Hmm… If I turn off DNS forwarding (the clients get the actual DNS server IPs instead of the IP address of the pfSense machine as the DNS server IP) I can ping each other again, but it's responding with IPv6 addresses, not IPv4. At least I can now communicate.
I'll leave it this way for now, but awaiting any solution. When I get time, I'm going to reset everything and start over. If that doesn't work, I'll just go back to my Linksys WRT54GS, chalk it up to either an unfinished software, or maybe just too complicated for me (I would have thought the default settings would at least be on parity on function with a SOHO router).
I'll probably repurpose the small PC as a server or a PC to test things with.