scientiae: [1] Yes, I would like to see damage adjust with level, too. I suppose this was what the vorpal weapons were "fixing", since a good attack (to a critical area, like the throat) should be able to cause a fatal injury, no matter how big & strong the opponent is.
dtgreene: One problem with low level games is that you don't get enough growth chances. To me, character growth is one of my favorite parts of RPGs, and having it only happen 6-8 times for a character in the entire game feels way too scarce for me. I much prefer higher level caps (like being able to reach level 40, which is common in JRPGs) with individual levels meaning less, or even SaGa-like growth that dispenses with levels entirely. (Or even something like Wizardry 8's hybrid system, where skills improve via use, but you still level up through XP, or something like the TES system, but without the rough edges.)
Dragon Quest is an example of a game that doesn't have these accuracy issues because the game doesn't make accuracy and evasion a major focus of the game mechanics. Specifically, in the original Dragon Quest:
* Hit chance depends only on the enemy being attacked. (The player can't dodge, but the player can't be critically hit, either, and critical chance is always the same, except that you can't crit the final boss.)
* Damage scales with attack power, which is just Strength + the weapon's attack, and Strength grows significantly as the game progresses; it starts at single digits and will end up in the upper double digits by end game.
* Armor works by increasing defense power (defense is AGI/2 + armor + shield), Defense power reduces the damage you take.
* There is a mechanic where, if your defense is high enough, enemy damage uses different rules, becoming more random (but generally quite small). This is sometimes referred to as "defense break"ing enemies. Aside from that, damage isn't too random. (This doesn't apply when you attack an enemy, though if the enemy's defense is really high (think Metal Slime), your attacks will randomly do either 0 or 1 damage, and there's a huge difference between the two when the enemy has only 3 HP.) (Note that the defense break mechanic, I believe, disappears in later games in the series.)
Anyway, this system scales much better than D&D based systems do, and starting in Dragon Quest 3, the system remains quite comfortable even around level 40, which is when the game will typically end.
Hmm. The problem with stats that adjust is they can become unhinged.
Strength increases? Well, technically one can keep increasing strength, but there are diminishing returns (bench-pressing three hours a day doesn't make much difference if you are already spending two hours) and absolute limits —— no lifting a car.
Dexterity? I'm not sure there is much beyond inculcating muscle-memory, IRL, that will improve dexterity much. So the explanation requires early levels be very novice, with correlated increases equating to training, or else suspension of disbelief suffers, IMHO.
I agree 40 levels is a nice amount, for a long game. The advantage to games that only cater to low-level characters is that there is a lot of scope to explore them. (YMMD)
As for increasing damage, I did some research after our last tête-a-tête (
here, for those interested).
I think it's the 3e rules (maybe 3.5) that have a Weapons Master prestige class, which adds a progression in the damage dealt on top of the single-dimensional progression of accuracy in the DnD ruleset.
(This class is also available in
e.g. Obsidian's
The Sith Lords sequel to Bioware's
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, too. It is a Jedi prestige class, so only the player character can opt for it.)
The epic levels of
NwN, grants
Superior Focus (gain 5% chance to hit=+1) and also a
Ki damage feat, once per day, where damage dealt is equal to maximum dice total.
But first, to qualify for the prestige class and gain a
Weapon of Choice, a character requires a
Base Attack Bonus of +5, and:
*a minimum Dexterity of 13, to take the
Whirlwind feat (allowing a full attack on all enemies within 5 feet)
* * which requires
Spring Attack (which, in turn, requires both
Dodge &
Movement feats) as well as:
* * a minimum Intelligence of 13, to take the
Expertise feat,
*at least 4 ranks in (the Fighter cross-class skill)
Intimidate.
This will take until 8th level, and the WM also requires
*a
Weapon Focus in a mêlée weapon, which grants 5% better chance to hit (+1 attack) in combat, and which will be the
Weapon of Choice.
Weapon Focus & Superior Weapon Focus both grant 5% better chance to hit (+1 attack each) making 10% total for this WoC.
* The
Improved Critical (for a longsword, which has a 10% chance of a critical strike, granting an improvement to 20%, so a roll of 17 or higher).
Further levels as a Weapons Master (fifth) increase the damage multiplier for the WoC, so a scythe (with damage multiplier of ×4) would now quintuple the damage.
And the threat range, again, by 10% at 7th level (
Ki Critical=+2, icosohedrally, so a longsword with
Improved Critical feat,
vide ut infra, will succeed on a role of 15 or more).
Fighters gain the most feats of any class —— at the rate of one every other level —— so there are numerous other feats that complement these, like (
Great)
Cleave, which allows a free attack if the normal attack kills the opponent (and the fighter will keep attacking in the same round as long as each hit kills the opponent, it they have the
Great Cleave feat, granting an extra attack per fatality). The
Power Attack feat is a prerequisite for this, which needs a minimum Strength of 13.
The
Weapon Specialization feat is for Fighters only. It yields greater damage each stroke (+2 damage).
If you add these to the Weapons Master bonus a longsword would gain 5% chance to hit (+1) and at 5th level the critical damage would be calculated by tripling the damage, rather than doubling it.
Now, there is no requirement for a WM to be a Fighter, but the trade-off for a Monk, for instance, is high.
Without
Weapon Specialization, and because the Weapon Master must choose a mêlée weapon
other than unarmed combat, there is little utility for the Monk.
For instance, for my Human Monk I reached the Weapon Master prestige class at level thirteen, whereas a Fighter only needs eight, and that merely to obtain rank 4 in cross-skill intimidate.
But,
e.g., to begin
Hoards of the Underdark, I sacrificed my fifteenth level abilities; most significant is the
Quivering Palm special attack, once per day, with a saving throw of 20 (given my Monk had a Wisdom of sixteen). Insta-kill!
If the Monk could be a Weapon Master of unarmed combat, it would be worth it, but alas this isn't the case. Even considering the Monk gets
Cleave for free at first level, by the twelfth and thirteen levels hand-to-hand damage is d12-plus-bonuses (strength and equipment) and allows all the special attacks (
Flurry of Blows,
Stun —— which is nerfed for other classes —— &
Quivering Palm).
Obsidian obviously shared your opinion, since
KotOR: The Sith Lords has six prestige classes for budding Jedi to choose from, and two of these, the Weapon Master and Marauder (Light- and Dark-sided, respectively) are designed to improve damage dealt (the passive
Mêlée Damage feat) as well as reduce damage received.
See
this discussion.
________
Back OT:
I just bought and installed Larian's
Divinity Original Sin [Enhanced] [
store page] and, thought I can see the value in it, I was underwhelmed. I also didn't like the sequel to
Torchlight, thought I really like the original.
edit: added DOS hyperlink
