This is a new thread started based on the endless debates about the brokenness of combat in the game and how to fix what bothers people. For background, see any thread about weapon damage, two-handed fighting, Power Attack, Sneak Attack, critical hits, attack progression, etc.
Not that I see a light at the end of the tunnel on fixing what is broken in combat or what bothers particular groups, but there is another path that I don't see floated often.
What about banning Power Attack? Either the whole feat tree or just it could be gotten rid of, I'd go with the whole tree.
Of course, that's just a start. Then, 2w fighting looks vastly better. And, it does nothing to rein in SA. The idea of a muscle-y dude running around with a 1h weapon still wouldn't transfer to paper. I just had a thought on how to redo PA to help 1h fighting, but that would get off topic.
But, the more general point is that at some point it becomes too much of a hassle to fix something and it's easier to just eliminate the source of problems. Sure, this is often given as a reason not to use d20 in the first place, but let's pretend you were going to stick with d20.
Speaking of looking at ways to eliminate the source of problems, there's banning 2h weapons. Oh, for those who will go "you can't ban something that exists", just say every 2h weapon works the same way as 1h weapons. A bardiche is just a battle axe, a greatsword is just a war sword. No damage greater than a war sword's 1d12, no x1.5 STR, no disarm benefits, ..., no mechanical benefit to 2h fighting whatsoever. Yes, that means no one will ever use a weapon 2h. Doesn't bother me any more than the "I don't care if I have to use a fish and take -10 to hit, it has to be a 2h weapon." idiocy that I find built into the system.
There's just something terribly wrong when there are dozens of possible fixes and it isn't clear which actually makes sense. For d20 haters, it's no better as pretty much every system has these sorts of "I can't get things the way I want them" problems.
Ultimately, I just see sucking it up, playing with a system, recognizing the flaws, having the GM and players work together to ignore them, and just play with the idea that RPGs aren't Advanced Squad Leader.
Not that I see a light at the end of the tunnel on fixing what is broken in combat or what bothers particular groups, but there is another path that I don't see floated often.
What about banning Power Attack? Either the whole feat tree or just it could be gotten rid of, I'd go with the whole tree.
Of course, that's just a start. Then, 2w fighting looks vastly better. And, it does nothing to rein in SA. The idea of a muscle-y dude running around with a 1h weapon still wouldn't transfer to paper. I just had a thought on how to redo PA to help 1h fighting, but that would get off topic.
But, the more general point is that at some point it becomes too much of a hassle to fix something and it's easier to just eliminate the source of problems. Sure, this is often given as a reason not to use d20 in the first place, but let's pretend you were going to stick with d20.
Speaking of looking at ways to eliminate the source of problems, there's banning 2h weapons. Oh, for those who will go "you can't ban something that exists", just say every 2h weapon works the same way as 1h weapons. A bardiche is just a battle axe, a greatsword is just a war sword. No damage greater than a war sword's 1d12, no x1.5 STR, no disarm benefits, ..., no mechanical benefit to 2h fighting whatsoever. Yes, that means no one will ever use a weapon 2h. Doesn't bother me any more than the "I don't care if I have to use a fish and take -10 to hit, it has to be a 2h weapon." idiocy that I find built into the system.
There's just something terribly wrong when there are dozens of possible fixes and it isn't clear which actually makes sense. For d20 haters, it's no better as pretty much every system has these sorts of "I can't get things the way I want them" problems.
Ultimately, I just see sucking it up, playing with a system, recognizing the flaws, having the GM and players work together to ignore them, and just play with the idea that RPGs aren't Advanced Squad Leader.