I'm trying to get the RPG project going again, and I'm trying to get more of the specifics done this summer on my break. The game has active defense, wounds on massive damage, and most powers (including healing) are at will, with long casting times and location components limiting some things to outside of combat or outside the dungeon respectively. I'm also trying to make certain things scale more intuitively with level (so no getting harder to heal as time goes on).

To get down to the nitty-gritty:

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Massive Damage Threshold:
Massive damage threshold is 10 + con mod (-3 to +3) + level.
Armor is DR (+0 to +4) and by reducing damage also reduces the risk of wounds.

If an attack deals damage equal to or greater than the MDT after DR, you roll on the wounds table to determine the effect. Wounds include bleeding, stunning, staggering, knockout, knockback, bonus damage, and varying stages of limb damage.

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Healing Dice:
As characters level, they get healing dice. These dice aren't so much a resource as they are an indication of how much magic and/or rest will heal you.

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Healing Touch:
This is a cleric power that can be used at-will in combat. It's touch range and a main action. It heals 1hp for each of the target's HD to a maximum equal to the target's level. It removes the staggered effect, and bleed(1), and will automatically stabilize a target at 0 hp (the game doesn't have negative hp, just a dying status effect and a coup de grace option).

Healing Ritual:
This is a cleric ritual. It takes a few minutes and should be saved for outside combat. It's touch range. Target rolls HD and recovers that many hit points to a max of (something that should come out to about 1/2 - 2/3 total hit points). This ritual will also remove any and all bleeding, staggering, unconsciousness, and limb damage (with the exception of severed limbs).

Greater Healing Ritual:
Another cleric ritual. This one requires the cleric to be in a temple or consecrated space, and is also touch range. Target recovers full hit points and all conditions end. Severed limbs can be healed if you kept them with you and they haven't rotted.

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The next post will outline my goals for specific outcomes I want for the hp, MDT, damage, and healing progressions I want to use. Feel free to ask questions about other aspects of the system if you think they're relevant.

My goals are as follows:

A person should be knocked down by two or three average hits by an equal foe.

If equal foes attack and defend there should be about 50/50 odds of hitting.

If an equal foe hits you, there should be about 50/50 odds of a wound.

If someone of equal level attacks you, they should be able to hit you.

If someone of equal level hits you, they should be able to wound you.

Someone 5 levels below you should still be able to hit you, if not as often. On the same note, you should be able to hit someone 5 levels above you.

Someone 5 levels below you should still be able to wound you, if not as often. On the same note, you should be able to wound someone 5 levels above you.

Healing in the middle of combat shouldn't negate an attack. It probably shouldn't even negate half of an attack. Healing in this case is at will, and 100% accurate.

Once you've fought someone in the dungeon, you're not at full health. You're injured and you'll stay that way for as long as you stay in the dungeon.

Once you get back to town, you should be able to get back on your feet pretty quickly. This isn't to say that dungeon crawling can't be a net loss, especially if you were dumb enough to let something eat your foot.

I'm fine with combat becoming less swingy as people level up, but not the other way around.

I'm fine with healing getting more effective as people level up, but not the other way around.

The weapon damage value formula I'm using so far is (dice + ability mod + level). On a critical hit, a flat bonus (equal to the average of the dice) is added.

Since ability mod and level are also part of the MDT formula, I know I want the average to hover around 10 for average weapons. Since armor is +0 to +4 I figure maybe good weapons do around 4 more on average.

Since the lowest value for ability mod is -3 and the highest for ability mod plus armor is +7, and I want foes of equal level to always be able to wound each other, I need weapons to be able to deal up to 20 damage before modifiers. Even if that only happens on a critical hit.

I'm thinking this looks about right, but I need to make sure before moving on to the next step.

Options on the next step include reducing MDT to 5 + (mod) + level. It has the same range of numbers, counting armor (around 10) but by using lower damage totals I can have shallower curves on the dice. Not sure if I should do this.

So I'm going to compare the two formulas for MDT a bit in terms of what dice weapons will need to have to meet my design goals.

I'm going to say, hypothetically, that a dagger should wound an unarmored foe 50% of the time between equal foes, and that it should at least be able to wound a very strong guy (+3 con) when held by a weakling (-3 str).

And that a sword should wound a fully armored foe 50% of the time between equal foes, and that it should at least be able to wound a fully armored strong guy (+3 con) when held by a weakling (-3 str).

So when I say a sword and a dagger, I'm not talking about anything too specific, just those goals up there. Actual swords and actual daggers may get different values.

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So assuming that MDT is 10 + conmod + level

The average damage of a dagger should be near 10, and the max should be 16 or up.
Available dice combinations: 2d10, 3d6, 4d4

The average damage of a sword should be near 14, and the max should be 20 or up.
Available dice combinations: 3d8, 4d6, 5d4

Averages in general should run between 10 and 14, while maxes should run from 16 to 20.
Available dice combinations: 2d10, 3d6, 4d4, 3d8, 4d6, 5d4... 3d10, 2d8, 6d4 are a stretch but possible.

In general, the available dice combinations would include stuff around those six values. Very few 2 dice solutions (which I tend to like) but lots of leeway at the upper end (so a dagger might even damage a fully armored foe on a max hit).

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Assuming that MDT is 5 + conmod + level

The average damage of a dagger should be near 5, and the max should be 11 or up.
Available dice combinations: 2d6

The average damage of a sword should be near 9, and the max should be 15 or up.
Available dice combinations: 2d8

Averages in general should run between 5 and 9, and maxes should run around 11 to 15 and up. That leaves 2d6, 2d8, 3d4, and not much else.

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So I guess I'm going to settle on the original MDT formula here and move on to hp and healing values based on that.

Given that starting MDT is in the 7-13 range, and damage averages close to that, it should be enough that hp are in the 21-39 range, or close to it. That way people go down in 2 or 3 average hits as said above. My thoughts for the formula are: 20 + con mod + (fixed class-based mod every level).

I'm thinking this fixed modifier should be between 2 and 5. It seems low, but an average of 3 will tend to keep pace with the 3 hits rule and the +1/level damage and MDT scaling. I could go higher, allowing higher level combat to take more hits (barring crits and wounds, which would happen with the same or similar frequency) but I'd want to be careful to set even the max around 4 or 5 hits between evenly matched foes.

Anyone know how to do a table on this site?

Hi beejazz.
I can see you're putting alot of thought into it. Sorry lots of specific points so I'm going to dotpoint.
 
*Terminology: I'd avoid using three words or one acronym (Massive Damage Threshold is long, and too many acronyms is confusing) where you can use a recognizable word.
 
*'Healing dice' can work, though I 'd think fixed amounts rather than dice may be better (e.g. 1 power point = 1 hit point healed) if the game has alot of hit points. (But then, I've had a lot of bad experiences with Cure Light Wounds wands in 3.5).
 
*Having a wounds table will slow things down. You might be able to generate many of the results without a table with a few additional rules, maybe.
 
*It might be logical (if not workable) to calculate MDT as a fraction of total hit points (2nd Ed. D&D did that, having 'numbed' and 'useless' results equal to 25% HP and 50% HP).
 
*on the HP calculation, if you expect a target to go down in three hits, it may make sense to use [3x Con mod] as a hit point modifier, since their opponent will have applied [3xStr mod] in bonus damage.
 
*As an idea, you could also possibly do away with HPs completely and just use MDT.
 
 
 
A couple of questions:
*How are you thinking of doing criticals?
 
*And the nasty question...if you have levelling-up HPs, are you conceptualizing HPs as purely physical damage, the usual sort of hybrid munge of vigour/luck/skill, don't ask?
 
 
 
You an do tables with Code tag I think. Mine have always looked wonky, so I often do it in Excel, take a screenshot and put up the image.

Quote from: Bloody Stupid Johnson;549266Hi beejazz.
I can see you're putting alot of thought into it. Sorry lots of specific points so I'm going to dotpoint.

Yeah, this project has been on the back burner for a long time, and it's mutated significantly since its inception. Thanks for the feedback.
 

Quote*Terminology: I'd avoid using three words or one acronym (Massive Damage Threshold is long, and too many acronyms is confusing) where you can use a recognizable word.

Terminology is going to be one of the harder parts of this project. My range descriptors will need reworking later. Would shortening it to "damage threshold" or "wound threshold" seem better maybe?
 

Quote*'Healing dice' can work, though I 'd think fixed amounts rather than dice may be better (e.g. 1 power point = 1 hit point healed) if the game has alot of hit points. (But then, I've had a lot of bad experiences with Cure Light Wounds wands in 3.5).

The specifics will really depend on the specifics of the hp formula, which I'm still working on. My goal is that the max on the dice will be about 1/2 hp at any given level. Yes setting a cap on at will healing will mean people will heal until the cap (so why roll?), but for ritual healing (where rolling happens) the specific casting time should mean that time pressure can happen. Not everyone will heal at all or to full if there's a deadline.

In the case of in-combat healing, it's a fixed number (the number of dice, rather than rolling them, at least so far) and when you get back to town you heal to full.

I don't want to use something like power points. Part of the whole deal in this game is to avoid long term resource management on character abilities.
 

Quote*Having a wounds table will slow things down. You might be able to generate many of the results without a table with a few additional rules, maybe.

I'm aware it's an additional roll, as is the active defense. I prefer this to most alternatives I've tried, including hit location. As it stands, there's attack, dodge, damage, and wounds, but since each one depends on a prior one, you won't roll all four every round. I'm also trying to minimize rolls for things like movement for this reason.

I am going to go with a single table, and put it on the character sheet with little check boxes for ease of use.
 

Quote*It might be logical (if not workable) to calculate MDT as a fraction of total hit points (2nd Ed. D&D did that, having 'numbed' and 'useless' results equal to 25% HP and 50% HP).

Damage progresses at a linear rate with a slope of 1. Hit points progress at a variable rate depending on class. Using a fraction of hp calls for division and then might break down at the higher levels.
 

Quote*on the HP calculation, if you expect a target to go down in three hits, it may make sense to use [3x Con mod] as a hit point modifier, since their opponent will have applied [3xStr mod] in bonus damage.

I'm in the midst of rejiggering this one a lot. I'm trying to keep 1 hit kills viable at low levels, and at high levels the number of hits can inflate a bit higher. I'll probably write in some powers that will help to speed things along if I have to.
 

Quote*As an idea, you could also possibly do away with HPs completely and just use MDT.

HP I like because they get you closer to down every round. With wounds, there's the risk that nothing happens. If you fight a big monster you can't wound, I want it to still be possible to just exhaust it.
 
 

QuoteA couple of questions:
*How are you thinking of doing criticals?

Nat 20 auto hits.
4e style confirmation (if it would have hit normally, the crit goes through).
Flat bonus roughly equal to the avg damage of the weapon.

Since a crit is a flat bonus instead of doubling, it will matter less over time, and combat will get less swingy at the high levels (so far I'm fine with this).
 

Quote*And the nasty question...if you have levelling-up HPs, are you conceptualizing HPs as purely physical damage, the usual sort of hybrid munge of vigour/luck/skill, don't ask?

As it stands, wounds are concrete damage, while hp are a person being worn down. So if I want a warlord who heals people by shouting at them it's fine; it just doesn't affect wounds and won't bring someone back from zero.
 

QuoteYou an do tables with Code tag I think. Mine have always looked wonky, so I often do it in Excel, take a screenshot and put up the image.

Thanks. I'll probably go with excel or a scanned sheet of paper then.

Quote from: beejazz;549347Terminology is going to be one of the harder parts of this project. My range descriptors will need reworking later. Would shortening it to "damage threshold" or "wound threshold" seem better maybe?

On the Damage Threshold, 2 words is better than 3. I'd probably suggest "Toughness" or something as less unwieldy, though I guess that also is less meaningful. You could also go for a three-letter acronym that also looks has an intrinsic meaning (e.g. TUF = Target Unwoundedness Factor). OK that's lame, but you might be able to think of something.
 

QuoteI'm in the midst of rejiggering this one a lot. I'm trying to keep 1 hit kills viable at low levels, and at high levels the number of hits can inflate a bit higher. I'll probably write in some powers that will help to speed things along if I have to.

On the 3:1 setup, I was thinking awhile ago about trying to set up HPs to do the 'three strikes and you're out' setup, except with a high attack roll granting extra damage, instead of a direct damage bonus from level as in your system. Doing that gives the higher-level opponent more damage against the low-level guy and so is more likely to get a one-shot kill against a low level 'mook', without artificially lowering the bad guys hit points minion style. It also meant that less HP escalation is required for PCs (I was trying to have CON = HPs, since I like systems where hit points -and/or damage - have a discernable scale so I can roll a 'hit point check' if I need to). It did get a bit sad when it got to magic, since spells had to have virtually fixed effects by level as well.
 

QuoteHP I like because they get you closer to down every round. With wounds, there's the risk that nothing happens. If you fight a big monster you can't wound, I want it to still be possible to just exhaust it.

Fair enough. Keeping the wounds table you could apply some bonus to the wound roll for how much the damage roll beats the MDT perhaps. Then, you could always lower the MDT so that a big monster might still take a couple of wounds, but is less likely to take a wound that kills it entirely. (I guess I'd suggest using a wounding bonus even if you do keep HPs).

Quote from: Bloody Stupid Johnson;549430On the Damage Threshold, 2 words is better than 3. I'd probably suggest "Toughness" or something as less unwieldy, though I guess that also is less meaningful. You could also go for a three-letter acronym that also looks has an intrinsic meaning (e.g. TUF = Target Unwoundedness Factor). OK that's lame, but you might be able to think of something.

I'll probably just shorten it to Wound Threshold. It makes it clear what it's for, and I'm fine with a two letter acronym for a derived value like this.
 
 

QuoteOn the 3:1 setup, I was thinking awhile ago about trying to set up HPs to do the 'three strikes and you're out' setup, except with a high attack roll granting extra damage, instead of a direct damage bonus from level as in your system. Doing that gives the higher-level opponent more damage against the low-level guy and so is more likely to get a one-shot kill against a low level 'mook', without artificially lowering the bad guys hit points minion style. It also meant that less HP escalation is required for PCs (I was trying to have CON = HPs, since I like systems where hit points -and/or damage - have a discernable scale so I can roll a 'hit point check' if I need to). It did get a bit sad when it got to magic, since spells had to have virtually fixed effects by level as well.

On hp, I think it's just a matter of getting the slope right. If I assume something D&D style, the slope varies by class, but with a fixed level-based slope of 1 on damage, if I want the number of hits to remain the same, the slope on hp has to equal that number of hits. Which isn't going to happen. Scaling damage with attack rolls won't change the math much, since in this case attack rolls scale at the same rate.

Right now, I'm finding that because average damage is half max damage, first level ends up either two hits long or without one hit kills. Good thing the wounds table includes flat bonus damage. So I'm thinking of going with three hit fights at first with bonus damage included on the wounds table.

So for now, it's 20 +4 per level, +6 per level, or +8 per level. Given my current damage formula, that's 3 hits at first level, and 4 5 and 7 hits respectively at 20th level. Which is not bad considering some of the alternatives.

Since some powers have alternate effects on a wound (fire spells light you on fire for example) I could give big damage bonuses on wounds at high levels if I really need to. Wound rates stay pretty flat through the length of the game after all.
 

QuoteFair enough. Keeping the wounds table you could apply some bonus to the wound roll for how much the damage roll beats the MDT perhaps. Then, you could always lower the MDT so that a big monster might still take a couple of wounds, but is less likely to take a wound that kills it entirely. (I guess I'd suggest using a wounding bonus even if you do keep HPs).

There's tracks with varying intensity, but so far everything's random. It's a roll either way. May leave something like that in a gray box as an optional rule. I'm probably going to include two tables anyway (one including instakills, and another not).

Quote from: beejazz;549445On hp, I think it's just a matter of getting the slope right. If I assume something D&D style, the slope varies by class, but with a fixed level-based slope of 1 on damage, if I want the number of hits to remain the same, the slope on hp has to equal that number of hits. Which isn't going to happen. Scaling damage with attack rolls won't change the math much, since in this case attack rolls scale at the same rate.

Yep, I can appreciate you don't want every class to get exactly +3 hit points per level every level. With damage scaled off attack rolls you could e.g. scale barbarians with more hit points/level and lower rate of defense bonus increase without their ratio changing much from 3:1 , but you couldn't fix other classes that way reasonably since most nonfighter classes would have if anything a worse defense progression if it varies between classes, as well as worse HPs.
 
The variable HP increase/level might be in line with giving non-fighter classes a different expected "number of hits to kill", rather than 3. You could obviously adjust the base (1st level) hit points for different classes so that the slope is constant for each class  e.g. a mage or thief might take on average two hits to kill, a fighter or cleric three or a barbarian or monster four (for example).
 

QuoteRight now, I'm finding that because average damage is half max damage, first level ends up either two hits long or without one hit kills. Good thing the wounds table includes flat bonus damage. So I'm thinking of going with three hit fights at first with bonus damage included on the wounds table.

Its a little odd in that with bonus damage as a wound effect you have a positive feedback loop of sorts going - a wound is triggered by having high damage, so a high damage roll is feeding back to increase itself. The logic seems a little bit circular, but I guess that's a fairly minor aesthetic complaint - if it gets the system to work, fair enough.

Anyway, hope the above helps. I don't mean to discourage at all; certainly a lot of systems don't have any underlying progression built in worth speaking of, so I think your system is way ahead here.

Quote from: Bloody Stupid Johnson;549472The variable HP increase/level might be in line with giving non-fighter classes a different expected "number of hits to kill", rather than 3. You could obviously adjust the base (1st level) hit points for different classes so that the slope is constant for each class  e.g. a mage or thief might take on average two hits to kill, a fighter or cleric three or a barbarian or monster four (for example).

Something like this may be the way I end up going in this case. Something like 20, 25, and 30 all +4/level.
 

QuoteIts a little odd in that with bonus damage as a wound effect you have a positive feedback loop of sorts going - a wound is triggered by having high damage, so a high damage roll is feeding back to increase itself. The logic seems a little bit circular, but I guess that's a fairly minor aesthetic complaint - if it gets the system to work, fair enough.

Personally, I see it as not much worse than bleeding (which does continuing hp damage), and probably better than a bonus attack (which could start an actual feedback loop with extra wounds and all). I see what you're saying, but I want potential one-hit kills to be a little more frequent than crits.

Quote from: Bloody Stupid Johnson;549473Anyway, hope the above helps. I don't mean to discourage at all; certainly a lot of systems don't have any underlying progression built in worth speaking of, so I think your system is way ahead here.

You've been helpful. This whole process has given me a new appreciation for anyone who has tried working on a level-based system.

Last thing to work on before I get my hp formula down is that fixed bonus crits and bonus damage will probably matter less and less with time. So one-hit kills (between equal foes) will eventually be off the table. Which is fine, given that in this case 10 is close to demigod and 20 is like the Immortals stuff. I just need to make sure that it happens at an appropriate level. I'll probably post more on that later.

This is more note to self, but slopes of 4 and 6 both seem to be acceptable by high levels. I'll probably use your idea on variable starting hp to stretch that out into four hp formulas though (15 plus 4/level, 20 plus 4/level, 20 plus 6/level, and 25 plus 6/level).

I just had a great idea on how to set the healing cap though. I wanted in-combat healing to stop at 1/3 hp and out of combat healing to stop at around 2/3s. And on average your WT is around 1/3 your hit points. So I can just use that or that times two respectively. Not sure why I didn't think of this earlier.

I'm thinking wound values will add +5, +10, or +15 to damage. In the event that they do add to damage. It's high at low levels, but might be necessary for high levels.

For now, I'm looking at daggers vs no armor, and swords vs no armor. Swords vs armor are going to be similar to daggers vs no armor, but with a higher maximum. Daggers vs armor are not as important to me, at least at this moment. For now we're assuming 2d10 + level for daggers and 3d10 + level for swords, with a bit of fudging and eyeballing here and there.

Additionally, for context, my goals for levels are as follows:

0: Adventurers: Murderhobos in fantasy Vietnam. You start with the core cool shit that makes your class your class, but you will die and die again poking things you don't understand in a hole in the ground filled with things that want to kill you. You will get a bit of treasure now and again, but what you don't spend on healing potions and rations will probably not even be enough to cover your stay in the local tavern.

5: Heroes: The "sweet spot." Combat is fast and will still kill you, but the odds of one hit kills are going down. You're getting a grasp of the world, have friends and allies, and have probably even joined a guild by now. You're building your power and maybe saving up for a domain of some sort. Having a place to sleep at night for free is a relief, and you don't have to sweat the small stuff any more. Raising the dead will probably become an option at this point, though monsters that can swallow you whole will probably be coming in around this level too.

10: Demigods and Kings: The uncertain middle range between heroism and immortality. You have established and maybe even enchanted your domain. You're a world-shaker in the political sense, but you're also on your way to becoming an immortal god-king. Battles still shouldn't be hour long slugfests, but you probably won't be instantly killed by a dagger in the back either.

15+: Immortality: You have an enchanted domain, maybe even a pocket universe, plus minions and divine portfolios and maybe the ability to lend your followers strength (this will vary a bit from player to player). Self-resurrection also becomes an option here, though it may be tied to your domain, an artifact you have created, or both (think Sauron, Mordor, and the ring).

20: Godhood: You might have finally created an infinite plane, changing the cosmology and the nature of the universe, or ascended towards some similarly lofty goal.

Also, it takes more quests to level from 2 to 3 than it does to level from 1 to 2. The higher you level, the slower you level, so that upper end isn't as close as the numbers make it look.

Okay, so assuming the "HD" of 15+4/level, 20+4/level, 20+6/level, and 25+6/level, things look like this:

15+4

0: 15 (dagger avg 2 hits and can 1 shot) (sword averages 1 shot, assuming no armor)

5: 35 (dagger avg 3 hits and can 1 shot on a crit or wound) (sword averages 2 shots, assuming no armor, and can 1 shot)

10: 55 (dagger avg 3 hits and can 1 shot on a crit and a wound) (sword averages 3 shots, assuming no armor, and can 1 shot on a crit)

15: 75 (dagger avg 3 hits and 1 shots won't happen) (sword averages 3 shots, assuming no armor, and can 1 shot on a crit and a wound)

20: 95 (dagger avg 4 hits and 1 shots won't happen) (sword averages 3 shots, assuming no armor, and can no longer 1 shot)

20+4

0: 20 (dagger avg 2 hits and can 1 shot) (sword averages 2 shots, assuming no armor, and can 1 shot)

5: 40 (dagger avg 3 hits and can 1 shot on a crit or wound) (sword averages 3 shots, assuming no armor, and can 1 shot on a crit)

10: 60 (dagger avg 3 hits and 1 shots won't happen) (sword averages 3 shots, assuming no armor, and can 1 shot on a crit)

15: 80 (dagger avg 4 hits and 1 shots won't happen) (sword averages 3 shots, assuming no armor, and can no longer 1 shot)

20: 100 (dagger avg 4 hits and 1 shots won't happen) (sword averages 3 shots, assuming no armor, and can no longer 1 shot)

20+6

0: 20 (dagger avg 2 hits and can 1 shot) (sword averages 2 shots, assuming no armor, and can 1 shot)

5: 50 (dagger avg 4 hits and can 1 shot on a crit and a wound) (sword averages 3 shots, assuming no armor, and can 1 shot on a crit)

10: 80 (dagger avg 4 hits and 1 shots won't happen) (sword averages 4 shots, assuming no armor, and can no longer 1 shot)

15: 110 (dagger avg 5 hits and 1 shots won't happen) (sword averages 4 shots, assuming no armor, and can no longer 1 shot)

20: 140 (dagger avg 5 hits and 1 shots won't happen) (sword averages 4 shots, assuming no armor, and can no longer 1 shot)

25+6

0: 25 (dagger avg 3 hits and can 1 shot on a crit or wound) (sword averages 2 shots, assuming no armor, and can 1 shot)

5: 55 (dagger avg 4 hits and can 1 shot on a crit and a wound) (sword averages 3 hits, assuming no armor, and can 1 shot on a crit or wound)

10: 85 (dagger avg 5 hits and 1 shots won't happen) (sword averages 4 hits, assuming no armor, and can no longer one shot)

15: 115 (dagger avg 5 hits and 1 shots won't happen) (sword averages 4 hits, assuming no armor, and can no longer 1 shot)

20: 145 (dagger avg 5 hits and 1 shots won't happen) (sword averages 5 hits, assuming no armor, and can no longer 1 shot)

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Well, I set my hit limit around 5, and I guess I hit that max. Remember that wound odds have been written to remain fairly similar over the course of the career, and that wounds include things like K.O. and arms being ripped off.

While healing wounds may also get easier over time, I'd like to think that wounds should keep the length of combats a little shorter than the averages shown here.

And hopefully the active defense mechanic can be used to speed up the rate of hits as the party faces ever greater numbers of foes.

Also, for perspective, it'll take 14 hits from a dagger-wielding nobody to take down a god. More if the god has DR. But it'll only take one hit from a god to take down the dagger-wielding nobody.

An additional thought on an earlier problem:

I wanted the average damage to be close to 1/3 of the max damage at 1st level. But on unmodified dice, the average will be closer to 1/2 of the max. Adding a flat bonus to the damage will make the average a higher proportion of the max, while subtracting a flat penalty from damage will make the average a smaller proportion of the max.

Armor as DR has been helpful in this regard (you don't want to put this stuff on the attacker's side because it feels off). I'm tempted to increase DR values and damage further, and see what happens. But I'm already not feeling great about the possibility that I make daggers less important, or the possibility that the tighter curve makes combat even less swingy than it is now.

I could make DR from armor or spells increase with level (I think it would be in-genre to make full plate out of reach at level 0) but that might hit the flat crit and wound bonuses harder than I'd like.

I'm more just getting this out so that if the playtest feels off I've got some options to look back on.