Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Bacon Bits" data-source="post: 6864348" data-attributes="member: 6777737">I'm come to realize that what everybody does with THAC0 is find the algorithm that works the best for them.&nbsp; Everybody knows that it's inherently cumbersome and backwards, so everybody finds a method that resolves the cumbersomeness in what they believe is the most efficient manner.&nbsp; It's kind of like watching people multiply polynomials, or evaluate a formula.&nbsp; Everybody does it differently, but everybody thinks they're doing it in the most efficient way.&nbsp; The hope is that if you get good enough at doing it that it will be fast.&nbsp; And it does eventually get there.&nbsp; And, of course, THAC0 is itself already a shortcut rule to make the job easier: it eliminates the combat tables from 1e.Honestly, the most damning thing about THAC0 is the fact that since 3e, nobody does this anymore.&nbsp; I mean, do you ever discuss the most efficient way to figure an attack roll anymore?&nbsp; Do you have to convince players that the math isn't difficult?&nbsp; No, those question are ludicrous.&nbsp; The method presented in the books is straightforward, self-evident, low complexity, and very intuitive.&nbsp; And all they had to do was reorient the scale.&nbsp; Hell, 3e relied on iterative attacks that effectively had different THAC0 for every single attack.&nbsp; Can you imagine that in 2e?&nbsp; Beyond optional rules that change where the dice roll is made like &quot;make players roll for AC when attacked&quot; or 4e's defenses (i.e., other edition's saving throws), there's nothing to improve about the math of the attack roll anymore.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Bacon Bits, post: 6864348, member: 6777737"] I'm come to realize that what everybody does with THAC0 is find the algorithm that works the best for them. Everybody knows that it's inherently cumbersome and backwards, so everybody finds a method that resolves the cumbersomeness in what they believe is the most efficient manner. It's kind of like watching people multiply polynomials, or evaluate a formula. Everybody does it differently, but everybody thinks they're doing it in the most efficient way. The hope is that if you get good enough at doing it that it will be fast. And it does eventually get there. And, of course, THAC0 is itself already a shortcut rule to make the job easier: it eliminates the combat tables from 1e. Honestly, the most damning thing about THAC0 is the fact that since 3e, [I]nobody[/I] does this anymore. I mean, do you ever discuss the most efficient way to figure an attack roll anymore? Do you have to convince players that the math isn't difficult? No, those question are ludicrous. The method presented in the books is straightforward, self-evident, low complexity, and very intuitive. And all they had to do was reorient the scale. Hell, 3e relied on iterative attacks that effectively had different THAC0 for every single attack. Can you imagine that in 2e? Beyond optional rules that change where the dice roll is made like "make players roll for AC when attacked" or 4e's defenses (i.e., other edition's saving throws), there's nothing to improve about the math of the attack roll anymore. [/QUOTE]

Verification