Random Damage Bonus versus Static Damage Bonus

[Tywyll]

Originally Posted by RosenMcStern

I think this discussion has little practical value.

Perhaps not to you, but to others it does. I'm interested in hearing other people's ideas on the subject, as well as their personal experiences, either with the random damage bonus or with a flat one.

[RosenMcStern]

Originally Posted by Tywyll

Perhaps not to you, but to others it does.

Yes, this is what I usually mean when I prepend "I think" to a statement. Isn't it the same for you?

[Tywyll]

Originally Posted by RosenMcStern

Yes, this is what I usually mean when I prepend "I think" to a statement. Isn't it the same for you?

Of course, but to say someone else's discussion has 'little practical value', comes across as saying, "I'm bored of talking/have nothing left to say about this, so this conversation should end now."

[frogspawner]

Originally Posted by Tywyll

Of course, but to say someone else's discussion has 'little practical value', comes across as saying, "I'm bored of talking/have nothing left to say about this, so this conversation should end now."

Don't worry, anyone who bothers to read such stuff can probably see that. Just try not to let that kind of comment wind you up.

Originally Posted by Rurik

Another quick and dirty rule thought is that the Damage Bonus Die cannot be greater than the weapon damage die.
So a troll with a 2d6 Damage Bonus would have have his Damage Bonus limited to 2d3 when using a D3+1 knife. When using a dagger it would be limited to 2d4, etc.

That's just the sort of neat idea I was hoping for. Nice one!

[frogspawner]

The BRP damage bonus progression goes:
STR+SIZ
02-12 -d6
13-16 -d4
17-24 -
25-32 +d4
33-40 +d6
41-56 +2d6
(each +16, another +d6)

[Al.]

Originally Posted by frogspawner

The BRP damage bonus progression goes:
STR+SIZ
02-12 -d6
13-16 -d4
17-24 -
25-32 +d4
33-40 +d6
41-56 +2d6
(each +16, another +d6)

So if you were in search of granularity but wanted to keep the 4 point step progression that could become:
STR+SIZ
01-04 -d8 -4
05-08 -d6 -3
09-12 -d4 -2
13-16 -d2 -1
17-24 ±0
25-28 +d2 +1
29-32 +d4 +2
33-36 +d6 +3
37-40 +d8 +4
41-44 +d10 +5
45-48 +2d6 +6
49-52 +d8+d6* +7
53-56 +2d8 +8
57-60 +3d6 +9
(each +4, another +d2 or +1)
(each +12, another +d6 or +3)


*I'd ignore this step personally so just posted for sake of completeness

Al

[Al.]

Originally Posted by frogspawner

PS: Where'd 3 go?

Hmmmm

Good question, pass, the drawback of composing a long-winded reply on the fly I suppose.



Al

[RMS]

Originally Posted by Rurik

Another quick and dirty rule thought is that the Damage Bonus Die cannot be greater than the weapon damage die.

So a troll with a 2d6 Damage Bonus would have have his Damage Bonus limited to 2d3 when using a D3+1 knife. When using a dagger it would be limited to 2d4, etc.

That is just a quick random thought - I do not know the Damage Bonus Progression used by BRP as I have not bought the Zero Edition, so my mindset is coming from the RQ3 DB progression.

How about rolling normal damage bonus, but limiting the damage bonus by the rolled weapon damage, or perhaps just limiting it by the maximum weapon damage.

That's just some ideas. Personally, I'm happy to let trolls, giants, and similar get their full damage dice. I don't mind giving some more granularity on the human end using 1d2, 1d3, 1d4, 1d6, or similar. I also don't mind not having glancing blows for really big creatures. At the granularity of BRP, I'm happy to assume that glancing blows are simply misses and any damage (1 hp or more) is more than just a glancing blow.

[RosenMcStern]

Originally Posted by Al.

So if you were in search of granularity but wanted to keep the 4 point step progression that could become:

No version of d100 has ever had a 4-point granularity in the table. RQ3 and DBRP are "+1d6 per 16 points" (+3.5 per 16 points), while RQ4 and MRQ are "+1 or +1d2 per five points". Your table is a nice synthesis of RQ4 and MRQ, but the curve is definitely too steep. I have had player characters in my game with STR+SIZ normally enhanced to 66, and the bonuses you suggest are too high (4d6!).

[Tywyll]

Originally Posted by RMS

How about rolling normal damage bonus, but limiting the damage bonus by the rolled weapon damage, or perhaps just limiting it by the maximum weapon damage.

That's just some ideas. Personally, I'm happy to let trolls, giants, and similar get their full damage dice. I don't mind giving some more granularity on the human end using 1d2, 1d3, 1d4, 1d6, or similar. I also don't mind not having glancing blows for really big creatures. At the granularity of BRP, I'm happy to assume that glancing blows are simply misses and any damage (1 hp or more) is more than just a glancing blow.

I think that is where I am... which is to say I've always assumed a 'glancing blow' is one that doesn't actually do damage (since the pool of 'life force' i.e. HP is so small, even 2 or 3 damage can be a full 5th or quarter of someone's HP... not really a glance, I'd say). So yeah, if someone successfully dodged, I might describe that as them pulling aside at the last second and only getting 'nicked' by the sword they were avoiding.