D&D 5E Advanced 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons!

[Krachek]

Adding more or less dexterity in damage will still leave DnD as a very poor reflect of the reality of martial combat. The rules are a convention for dreaming together. Try to reflect reality is a dead end.

 

[dave2008]

You could, alternatively, make a game where Dexterity determined both accuracy and evasion, and Strength was just for damage. I know that's how it works in GURPS, for example. You just need to be careful with those, because the math for most such systems tends to work out in such a way that a character with high Dexterity is just better than a character with high Strength.

We used to Reflex to hit and Str for damage in 4e and it worked fine. There is a thread on these forums about using Fortitude, Reflex, and Will in 5e that I think I might implement and go back to Reflex for accuracy in 5e.

From a pure game balance perspective, using Strength as your offense stat and Dexterity as your defense stat is more balanced; and it's also a better representation of reality, where individual strength is the overwhelming factor in many fights.

I disagree, I don't have a lot of weapon training but my own and my children's experience in tae kwon do, judo, and jiu jitsu tells me experience/training is more important than brute strength (I can provide examples if you want). Dex and Strength might be tied, but even in grappling high Dex often wins out. I think that (High Dex) would be even more important in weapons that rely on hand-eye coordination.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

I disagree, I don't have a lot of weapon training but my own and my children's experience in tae kwon do, judo, and jiu jitsu tells me experience/training is more important than brute strength (I can provide examples if you want). Dex and Strength might be tied, but even in grappling high Dex often wins out.

My experience with unarmed combat is that a big person only needs one solid hit to end a fight entirely, where the little person is going to have to work for it. I'm sure that skill is still an important factor, but there's a reason why professional fighting is broken into weight divisions; for as long as skill is anything close to comparable, I'd put my money on a generic heavyweight boxer against a generic lightweight competitor.

 

[dave2008]

I guarantee that, using a rapier, no amount of strength will make you more likely to pierce the armor so they feel it. some dexterous movements though, allowing you to slide into an opening in the armor, will work quite well. After that, it takes very little pressure for a sharp object to pierce human flesh.

That is a good point. I think I may have to change my stance that all attacks should be Dex based and all damage should be STR based. Maybe I need to be more flexible and allow for different properties for different weapons.

 

[dave2008]

My experience with unarmed combat is that a big person only needs one solid hit to end a fight entirely, where the little person is going to have to work for it. I'm sure that skill is still an important factor, but there's a reason why professional fighting is broken into weight divisions; for as long as skill is anything close to comparable, I'd put my money on a generic heavyweight boxer against a generic lightweight competitor.

That is in general true for hand to hand combat sports. Though like I said, experience/training (by which I mean skill) is important and to some degree more important. I think this is even more relevant with weapons like swords which take don't take much strength to be very dangerous. And now a few examples from MMA:

1) The son of our Judo instructor would often compete in 2 weight classes in a tournament. It was not uncommon for him to get 2nd or 3rd in his weight class, but get 1st place in the weight class above him. In his weight class there were 2 kids that we just better than him (nationally - local tournaments not so much), but the weight class above him, for whatever reason, was not as skilled.

2) Fedor Emelianenko: The russian heavy weight MMA star routinely beat people larger than himself because he was more skilled. Fedor fought at a pudgy 225-230lbs and defeated people weighing 240, 250, 265, 267, 270, and even a 7'2" 352lb giant.

EDIT: 3) Kimbo Slice - enough said.

 

[dave2008]

I'd put my money on a generic heavyweight boxer against a generic lightweight competitor.

But what about a generic heavy weight vs. a skilled middle weight or light heavy weight? That is more like what I'm talking about.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

But what about a generic heavy weight vs. a skilled middle weight or light heavy weight? That is more like what I'm talking about.

A level 10 fighter with Strength 14 would probably beat a level 4 fighter with Strength 20, but that's not a choice that the game asks us to make. At any given level, the stronger fighter should be favored against the weaker one.

 

[dave2008]

A level 10 fighter with Strength 14 would probably beat a level 4 fighter with Strength 20, but that's not a choice that the game asks us to make. At any given level, the stronger fighter should be favored against the weaker one.

I disagree, at any given level the the better fighter should be favored and that could be the stronger or the more dexterous. Now, if both are equally as dexterously trained, then yes the stronger fighter should be favored.

I am simply not convinced that being stronger gives you an advantage to "hit" with a sword, all other things being equal. My own fighting experience and observation tell me otherwise; however, I will readily admit that I do not have enough experience with weapons to know if this holds true for weapons (some or generally).

 

[dave2008]

A level 10 fighter with Strength 14 would probably beat a level 4 fighter with Strength 20, but that's not a choice that the game asks us to make. At any given level, the stronger fighter should be favored against the weaker one.

I would favor the level 10 fighter with Dexterity 20 and Strength 12 over the level 10 fighter with Strength 20 and Dexterity 12. Of course, it would also depend on the weapons and armor as well.

 

[Eubani]

Apparently intelligence has nothing to do with physical combat either.