makes sense with all the weapons that use strength… which is everything except crossbows, I guess haha! I can see why they didn’t make that one weapon the only exception to this trait. That said, I feel like ranged weapons rely as much on accuracy as they do on raw power to inflict wounds. Sure, a Tiny character might not have as strong a pull on a bow (or throwing arm with a javelin), but how much damage he deals basically comes down to whether he hits them in the foot or in the eye.
Anyways, just in terms of game mechanics I would like to the Tiny trait become less terrible. -15% damage is a pretty severe penalty in a game where all you do is fight. When I have the misfortune to get a Tiny brother he becomes a meatshield for my more useful guys (sorry little buddy!). I feel like Tiny guys could still make good archers or crossbow men though. That’s why I’d like to see the trait get a buff for ranged damage, even if realistically two out of the three ranged weapons make use of a character’s strength.
As far as size effecting a crossbow’s reload speed goes… that’s an interesting idea, but with only one trait that effects size (right? I’ve never seen a Huge trait yet) I wonder if that is really worth their time implementing. Seems like a lot of work for something that only effects characters with a specific trait when they use a specific weapon, you know?