An Opportunity for WotC in 2009

[Lanefan]

What I'd like to see, rather than a re-release of 2e and-or 1e, is ongoing official support for the various previous iterations of the game. Yes, the local car dealership only wants to sell you the new 2009 model, but they keep parts on hand for many older models...

It's not like they won't sell me any new stuff...so far, I've bought far more 4e releases than I expected to going in, yet without any intention of playing or running that system.

And I've been DMing 1e for almost 25 years and I *still* haven't figured out how THAC0 works...mostly because I just look at the chart instead. I never understood, in fact, why THAC0 was invented, as it took what seemed a simple system and made it complicated: I don't care whether your swing can hit AC 0, I care whether it can hit the AC of what you're swinging at! So why bring AC 0 into the mix?

Lanefan

 

[TerraDave]

-A retro (you know I am all about the retro) - classic version of the game would be great! For the style...

-But not the mechanics. Plenty of posters have touched on the specifcis, so I will just repeat that 2E in particular, were they introduced (or I should say standerdized) thaco and roll under proficiency/ability checks (and kept too many of AD&Ds little quirks) had too many inconsistent mechanics that acomplished too little. And yes, for adult players with a life, it was a barrier that was totally uneccasary.

-Fortunately, you don't need those mechanics.

 

[Fifth Element]

And I've been DMing 1e for almost 25 years and I *still* haven't figured out how THAC0 works...mostly because I just look at the chart instead. I never understood, in fact, why THAC0 was invented, as it took what seemed a simple system and made it complicated: I don't care whether your swing can hit AC 0, I care whether it can hit the AC of what you're swinging at! So why bring AC 0 into the mix?

It's so you can calculate what AC your attack does hit, without the need to look it up on a table. If your THACO is 20, and you roll a 12, you hit AC 8 (THACO 20 minus your roll of 12).

They could have picked any base number. It could have been THAC1 or THAC5. Using 0 as the baseline just makes the math a bit quicker for most people.