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2024-12-15 13:42:00

Stuffed Crocodile on Nostr: Rethinking variable damage So Cauldron gave me the opportunity to actually play a lot ...

Rethinking variable damage

So Cauldron gave me the opportunity to actually play a lot of ODnD for once, and with that came the notion of using a single damage die to roll the damage on targets.

For context: this is how it worked in the original rules of DnD, and it is not something that I really considered beforehand, as variable damage is so baked into my concept of playing DnD, that I found the idea of using just the d6 for damage inherently limiting. When I started with DnD it was 2nd ed. ADnD, and of course that one had variable damage all the way through. A dagger should just make less damage than a sword, shouldn’t it?

Well, why exactly should it? If you stab someone in the right place with a sword they’ll be as dead as if you stab them with a dagger, wont they? Also combat in early Dungeons and Dragons is inherently abstracted. How exactly does it help in the first place if one weapon can make 1d4 damage, while another one can make 1d8?

For what it’s worth I very belatedly realized that the standard as given in Labyrinth Lord is actually d6 for damage dice as well, with variable damage given as an optional rule. I hadn’t even realized it was only an optional rule until one of my players asked me about it. Of course it only mentions it’s the standard rule once and then every other mention of damage mentions variable damage (because the optional rule affects it as well).

It sometimes is weird how we don’t even realize the inherent bias we approach stuff with. You can write rules as clear as you want, someone with a different idea will come and read something that just isn’t written there and will be convinced YOU are in the wrong.

But what’s the benefit of using a single damage die instead of multiple ones?

I think it mostly comes down to simplicity and efficiency. Do you need to look up what damage you can do with your weapon, or some random weapon you got your hands on? No. It’s gonna be 1d6, modified by strength.

So what’s the problem with using this?

Well, why would you use any other weapon than e.g. a sword and an axe with a shield, if the damage you do is exactly the same?

Historically that’s actually quite the good point, larger 2-handed swords were really not that common, and when they were used often had very specific functions on the battlefield. They also do keep you from using a shield.

So there needs to be SOME benefit of using 2-handed weapons besides style.

One common solution is to make them slightly better. Philotomy’s Musings gives the idea to roll them with advantage: you roll 2 damage die, and you take the higher roll.

Or the 2-handed weapon does 2d4 damage. That also sounds like a nice solution. Definitely higher damage output than that 1d6, but not out of this world yet. It also could work with damage from crossbows.Rate this:

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