Weapon Damage Statistics
You know you love power gaming. You'll be happy to know that the two handed sword, erm greatsword, is the most damaging basic weapon in the game. Against the easiest possible target (for which you need to roll anything but 1), you'll do an average of 7.315 damage per hit. The next most lethal is the great axe at 6.792.
An interesting note about damage is that given the same amount of damage a critical of x3 does the same damage over time as a critical of 19-20/x2. The same goes for x4 and 18-20/x2. This is only true, however, as long as the target number to hit your enemy is less than the critical threat range. As soon as you need to roll a critical threat to hit weapons with smaller critical threat ranges do slightly more damage.
Mike McLean pointed out that a weapon's critical range and critical multiplier multiply the average damage over time by the following equation. (R is the critical Range, M is the Multiplier.)
1 + ( R × ( M − 1 ) ) ÷ 20
So for both 19-20/x2 and 20/x3 (R×(M−1)=2, yeilding a multiplier of 1.10 (10% extra). Similarlly for 18-20/x2 and 20/x4 which yields 1.15.
Average is the average damage per stick assuming you need to roll a 2 to hit your target. Select the damage to be taken to a page with averages for every target number from 2 through 20.
Distribution is the distribution of damage. The X axis average damage. The Y axis is that chance of rolling that damage. The black line on the top is for a target number of 2. The grey line at the bottom is for a target number of 20. The remaining lines cover the range from 3 through 19.
| Damage | Critical | Average | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1d1 | x2 | 0.997 |  |
| 1d2 | x2 | 1.496 |  |
| 1d3 | x2 | 1.995 |  |
| 1d3 | x3 | 2.090 |  |
| 1d3 | 19-20/x2 | 2.090 |  |
| 1d3 | x4 | 2.185 |  |
| 1d3 | 18-20/x2 | 2.185 |  |
| 1d4 | x2 | 2.494 |  |
| 1d4 | x3 | 2.613 |  |
| 1d4 | 19-20/x2 | 2.612 |  |
| 1d4 | x4 | 2.731 |  |
| 1d4 | 18-20/x2 | 2.731 |  |
| 1d6 | x2 | 3.491 |  |
| 1d6 | x3 | 3.658 |  |
| 1d6 | 19-20/x2 | 3.658 |  |
| 1d6 | x4 | 3.824 |  |
| 1d6 | 18-20/x2 | 3.824 |  |
| 1d8 | x2 | 4.489 |  |
| 1d8 | x3 | 4.702 |  |
| 1d8 | 19-20/x2 | 4.702 |  |
| 2d4 | x2 | 4.987 |  |
| 2d4 | x3 | 5.225 |  |
| 2d4 | x4 | 5.462 |  |
| 2d4 | 18-20/x2 | 5.463 |  |
| 1d10 | x2 | 5.486 |  |
| 1d10 | x3 | 5.747 |  |
| 1d10 | 19-20/x2 | 5.747 |  |
| 1d12 | x3 | 6.792 |  |
| 2d6 | 19-20/x2 | 7.315 |  |