Quote Originally Posted by jqavins View Post
OK, so now it's the next day, and I've got some results.

AS it turns out, and I should have known this, the base weapon damage is irrelevant. What matters is the attack roll - BAB, Str mod, and weapon attack bonus vs. target AC - and any bonus to the damage roll - weapon attack mod and special feature. Since you didn't provide the target's AC, I've assumed 25.

I computed the average damage considering hit chance (but I chose to neglect crits for simplicity) for weapon bonuses from 0 to +5, both with and without the Dominance enchantment, using the BAB of 10, the Str mod. of 5, and the greataxe as directed. And here are the results.

Table 1: Damage With and Without Dominance
Weapon Bonus
W/o Dominance
W/Dominance
Delta
0 6.325 7.55 1.225
1 7.5 9.075 1.575
2 8.775 10.7 1.925
3 10.15 12.425 2.275
4 11.625 14.25 2.625
5 13.2 16.35 3.15
(6) (14.875)
(7) (16.65)
Average 2.129167
(I included +6 and +7 for a reason that will soon be clear.)

The average increase given by the dominance feature is a bit over 2. That is similar to the improvement in average damage given by a +2 weapon, actually 2.45. So I would be inclined to call dominance a +2 enhancement. But wait; there's more.

Another way to approach this is to consider how large a weapon attack bonus would be needed to achieve the same average damage as dominance. In other words, for a weapon with a +n attack bonus and dominance, what +m would I need without dominance to get near to the same damage.

Table 2: +m for Nearest to Equivalent Damage
Weapon Bonus (+n)
Dam W/Dominance
Nearest Bonus W/o (+m)
0 7.55 1
1 9.075 2
2 10.7 3
3 12.425 5
4 14.25 6
5 16.35 7

So, for an underlying weapon bonus of 0, 1, or 2, dominance gives extra damage as an enchantment that's one better, i.e. a +1 enchantment. But for an underlying bonus of 3, 4, or 5, it's +2.

Bottom line: all in all, I'd call it +2.
Wow, you put a lot of work into this. Thanks for the detailed review!

So, do you think you'd eve play a character that'd buy it?