D20 System, Determine Damage

>>51181088
Unless there is a hit location keyed to the to-hit roll, I would usually prefer static + difference for damage.

Meaning if opponent has AC 14, and I roll 16, my damage is (Weapon + (16-14) = Weapon + 2).

If the hit location is keyed to to-hit, damage die from weapon works best. Alternative to modifier, however, I would use XdYk1, where X is the damage modifier (say, strength) and Y is the weapon die. And then you choose the best die from those. That way stronger people hit harder on average, but it doesn't create damage bloat.

How many hits should kill?

I hate static HP pools. I'm the roll-against-wounds fag. Meaning you gain wounds as you get damaged, and every time you get hit you roll against the new wound amount. Rolling under means you keel. This means you might keel from the very first hit, but you can also tough it out for a long time. Of course, there should be something to resist keeling over, such as metacurrency.

And this is to unconsciousness, death should be a somewhat similar roll once you've keeled. Keep the players rolling instead of making rounds where they don't roll for anything.

Ironically my own game system uses none of these, except roll-under-wounds, with a twist.

>>51181088
I prefer damage tied to classes/characters actually, and weapons only having tags (some tags, like "two handed", could improve damage, while other tags could have other effects). Aside from that, I prefer static damage numbers, personally.

This way the weapon is just a tool, and the damage depends on the user. A dagger in the hands of a fighter will be a lot more dangerous than in the hands of a wizard (although they both have access to its "light" and "throwing" properties).

>How many hits should kill?

This is a good question. How long do you want combat to last on average?

Honestly, roll for damage. I've played flat damage but it's so anti climactic. There's a reason we've done dice all these years. It also leads to easier min maxing

>>51183758
And for health, make it so that 5 martials can all gang up on a person to kill them in a turn

I'm a fan of GURPS's "strength is the basis for damage; the weapon modifies" as opposed to the standard "the weapon is the basis for damage; strength modifies" that almost every other system uses.