Equipment progression and Why have different weapons?

I was almost able to follow what you were saying Ramon... Up until the point of where you cited an "example" with average dice rolls, damage and skill stats... I think all of that "thinking" is way too "technical".

Sure it may work in your mind, but Eric might have a completely other way of using weapons. For example: Determinism (no dice). His own version may not use any dice (and I know Eric a bit)... He's not really a fan of luck rolling. Another approach may use dice in a "dice pool" and use a bunch of "1" or "0" dice, you roll nine (9) of them and that determines the luck portion of your roll. And maybe the number of dice you roll depends on your skill level (and that would imply something like 1 to 9 levels)... Another example of using dice differently.

My whole point of this is just to try to NOT be "too technical" and focus on the questions presented. Eric may have his own combat resolution mechanic but still can serve from general replies not specifying the type of dice to use and the amount of damaged produced.

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Now MY answer to your question ... And it derives from @X3M's response. Weapons are ALL ABOUT DAMAGE. The more DAMAGE a weapon does, the better it is to use. Some weapons have certain TYPES of damage like Fire, Frost, Electrical, Vorpal, etc. Those usually have a benefit and a penalty. Meaning Fire is GREAT until you encounter a Demon or Hellhound...

Getting back to DAMAGE. Aside from CLASS penalties (eg. Cleric must use Blunt Weapons and Mages can't use anything bigger than a small sword or a Dagger) usually WEAPONS require some kind of "skill" to be able to use. Like STRENGTH to equip a Long Sword is of a certain minimum.

The other thing about ARMOR is that it too is more or less effective towards certain weapons. Like a MACE may be great against Chain and Plate Mail ... But be less effective against Leather or Studded Armor.

That's the other side about ARMOR. It too can have bonuses or penalties depending on the type of weapon being used to attack. Like a Short Flaming Sword might be more effective against Leather or Studded Armor but be LESS effective against Chain or Plate...

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I think the easiest thing is to figure out which ARMOR you want in your game (1 to 5 or more) and then figure out which weapons are MORE effective which gives you a +X bonus and -Y Penalties. And then map out DAMAGE and CLASS restrictions and skill minimums.

I don't know what STATS your game has. But that's your mission to figure out. It ALL boils down to doing the MOST damage and using the most effective weapon against one or more category of Monsters. Like your Frost Sword is 2x more effective against "Fire" Monsters and 1x effective towards other Monsters... but is PENALIZED when combating a "Storm Giant" for example...

I think it will look more like a Tech Tree with BLUNT, PIERCING and SLASHING types of weapons. But figure out your ARMORS FIRST and marry them to their type counterparts (Blunt, Piecing and Slashing).

But you may also want to rely a skill for RAPIDITY. Like a Long Sword does more damage but requires 2-Hands and is slower to attack with that say a pair of Magical Daggers which automatically return to the owner...

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Conclusion: it's not easy to give a simple answer. It depends HOW intricate your STAT system is and how to connect it to your WEAPONS.

Cheers!

Note #1: There are other STATS too like ENDURANCE which affects EMCUMBRANCE and allows you to carry LESS Weapons (depending on their weight). That too is another factor (in some games).

Like I said it is hard to GENERALIZE because D&D is the epitome of COMPLEXITY. There are a ton of stats and there are a ton of factors. The equipment system in D&D is a TRUE "work-of-art" in itself. And there are so many factors.

But in my mind, the KEY is maximizing DAMAGE. Players use the BEST WEAPON they have for their CLASS of Hero and that relies on various STATS that each player has.

Note #2: The other thing is that EVEN if you can BUY more powerful weapons, doesn't mean you have the STATS to use them... And therefore even simple weapons can require a player to LEVEL UP before buying them.

Another point is if your game has "Enchanting". If basic weapons can somehow become "Enchanted" via scrolls or a ritual (for example) ... That too can affect both the TYPE and AMOUNT of damage.

Enchanting is a BIG DEAL. Because it's very complex and it is also the life-boon of dungeon raiding is about: it's about finding that MAGICAL WAND or that MAGICAL Bastard Sword, etc.

Again too hard to comment further... Because we don't know how EVOLVED your game is ... And how much complexity you want to SAVE or PERFORM...

How is advancement managed for other aspects of the game? Can you somehow fold armour and weapon effectiveness into this?

This is kind of a "big picture" question, and I have to apologize because I don't know about your system. For example, in [at least the early versions of] D&D there are improvements to hit points, chances to hit when attacking, and to avoid certain types of damage - via saving throws - as a character gains experience and levels. In version 3.5 [my personal limit in terms of D&D exposure] there were skills and perks you could earn with experience, and even as far back as 2nd Edition there were optional non-weapon proficiencies and weapon proficiencies.

My point in bringing this up is: what's your system? How do you represent improvement of characters?

Personally, were the decision up to me, I would take advantage of the fact a computer would be doing all the math for you. I would track minutiae similar to seen in the Elder Scrolls games: what type of armour you were wearing when you were hit or when you were moving, the type of weapon you hit your opponents with, etc. I would then provide tiers of achievement and improvement to go along with them.

There's no need to keep it simple when the calculation can happen automatically, and I think with an intricate system, you can provide advantages for persistence in addition to opening up several different play styles to success.

This just got to my attention.

The heavier a weapon, the lower the damage should be.
It is the skill that adds more damage.

Example

Light
4d6 + 1x skill
Medium
3d6 + 2x skill
Heavy
1d6 + 3x skill (yes, 1d6)

Average damage of light is surpassed by medium at skill level 4.
Average damage of light is surpassed by heavy at skill level 6.
Average damage of medium is surpassed by heavy at skill level 8 (equal at 7)

Or you make some sort of table of effects for the dice.

Actually you may be able to READY a NEW weapon during combat. But even if you can't, it just means that you will be LESS "effective" in your attack of certain monsters. The RPS still holds true and offers some form of validation in the TYPE of weapons/armors being used.

So, while using a Sword is great at hacking away flesh... A Mace will do a much better job with Skeletons and the Undead by crushing their brittle bones...

It doesn't have to be ABSOLUTE either. Like the Skeleton example: You can still use a Sword, but it is less "effective". So how YOU implement the efficiency is the important part:

1. Is it because you have less of a "Chance to Hit"?

2. Or is it because you cause less "Damage" to the monster?

3. Or is it because the "effective" armor class is harder THAC0?

Something to that effect. You can choose which is more appropriate and it can even be a COMBINATION of more than one of these too... It just depends on how you implement the Armor/Combat STATS into your system.

Again just some food for thought.

Note #1: A couple of notes... I realized only now that THAC0 was only in D&D 2nd Edition (and was removed in subsequent Editions) and also the newer D20 rolls were simplified for the AD&D Engine a bit... But I don't know how... Because I'm not familiar with the NEWER Editions of the game.

I'm not familiar with ALL of the details of Version 2.0 versus 3.0 or above... Like I said, I had the books from the 2nd Edition and I read most of them and remember things like THAC0 and using a assortment of dice not ONLY D20 rolls.

If you put the complexity into your skills, why not use skill improvement as the guiding principle behind all aspects of character advancement? There are plenty of other game systems that award skill points as a result of level progression. If that works for your system up to this point, and provides a breadth of choices/customization for your players, then it's worth considering.

I also like X3M's comments about how limited availability of useful materials makes the distinction between different types of the same class of armour irrelevant.Generalize it with None, Light, Medium, and Heavy. If someone has skill points invested in a given type, then they will be able to use it more effectively regardless of its materials.

The same could be said for weapon types: piercing, slashing, blunt. You may want to have modifiers for weapon size, but in general a specialization in a particular weapon skill increases someone's effectiveness with it.

This is all believable, reasonable, and I'm almost completely certain it's been tested and implemented before. Even so, there are still many ways you can customize this and make it your own, if it's important for you to put your own personal stamp on it.