The main problem between the three styles that I'm seeing is that some of the posters completely devalue AC as something that is easy to get around. THat's not true in most games...abuse of touch attacks is seen as abusive as corrosively worded wishes.
Now, citing touch attacks and huge TH bonuses to obviate AC is one of the things we've already addressed. There aren't going to be any bonuses higher then a Barbarian's Rage at 20, or a +6 Str item. Races and templates that hand out massive physical bonuses are just gone...physical enhancements are being revalued to be as important as mental enhancements. You don't see many PC's getting access to races that start off with +4 Int, Wis or Cha, do you? Same should apply to physical stats in all their forms.
This solves the problem of the huge TH numbers that should not be so easily generated.
Monster AC being all over the board for the CR is a CR problem. 4E solved the problem by having AC scale by type of monster by level. BIg squishies have lower aC, do lots of dmg. Soldier types have good AC, don't do as much dmg.
Touch attacks either need to be moved out of the melee arena and restricted to certain spells as a delivery system, or done away with completely. There is no excuse for an attack method that completely bypasses a defense it is geared for. As I noted before, it's like Direct Damage spells that bypass Reflex defenses. With minimal optimizing, you can make 'guaranteed' kills. It's not 'Save or Die.' It's just 'Die,unless I roll a 1."
Power Attack needs to be brought down to be equalized. You can't bring it up to 2 pts to all attacks. That will imbalance everything. 1 pt of PA for Primary weapon equalizes it across the spectrum...THW gets its Str bonus and more base dmg for being big. TWF gets more attacks off. SAB benefits because it's better AC will win, by the math, over the other two styles.
This system works absolutely fine unless the only thing you are focusing on is more and more dmg output. The fact of the matter is, there IS supposed to be a reasonable cap on the amount of dmg you can do, just as there's supposed to be a reasonable chance to save against a spell.
If you change the combat paradigm from being able to deal freakishly large amounts of single attack dmg, to all three styles doing major, consistent dmg with enhanced mobility, that ends up becoming far more useful. The Charger build is popular because it allows you to get to the enemy, and kill him. Just running up and whacking it once otherwise, doesn't work. Full attacks are too hard to get off. ToB proved it more deeply...Standard Actions that deal the equivalent of full attacks. Nobody thinks they are imbalanced. But they have precise limits to them...they are controlled.
TWF takes a lot of mechanical coordination to pull off successfully...it's very practice intensive and requires an emphasis on off-hand development that most people simply do not do. I, for instance, was never able to throw effectively with my left hand, or bat both ways...I had a great throwing arm with my right. To be an effective TWF is to have both arms working equally effectively in a fight. That is neither easy nor common, and takes a lot of practice compared to wielding a weapon in two hands.
Accuracy of light weapons is a misnomer. You're mistaking the demands of the fighting style for the power of the style. Light weapons are easier to control, to an extent, but the fact remains that they simply don't have the penetrating power that heavy weapons do. You have to ply both weapons against a heavier weapon to get it to move, and the expected 'easy follow up slash' is avoided as easily by footwork as threatening to lop off your head if you move even one blade out of position.
Too, weapon mass is a huge deal in a fight. You don't parry a greatsword with a light weapon...the mass of the sword will simply drive it back into you, probably break your wrist, or at least numb your arm from the shock. It takes both weapons to do so. It also isn't so much that lighter weapons are more accurate in that they MUST be more accurate. Light weapons have to be used against holes in defenses. Large weapons MAKE holes in defenses...they pound on armor, they drive into flesh, they break bones, snap necks, stun and sunder and beat on people. Light weapons have to be used against openings, because you aren't going to flatten out someone's pauldrons and drive it into their shoulder joint with a swing, or put a dent in their helmet and snap their neck with a blow, or slam your way through two inches of leathery hide and rip open muscle and bone in one rending swipe. You have to rely on cutting open vulnerable points...if you are NOT accurate, then you are utterly ineffective (ting!). Bigger weapons don't need to be as accurate...which is not to say their wielders are not. They maximize angles of attack and leverage just like light weapons. Being able to 'wield a Greatsword like a willow wand' is an advantage of being hugely strong...your control of it is just as fine and precise of someone else with a much smaller weapon.
Also, much of the killing power of two weapons is wrapped up on the ability to bring them both to bear at different angles of attack. This is a showier way of bringing one big weapon to bear, realistically. Sure, I could impale you through the gut and liver, or cross-swipe your head off from two directions...or I could just shove my big sword right through your ribcage, or hew your head off with one swing, not two. Mechanically, TWF is THW for weaklings who can dance around better.
The issue of reach is also bound up in 'ability to threaten'. Greatswords threaten at a distance, true...but Greatswords are SLOW. Greatswords don't have a lot of leverage at the tip...they are much easier to push aside and get inside. Once inside the reach of that tip, where greatest force is applied, Greatswords have problems being brought to bear...and the shorter weapons of the enemy can play on him. This doesn't mean they are ineffective close up...it means they are much less effective.
So, in essence, 'normal reach' is just a compromise between ability to get in close to an attacker vs. ability to stand off just far enough and hack them down. Big weapons that have reach take the latter ability to such lengths that they can't even be used properly against someone in tight quarters with them.
ToB introduced an Iron Heart stance that gives +5' reach on your turn only. This is balanced...it basically approximates an increased ability to lunge to the attack, combining either height and reach or speed and footwork...either explanation works. It's the equivalent of a feat. If you want reach with a Greatsword, take it.
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The loss of 2:1 Power Attack should shed no tears. It is the ONLY thing that gives THW the advantage over the styles in the current game, especially with Charger abuse.
Just do some basic math.
THW, greatsword, 18 Str. At low levels, +2 dmg, 7 avg wpn, 9 pts a swing.
TWF, shortswords, -2 th, 7 from weapons. If you let Str bonus for off hand, 9 pts if both hit. However, accumulates dmg more quickly with spec skills/magic.
SAB, 7 pts a swing,b ut 2-3 more pts of AC reduces incoming dmg by 10%...and as the shield rises in AC given it will potentially top out at 20-25% of incomign dmg being soaked by the shield, if not more.
At level 20 with a 30 Str and +5 weapons...
Greatsword is doing +15 from Str, +5 magic, +7 weapon = 27, before all other considerations.
Shortswords are doing +7 from weapons, +15 from Str, +10 from magic, but -2 TH, for 32 dmg.
SAB is doing +10 Str, +5 magic, +5 weapon for 20 dmg....but he's soaking 35% of his melee dmg to a shield, at least! That would, for instance, render him about equal in dmg/rd to a shortsword guy, and reduce the Greatsword guy to 18 dmg/attack. If he adds a single bash to the attack, he could potentially add 7 pts from Shield, 5 from Str, and 5 from magic for another +12...spread out over 4 iteratives, he's actually going to do slightly more dmg to the TWF guy then is being dealt to him.
Ergo, the weapon styles have now become equals against one another.
Clearly, the big sword is best on the charge. Clearly, the TWF is going to go hogwild if he has a bunch of bonus dmg per attack. Clearly, the Shield guy does less dmg...but he'll still kill his enemy, and live through a fight that would kill the other two, AND, by the math, he'd kill either of them in a real fight.
All you have to do is make AC relevant again. Remove Touch Attacks, bring overpowered DMG and TH back into the realm of reality, and the styles are again balanced. Hit and Die attacks from melee are as or more abusive then Save or Dies from spellcasters, and you can't ignore it or handwave it away if you want to balance the styles out.
It requires a minor nerfage of Power Attack, which grossly favors one combat style over the others, and it requires treating AC as an important defense again.
Das Bier!
