Gear question: Is the only mechanical difference between say a non-fine large weapon and a small one (aside from effects on load) primarily narrative grounds for different effects or rationale for using certain skills or approaches? (ie attacking that knife-wielding thug with your pike may be Controlled, where it would be Risky if you also had a small knife; or dismemberment is more believable with an axe than a switchblade). But then reacting to a quick dagger ambush in tight quarters may be more desperate or disadvantaged with an 8-foot polearm. Would those considerations ever result in +d or -d to any given roll?
Another fictional difference is that big martial weapons are more conspicuous, which could be beneficial (more intimidating for instance).
Are gear descriptions basically a non-explicit way to do something similar to AW’s tags like messy/loud which strongly affect fiction, but not quantifiable mechanics?
Yep, Adam that’s exactly right.
For +d on a roll, consider a devil’s bargain that relates to the weapon. “You can take +1d here with your pole-arm if you keep falling back to keep him at reach, but you’ll have to move out of the alley and into the street where people can see what’s going on.”
“You can take +1d with your dagger, in close, to shank him repeatedly, but you’ll be absolutely covered in blood.”