Dex caps to med/heavy armors

[LibraryOgre]

So... make To Hit rely on Dex overall since Dex is about accuracy? Definitely not too powerful change! (jk)

You're being sarcastic (no shade), but I don't think it's too unreasonable, no.

So, AD&D, to-hit and damage for melee weapons was Strength; moving that blade fast, hitting hard. Dex was AC and missile accuracy... agility and hand-eye coordination. There were options to add strength damage to bows (RAW, all bows could handle up to an 18 strength; "strength bows" were required for 18/xx), but the default was "Strength is melee, Dex is ranged."

3e introduced weapon finesse and finesse weapons as a core rule; you could use Strength for the weapon, but you could also use Dex to hit. You were still, however, using Strength for damage. Dex also became a flat bonus to Reflex Saving throws... regardless of your class, Dex made you better at reflex saves (which it didn't always for 2e breath weapon saves, depending on your DM).

4e started having "Use Dex for damage" as a more standard rule, for certain classes (eg Rogues). Dex was still part of two defenses: AC and Reflex. Strength remained "Hit hard" and that's about it.

5e just made "Dex for damage with finesse weapons" a standard option. It really shifted the supremacy of Dex... strength helped melee weapons not specifically designed for Dex, but it didn't have anything like the continuing AC bonus. The rearrangement of saving throws made Dex less prevalent... but how many spells and special abilities are a Dex save, v. a strength save? Which is the more desirable save proficiency?

You wanna get revolutionary? Strength adds to hit and damage for non-finesse weapons... and Dex adds to hit for them, too. Wouldn't work in 5e's bounded accuracy to make the to-hit calculation be d20+prof+Str+Dex for a longsword, but d20+prof+Dex for Dex-based weapons, but it would certainly put the ball back in strength's court... Dex will help you with light weapons, but it will also help you with weapons with some heft to them.