Advantage with Two Handed Weapons
(Reference Jason Hobbs' Random Screed: Shorter Screed 9/6/2018)
To encourage use of two handed weapons in a game where a shield can be sundered to negate damage from one attack, Jason created advantage on his damage dice (roll twice the damage dice and keep the best result). On the one hand, this sounds like a cool bonus. On the other hand, it seems to really increase the average damage from a two handed weapon. For some reason I’m hesitant to minimize the lower rolls. I’m sure I’d love it as a player. It’s only when thinking about it from a meta perspective do I wonder.
Another option: Two handed weapons get initiative bonus or able to go first in the round due to assumed reach.
Implications: With the advantage rule, a character is more likely to do more damage per hit and thereby has a higher chance for one hit kills. Regular initiative is kept, so I’d expect the enemy to strike first half the time and the character to strike first half the time. With initiative rule, a character is more likely to strike first. If that first hit kills (two handed weapons tend to do more damage), the enemy never gets a chance to strike. I’m not sure which option is more balance or more attractive to the player.
To encourage use of two handed weapons in a game where a shield can be sundered to negate damage from one attack, Jason created advantage on his damage dice (roll twice the damage dice and keep the best result). On the one hand, this sounds like a cool bonus. On the other hand, it seems to really increase the average damage from a two handed weapon. For some reason I’m hesitant to minimize the lower rolls. I’m sure I’d love it as a player. It’s only when thinking about it from a meta perspective do I wonder.
Another option: Two handed weapons get initiative bonus or able to go first in the round due to assumed reach.
Implications: With the advantage rule, a character is more likely to do more damage per hit and thereby has a higher chance for one hit kills. Regular initiative is kept, so I’d expect the enemy to strike first half the time and the character to strike first half the time. With initiative rule, a character is more likely to strike first. If that first hit kills (two handed weapons tend to do more damage), the enemy never gets a chance to strike. I’m not sure which option is more balance or more attractive to the player.