I’ve read a lot of posts from people complaining about the combat in this game. They either feel to weak, or they feel like it takes too long etc.
Some of this is down to player education for sure, but I think a lot of it comes from the extremely high degree of variance in D&D as compared to game systems designed for video games.
For example, in a typical kind of PC RPG, a weapon might do something like 10-15 damage. So the max damage you can do is only 1.5 times the min damage. This makes it feel like you get at least a solid hit any time you do damage.
But in 5E, a typical damage cantrip will do something like 1-8 damage. The max damage here is 8 times the min damage. This means that you can hit an enemy, and basically do no damage, or you can get hit and the enemy can absolutely clobber you.
So in short, 5E has a much higher degree of variance than video game RPGs...especially at low levels.
I wonder if providing an option to “cut the edges” off of damage rolls might improve the experience for players that are confused by D&D combat. For example, it would make a d8 give a result from 3-6 instead of 1-8.
Personally, I would want to play with actual D&D rules because I understand and like them...I just think it may smooth things out for players that don’t get the system.
