Question about D&D damage system

[MGMorden]

How to I determine the amount of damage a weapon does in D&D (trying to figure out which weapons are good and which aren't in Baldur's Gate). So like we can have a 2d4 +3 and a 1d10 + 2 . . . . what exactly does that mean? Any help on this matter is greatly appreciated.

 

[Geforcekj]

D&D is a dice based RPG so a d4 is a 4 sided die, there are also d6's, d8's, d10's, d12's, and d20's. As per your question if a weapon does 1d10+2 damage means there is a random role done on a 10 sided dice and 2 is added to the roll. Therefore if you roll a 1 you do 3 damage (+/- you damage adjustment per your strength modifier). So before modifiers a weapon that does 1d10+2 damage can do between 2-12 damage. Hope that helps

 

[Karaethon1]

Okay...
This is essentially how it works:
Damage = Die Roll + Magical weapon modifier + Strength Modifier (+ other modifiers, which for the most part are not important)

As far as the die roll goes, it's obviously random. If you have 2d4 vs. 1d10, you're going to have higher average damage. For the magical weapon modifier, it simply adds damage every time. This is also good because it negates damage resistance against creatures that might have it (vampires for one). The Strength modifier is factored in, but for your purposes it probably doesn't matter.

You said that you were playing Baldur's gate, so you're also going to have to factor in weapon speed. The lower the weapon speed, the faster you can swing your weapon, and the more hits you make. I'm not exactly sure what rules Baldur's gate uses for these purposes.

Okay, as a general rule, you want to have the highest magical bonus possible (it's guaranteed damage and it negates lots of headaches). However, you also want to take into consideration other magical properties. For example, if the weapon was vorpal (the Silver Sword in BG2), you have like a 25% chance for autodeath per hit. That's an AWESOME thing to have.

Anyway, I hope that helps.

 

[BeefJurky]

plus, the higher the + value on the weapon, the higher-level creatures you can hit with it. for instance, to hit some minor undead you need at least a +1 on your weapon. for some of the more advanced stuff, you need +3 or even +4 (I don't remember if that's BG1 or 2 or both).