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Mar 15, 2013 -- 1:01AM, ren1999 wrote:

ElfWizard as his main attack, shoots a magic missile int vs ac doing 3d4+int+lvl mod damage. He then off-hand attacks an adjacent target with his dagger and does 1d4+dex+lvl mod damage. DwarfFighter swings his two-handed axe and it costs him a main and off-hand action. He does damage to 1 target 1d12+mods+1d10+mods. ElfWizard attacks again but chooses to shoot his magic missile as an area spell. He hits two targets but there were 4 targets. He divides his main attack damage of 3d4 by 4 and gives each of the 2 hit targets a 4th of the total damage. As his off hand action, he disengages from adjacent targets without provoking an opportunity attack. ElfWizard is attacked anyway but Blinks out as a Reaction, reducing the damage he takes. Your thought or ideas?

I like the kind of questions you are asking.  Unfortunately there aren't much interests in core mechanics.

One of my current gripes with the game is players dealing a bit too much damage.
Your suggestion pushes that to extremes, especially being able to dual wield normal sized weapons in both hands.

The action economy as stands works well, the issue is the mechanics and classes attached to it. 

While duel wielding two identical weapons, 1 weapon would do 1d12+mods and the same weapon in the off-hand will do 1d10+mods. The damage is high but not as high as MDD.

As long as you start characters out with the full constitution score + a max hd number, the damage works out o.k.

The math actually makes combat twice as deadly over all. It reduces encounter time by half from the previous edition.

Here is a chart that explains the action economy in detail. I think that what is not listed here is that mixed classes will have one school where they can do 3d4 and 2d6 damage. The rest of the schools do the damage listed.

weapon	attack roll type	why?
bludgeoning	con vs ac	the goal is to keep pounding
piercing	str vs ac	the goal is to strike hard
slashing	str vs ac	the goal is to strike hard
thin weapons	dex vs dex	the goal is to exploit chinks

weapon	actions	damage	ac
2-handed	main+off-hand	main+mods+off-hand+mods
long-handled	main+off-hand	1 die level lower than main and off-hand+modsX2	+2
thrown or hand crossbow	off-hand	off-hand+mods
bow shot	main+off-hand	main+mods+off-hand+mods

Choose a Class.	ability bonus	1st lvl skills	1st lvl hp	lvl-up hp	armor restrictions	main attack damage	off-hand attack damage
fighting class	str+1	3	con score+12hp	1d12 or 6hp	all armor	1d12+mods	1d10+mods
skilled class	dex+1	6	con score+10hp	1d10 or 5hp	up to leather	1d10+mods	1d8+mods
fighting casting class	wis+1	3	con score+8hp	1d8 or 4hp	up to chain	1d8+mods magic 1d10+mods	1d6+mods magic 1d8+mods
casting class	int+1	3	con score+6hp	1d6 or 3hp	jewlery + 1 plate piece	1d6+mods magic 3d4+mods	1d4+mods magic 2d6+mods

level advancement
level	level-up award
1st	3 powers, 1 main action, 1 off-hand action, 1 reaction
2nd	ability+1
3rd	1 power
4th	skill+1
5th	level bonus+1 trained
6th	1 more main action
7th	ability+1
8th	1 power
9th	skill+1 or 1 skill
10th	level bonus+1 proficient
11th	1 more off-hand action
12th	ability+1
13th	1 power
14th	skill+1
15th	level bonus+1 expert
16th	1 more reaction
17th	ability+1
18th	1 power
19th	skill+1 or 1 skill
20th	level bonus+1 specialist
21st	1 power
22nd	ability+1
23rd	1 power
24th	skill+1
25th	level bonus+1 master

While I like the idea of including main-hand/off-hand and the like as game mechanics, I'd prefer to keep the actual actions available in the action economy simpler - one of the criticisms of 4E was that the number of action types bogged down combat, as players tried to acquire as many action types as possible to use in a single combat round. (For instance: in addition to having a standard, move, and minor action each turn, making sure there was an immediate reaction, some triggered free actions, no actions, etc.)

I would like to see "main hand" and "off hand" be keywords attached to particular actions and items. Example: a high-level dedicated two-weapon fighter might have feats, maneuvers, etc. allowing them add off-hand weapon damage to attacks, get a bonus to speed when using an off-hand weapon, get a bonus to AC, get advantage on the main-hand weapon's attack, etc.

This way, even non-traditional characters could take advantage of the abilities: perhaps flasks of alchemist's fire or potions of firebreath would get the off-hand keyword, allowing the wielder to gain two-weapon benefits.