In old-school D&D, specifically OD&D and Red Box (BECMI) D&D, there were a lot of different types of bonuses you could accumulate: to-hit, damage, AC, bonus hit points, etc. And I think sometimes people thought of some of them as being significantly more powerful than others, especially where house rules or retro-clones are concerned.

For example, while nobody has any problem with a character gaining -1 AC for using a shield in their off-hand, and nobody has a problem with the character gaining +1 (on average) extra damage for using a two-handed weapon (ie, 1d10 vs 1d8 damage), there seems to be a lot of resistance to letting a character get +1 to hit for using a second weapon, to the point that people would rather invent very cumbersome rules systems granting extra attacks at a penalty or bonuses to hit only on rounds in which the PCs gain the initiative.

But is that +1 bonus to hit that fearsome, that desirable, that overpowering, compared to a lowly +1 to damage? Well, let's take a look. The base damage for a hit is 4.5, the average damage roll on 1d8, a Red Box D&D's "long sword" damage. The Average Damage for No Bonus, +1 Damage, and +1 To Hit were all worked out by multiplying the base damage (4.5) by the relevant Percent Chance to Hit.

(D) - (H) is the average damage done with a +1 to damage minus the average damage done with a +1 to hit. If the number is negative, then a +1 to hit is better than a +1 to damage. If the number is positive, then a +1 to damage is better than a +1 to hit.

Notice that a bonus of +1 to hit is only "better" than a bonus of +1 damage when you need a 17 or better to hit the opponent. Otherwise, +1 damage gives you a greater increase in average damage over the long term than +1 to hit does. So if your level 1 character (THAC0 19) is facing an opponent with AC 2 or less, then +1 to hit is more effective than +1 damage.

If the opponent's AC is 3 or higher (and almost all of them are at that level), then +1 damage will be more useful. While it's true that enemy AC's get tougher as character level increases, it's also true that THAC0's get better as you go, so the pattern should generally hold true throughout the character's lifespan.

So, to make a long story short, don't be afraid to let a PC get a +1 to Hit. It's not going to be more useful than +1 damage, and in most cases, it will probably be less useful. Now, certainly stacking on too many bonuses of any sort can lead to power escalation, but that's a different problem altogether.

I hope you enjoyed this month's OSR number crunching. Maybe next month I'll look at AC vs HP.