Damage by HD in OSE/Od&d

[Cruentus]

I'm running two concurrent small campaigns using OSE. I've seen some variant rules here and there, one of which caught my eye:

Characters do damage based on their HD. So, a fighter does d8, a cleric d6, and a wizard or thief d4. The way it was pitched was this reflected training. So any weapon a fighter used would do d8 damage, likewise, give a wizard a two handed sword, and it does d4. This also serves to simplify weapons quite a bit, and weapon choice is then a bit more "cosmetic" or for the "cool look factor" rather than in-game mechanics.

I'm torn. On the one hand, I like this, since as a fighter I can use a spear, or axe, or sword, or bow and do d8. Wizards still do no damage (limited to dagger and staff mostly anyway), thieves lose 1 pt of damage on average (d6 shortsword to d4), but still do double damage on a backstab, etc.

Keep in mind, eveyone throughout the entire game only gets one attack, ever. Or one spell. Or one shot with a bow or crossbow each round. So its not severely impacting classes that couldn't wield swords anyway.

So, thoughts on this kind of implementation in an OSE/Od&d/Basic setting?

 

[thirdkingdom]

The only major thing it changes is if you give access to swords to magic-users/clerics. Magic swords make up the majority of magical weapons, and there are more powerful varieties of magic swords than any other magic items. Limiting swords to fighters/thieves gives them a little bit of an advantage in combat.

 

[Cruentus]

That's a good call. It hadn't actually occurred to me that allowing thieves and wizards to use swords would open them up to being able to use magic ones as well . That would end up allowing more flexibility for those classes. Hmm.

 

[thirdkingdom]

That's a good call. It hadn't actually occurred to me that allowing thieves and wizards to use swords would open them up to being able to use magic ones as well . That would end up allowing more flexibility for those classes. Hmm.

Well, thieves are allowed to use swords. It's mostly clerics and magic-users that can't.

 

[Andvari]

It’s a topic I’ve been thinking on as well. Downsides I’ve thought of is that power gamers may gravitate towards the small weapons.

If the fighter deals the same damage with a dagger as with a sword or a polearm, the dagger tends to become the best weapon. Because it’s a lot easier to hide and carry. And you probably can throw it more easily.

So in a way, in the process of eliminating damage as a factor in which weapon is best, another factor can take over. But it might not matter if the players don’t abuse the system.

You probably still want some advantage for two-handed weapons as you can’t use a shield with them, like a +1 damage bonus.

 

[John R Davis]

2 handed or magic weapon, step dice up one category.
Easy peasy

 

[Nikosandros]

The idea has merit. If I were to implement it, I would probably bump up the die for 2-handed (as already suggested) and bump it down for small weapons. I would also consider increasing the die for thieves when back-stabbing and maybe with missile weapons.

 

[Andvari]

The idea has merit. If I were to implement it, I would probably bump up the die for 2-handed (as already suggested) and bump it down for small weapons. I would also consider increasing the die for thieves when back-stabbing and maybe with missile weapons.

It is perhaps losing its simplicity at that point, but it still allows for a wider range of weapon choices, which I suspect is Cruentus’ primary goal.

 

[schneeland]

To keep the simplicity of the approach, instead of stepping up the die, I would probably just let players roll damage with advantage for a two-handed weapon. Sneak attack is a different beast, though, and I feel it still needs a special solution.

 

[Cruentus]

Thanks all for the comments and thoughts. It is an interesting thought experiment, as the earliest versions of dnd just did d6 with any and all weapons. Then they added varying weapon damages as an 'optional' rule.

@Nikosandros @Andvari The dice stepping mechanic is one I've seen in Beyond the Wall. IIrc, they have three broad ranges of weapons, basically d4 (dagger, sling, club, wooden sword), d6 (spear, staff, mace, bow, shortsword), d8 longsword, battle axe, longbow, d10 great sword, great axe, lance, halberd. An elves affinity for bows, for example, then bumps the Longbow from d8 to d10 damage, likewise a dwarves ability with axes (bumps it a die). So there is a "simple" way to implement it, the question is whether you do it by class (i.e. weapon specialization), or via other ability. It could get messy if you bumped or lowered dice based on class and weapon.

I hadn't considered the "going lower" in terms of size if you can still do more damage (i.e. always rocking the dagger). I figured if you were using a spear, or two handed weapon, there would be times where you couldnt due to space considerations. But ultimately I think players will likely go for the most damage possible just as a matter of course.

The game I saw the damage based on HD also added tags to the weapons (another level of complexity), which I can only assume means that there is a mechanical downside to a dagger compared to a sword, for example. But the dagger could work in a pinch. I haven't seen the tags or the weapons list, so I can't describe it much better.