I have always been of the school that weapons like swords really do similar damage but that the varying damages reflect the ease with which that damage is deliver. So, if you were stabbed with a bowie knife and you were stabbed with a short sword and stabbed yet again with a broad sword, you would essentially be delivering similar damage with all things being equal….but they are not. A broadsword has longer reach and greater heft. These are factors that make the potential to deal damage higher. A dagger can be “faster” but that does not balance out against the inertia that a broadsword or even a short sword has on its side.
All that said, what are your thoughts on incorporating these types of factors into your combat? Does it add something to have the same damage for these three weapons but then have reach and heft play in as factors on to hit and damage?
Just the inkiling of an idea here and not even one I might be considering but basically a weapons would have a broad type of damage so say:
Sword, thin : d8
Sword, broad : d12
Long Sword : Reach = 4, Heft = 3, type = Sword, thin
Broad Sword: Reach = 3, Heft = 4, type = Sword, broad
Zwei-hander : Reach = 6, Heft = 6, type = Sword, broad
Dagger : Reach = 1, Heft = 1, type = Sword, thin
In practice:
A person using a long sword would have init over the guy using the broad sword. In addition, the LS (Long Sword) would have a +1 to hit (Reach: 4 (attacker:you) – 3 (Defender : BS) = +1. The BS would have a -1 to hit under similar calculation. However, damage would be 3(heft)d8 for LS and 4(heft)d12 for the BS.
There would be a total of 4 actions per round. This would be ticked off via heft of the weapon being used. So, the LS would have 3 the first round with one left over, 3 the next round with 2 left over, and then the third round be able to take 2 attacks. With a dagger you could go to town with 4 per round but if you are fighting a BS then you would be at -2.
Does this sound crazy or just familiar?