Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
The 2d edition ofDungeons & Dragonshad a bizarre rule known as THAC0 , which was used to determine if attacks hit or missed during armed combat . The linguistic rule was needlessly complicated and it acted as a roadblock to entry for fresh player .
Therules in the current version ofD&Dare easy to explain to unexampled thespian . This is helped by the fact that a lot of the math has been take out of the game . In the older variant ofD&Dand in games likePathfinder , the DM and the histrion were invariably adding or take off numbers . The current variation ofD&Dhas toned all of that down , due to most scores being worked out at the start and gradually upgrade over sentence .
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The 2nd version ofD&D(known asAdvanced Dungeons & Dragons ) is still beloved by a lot of people , as it ’s the one that was used ingames likeBaldur ’s Gate . The people who were n’t intimate withAD&Doften struggled during the first few hours ofBaldur ’s Gateor its continuation , as put on armour actually reduce the player ’s armour class score . The reason for this was due to how the scrap system was tied to an unintuitive rule .
How Hitting Works In D&D
Combat in the current edition ofD&Dinvolves work out out two numbers and a dice roll . The first phone number to work out isDungeons & Dragons’armor class(or AC ) score . AC is 10 , plus the bonus grant from the character ’s armour , plus their Dexterity modifier , plus any extra modifier ( such as post a shield ) . The second number is the approach bonus of the reference , which is their technique bonus , their Strength bonus for melee attacks or Dexterity bonus for ranged attack , and any sundry modifiers . If a lineament wants to hit someone , then they need to pluck the same figure or higher than the AC of their quarry .
so as to excuse armed combat , let ’s ideate a goblin with an AC of 12 is being lash out by aDungeons & DragonsFighterwith an attack incentive of +4 . The Fighter ’s player would need to roll an 8 or high on a d20 for strike the AC of the hobgoblin . If they roll a 1 - 7 , then the attack misfire .
The armed combat system is easy to follow , as most of the number explicate are worked out ahead of time in the secret plan by the player and they only increase in small increase over the course of the run . By the same token , the AC / attack fillip numbers are repose out for the DM in theMonster Manual , so they only have to exercise them out if they ’re do ahomebrewD&Dcampaign .

How THAC0 Worked In AD&D
InAD&D , a character who is n’t wearing armor is considered to have an AC of 10 . If they put on armor , then that number goes down . A quality who commit on field home mail armor has their AC deoxidize to 2 . In club to work out the number needed to hit that character , the participant would need to fix their THAC0 score .
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THAC0 is an acronym for To strike Armor Class zero . A character ’s THAC0 score see the bit they would need to hit an AC account of zero . If a character ’s THAC0 was ten , then that meant they needed to roll a ten to hit an AC of zero , a nine to hit an AC of 1 , or an eleven to hit an AC of -1 . Rolling above the THAC0 sexual conquest also countered as a hit . Negative numbers were part of the equation , and they became more important as the campaign went on . Characters inBaldur ’s Gate 2could easily hit the low minuses for AC , once they piled on magic armor , rings , and sleight modifiers .

It was common for dm and players to fill up out a THAC0 chart and keep it to hand at all times , as it was well-heeled than have to keep caterpillar track of the numbers . It was a pain whenever a character gained a temporary THAC0 boost from an spell , as it temporarily threw the number out of belt . The thirdedition ofD&Dhas its detractor , but there is no deny that replacing THAC0 with a simpler fight system of rules was one of the best thing it bring in toDungeons & Dragons .
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