The damage inflicted by a weapon or skill is determined by a specific damage roll associated with the weapon or skill.
Example:
A sword might deal 1d6+3 damage. This means you roll a six-sided die (1d6) and add 3 to the result to obtain the total damage.
For melee weapons that use the character's Strength (STR), an additional rule applies:
- Strength and Damage Roll Comparison: If the character's STR is higher than the result of the damage roll, then the inflicted damage is adjusted to the value of the character's STR.
- Limited by the Weapon's Maximum Damage: However, if the character's STR exceeds the maximum damage that the weapon can inflict, the damage is capped at this maximum.
Example:
Imagine a character with a STR of +6 using an axe that normally deals 1d8 + 2 damage. If the player rolls the die and gets a 3, the calculated damage would normally be 3 + 2 = 5. However, since the character's STR is +6, which is higher than the die result, the damage is adjusted to 6.
Now consider the case of a gourdin with a maximum damage of 5 (1d4 + 1 = 5), and the character has a STR of +6, the inflicted damage would be capped at 5, as that is the maximum the weapon can deal. In this case, the character could arguably forego the die roll.