In either case, he’d have fallen unconscious first. If he did, then sure, but otherwise… And it still wouldn’t mean it was 1d6+Strength, because you can still roll high on a d4.
Bite a bear and get back to me. That’ll be a better metric.
Bringing realism into D&D is silly. For one thing, we’re talking about a levelled character, they’re necessarily super human. For another, by your bear logic a .22 rifle wouldn’t deal damage at all.
This entire post is people trying to debate game mechanics using real world violence. I’m pointing out they’re doing it badly.
And yes, PCs are superhuman to a degree. That’s why they have much higher ability scores and, in the case of the barbarian, a bonus to damage while raging. And when they do an unarmed attack, it deals 1 + Strength (+2 for Rage). For a commoner, that’s 1 or 2 points of damage. For a level 1 barbarian, that’s around 6 points. 1d4 + mods doesn’t make sense and 1d6 is right out.
I suggested a bear because it has twice as much health as a commoner, so there’s more space to measure. A .22 rifle can kill a bear, but it might take a few shots because of a low damage roll. And it’s a fuck ton more likely to kill it than just biting it. 1 point of damage isn’t a small amount. We just don’t want to measure anything smaller.
In either case, he’d have fallen unconscious first. If he did, then sure, but otherwise… And it still wouldn’t mean it was 1d6+Strength, because you can still roll high on a d4.
Bite a bear and get back to me. That’ll be a better metric.
Bringing realism into D&D is silly. For one thing, we’re talking about a levelled character, they’re necessarily super human. For another, by your bear logic a .22 rifle wouldn’t deal damage at all.
This entire post is people trying to debate game mechanics using real world violence. I’m pointing out they’re doing it badly.
And yes, PCs are superhuman to a degree. That’s why they have much higher ability scores and, in the case of the barbarian, a bonus to damage while raging. And when they do an unarmed attack, it deals 1 + Strength (+2 for Rage). For a commoner, that’s 1 or 2 points of damage. For a level 1 barbarian, that’s around 6 points. 1d4 + mods doesn’t make sense and 1d6 is right out.
I suggested a bear because it has twice as much health as a commoner, so there’s more space to measure. A .22 rifle can kill a bear, but it might take a few shots because of a low damage roll. And it’s a fuck ton more likely to kill it than just biting it. 1 point of damage isn’t a small amount. We just don’t want to measure anything smaller.