Comparing Damage & To Hit bonuses for weapons

[kent]

Oct 21, 2007 10:57:19 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

I like a simple weapon damage system:
Small = d4 = dagger, slingstone, maybe punch/kick, maybe short sword
Medium = d6 = sword, bow, mace, axe, flail
Large = d8 = two-handed sword, halberd, other polearm
[ed. Kent: d8 was blank above]

Oct 26, 2007 11:35:51 GMT -6 foster1941 said:

Weapons have a bonus or penalty on their "to hit" roll, as follows:

Dagger*, hand axe, spear*: -1 to hit
Mace, hammer, sword*, battle axe, pike: no adjustment
Military pick, morning star, flail, pole arm*, halberd*: +1 to hit
Two-handed sword, mounted lance: +2 to hit

From: odd74.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=menmagic&thread=356&page=1

Ive been thinking about the *simplest* way to think about the two most common methods of introducing variable weapon effects.

Taking T Foster's and Finarvyn's rulings for the two handed sword we have a +2 To Hit and a d8 damage which is equivalent to a d6+1 in the long run so let's say +1 damage.

The To Hit modifier can seem confusing as say a 19 was required to hit a +2 modifier would appear to double the amount of damage dealt, [10% chance -> 20% chance to hit => doubling], whereas if 13 was required to hit then the fractional increase is no longer double.

There is a simpler way to think about the effect of the To Hit bonus. Simply work out the average damage per round. This will be constant. +2 To Hit is an increase of 10% on an average damage of 3.5 hps, ie +0.35 hps per round.

The +1 Damage bonus however does not have a constant benefit and varies with the skill of the beneficiary. See example in the conclusion below.

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CONCLUSION:
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So the conclusion is that if you wish to modify the rules when using different weapons then:

a To Hit bonus results in a CONSTANT damage rate per round for all combatants of 0.18 hps for +1 To Hit or 0.35 hps for +2 To Hit.

a Damage bonus results in a VARIABLE damage rate per round which favours the most highly skilled combatants. A +1 damage bonus against Chainmail will benefit a Superhero by 0.6 hps per round and a Veteran by 0.35 hps per round.

So now you have more than an aesthetic reason to choose between either method. A bonus to Damage *grows* with the beneficiary while the To Hit bonus is independent of the beneficiary.