The only problem I'm trying to fix is how to get people to stop asking me what problem I'm trying to fix and why I want this change. It's amazing how difficult that is to do. Any suggestions on that?
Explain the reason for the change. That way people can make suggestions based upon the intended outcome, rather than worrying that their ideas will be dismissed because they've hit on something that you're actually trying to avoid. Even when offering solicited help over the internet, anxiety is still a thing.
I think a rough assessment on just how much more power we are talking in various encounter days. For example: in a single encounter day I think the net benefit on average tops out at maybe 25% more effectiveness. (Calculation based on campaign where players know they have exactly a single encounter in the day and effectiveness estimated by comparing damage spells each setup can cast.
I also think it's worth considering that more important than encounters per day, may be whether there is a threat for a day going longer than expected. That alone tends to put a damper on how much you will use abilities, even more so when your resource-free options are relatively weak. IMO.
Yep. Both how long the adventuring day is, and how long the players
think that it will be will play a factor in how they choose to spend their resources.
What if there was no problem?
Then there would be no need for a fix. Even if the problem is simply "I prefer the caster aesthetic of editions where a wizard would either be devastating their enemies or throwing a dart/hiding behind the cleric."
Cantrips wouldn’t be useless with my change either.
Casters in tier 2 and 3 are basically useless now if they get down to the point where they have no spell slots. Surely your not suggesting that’s not the case?
Why do you feel it's not?
I rarely felt useless when throwing my 2d8 attack cantrip at tier 2. It still felt that I was contributing even though that was usually lower damage than the other party members.
Hence why I'm asking why
you feel useless. There is obviously a difference in the two situations.
My current game is featless. Though the DM does like to give out strong magic weapons. Though the change isn't for that game in particular.
Featless game will drop the effectiveness of pure martial classes compared to casters quite considerably, although classes like Paladins will remain strong. Does your caster have a magic item that boosts their casting or cantrips in the same way as the rest of the group's weapons boost their attacks?
Actually, one option that might solve the issue you have with cantrips might be to obtain a wand or staff. - Gives a couple more rounds of throwing spells per day rather than falling back on cantrips.
Only if you agree to answer a similar question for me: For tier 2, how much more than 1d10 damage does a cantrip need before you will say it's no longer nearly useless?
Theorycrafting aside, I'd say that the current scaling is about right. I played a wizard through Curse of Strahd who spent most of his combat rounds casting his only attack cantrip (Chill Touch), and the majority of his play occurred over tier 2.
I found that I was generally fine with throwing 2d8 damage, but where I was attacking something that I knew was resistant to necrotic damage and the cantrip riders weren't useful, I would often try to find something else to do.
So for me at tier 2 in actual play, 2d8 seemed OK, but half of that didn't, even though it would generally have still been superior to a weapon attack.