D&D General How did/do you make your THAC0 attacks rolls?

[vivsavage]

What method did/do you use to make your combat rolls? In other words, did you adjust your THAC0 by the opponent's AC (as in the rules), or did you subtract your d20 roll from your THAC0 and tell the DM what AC you've hit? Or something else?

 

[ccs]

The character sheets we were using at the time already had an AC chart printed on them.
We'd adjust the #s needed to hit when we lvd up as needed.

Roll d20, apply modifiers, look at chart, report what AC we hit.

Thus whenever I hear about people moaning about how bad THAC0 was/is I always wonder "Why didn't they just write themselves a chart?".

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I went with the "DM has a list of player THAC0s and checks that against what they rolled."

At a con recently, I played at a table that the DM had the player tell them up to what AC they did hit. Then all the DM had to do was know what AC the monster had. I quite liked that set-up.

 

[Salthorae]

Announced what we were doing, rolled and said what AC we hit. Some at the table used the chart, I just did the math.

 

[Jack Daniel]

Effectively the same as the first option, but without the subtraction: DM announces target AC; player rolls 1d20 + AC and hits if the total equals or exceeds their adjusted THAC0.

 

[Greenstone.Walker]

I didn't like THAC0 so I invented a system called HABL where positive numbers were good and negative numbers were bad. It was pretty much the BAB system, before D&D used that.

 

[Celebrim]

I played 1e, and the methodology I eventually evolved to as the fastest method of play was to develop a 'to hit' table for each player in the part that summed all their standard modifiers. That way, the player could just report the result of the roll, and we didn't have the six second delay where they add their strength bonus, magic item bonus, weapon proficiency, etc.

Even better, this meant that I could roll into the table all the individual weapon versus AC modifiers as well, with one line for each weapon a player was likely to use. I ended up clipping hand written sheets to my DM screens, because the custom tables specific to the party actually in front of me were far more useful than general ones.

While it meant a small amount of upfront cost, the results in play were awesome.

 

[Staffan]

I had sheets with adjusted THAC0 values (including permanent modifiers for stats, proficiency, and magic) on them, and had my players calculate the lowest AC they hit by taking modified THAC0 minus the d20 roll. That was the only way that made any sort of sense to me.

 

[Legatus Legionis]

.

 

[cbwjm]

We always used an adjusted thac0 which took into account all bonuses/penalties then the player subtracted the die roll to see which AC they hit and I told them if they hit. Right in the beginning when I first started with becmi I recall writing out a matrix bit that didn't last long because it was more work than was required.

 

[Bacon Bits]

whenever I hear about people moaning about how bad THAC0 was/is I always wonder "Why didn't they just write themselves a chart?".

I used a THAC0 chart on my sheet and I still loathe THAC0 and descending AC.

Part of the problem is that I should never feel the need to create a chart on my character sheet for something I'm rolling 2 to 3 times a turn. Can you imagine needing to consult a chart for the attack roll in 5e? It's a super cumbersome mechanic for how often it occurs.

 

[billd91]

We used a variety of methods. I rolled the die and subtracted from my THAC0, but I was a lot more comfortable with that computation and wrangling the negative numbers than most of my fellow players. That was a major issue with THAC0 that drove some of my fellows back to using a chart, even though THAC0 was designed to free us from the chart in the first place.

 

[jasper]

Wrote 10 to -10 on the bottom of notebook paper and fill in the chart.

 

[Sacrosanct]

For 2e? Each weapon has its THAC0 value right next to it (along with damage). The modifiers were already accounted for. E.g, if my THAC0 was 16, and I had a total of +4 to hit from various modifiers, I wrote down 12. Then I subtracted my die roll from that and called it out. No need for tables. Just one value for each weapon.

 

[Lanefan]

Player rolls the to-hit die, adds the character's bonuses, and tells me the total. If there's special circumstances I might ask how that total came to be what it is (e.g. if a magic weapon is needed to hit) and-or what was rolled on the die.

I take that total and add it to the foe's AC, factor in anything else the foe might have going for (or against) it, factor in anything the character might have going for (or against) it that the player doesn't know about e.g. an intrinsic effect of the area or an individual curse, compare the end result to a fixed target, and narrate whether a hit's been scored or not.

Note that usually this whole process is much simpler than it sounds when written out.

 

[Zardnaar]

Usually thaco plus modifiers and I'll tell you if you hit.

I use Bab now though for older D&D. I would only use thaco by request or for that ye olde genuine 1 off.

 

[Dausuul]

What method did/do you use to make your combat rolls? In other words, did you adjust your THAC0 by the opponent's AC (as in the rules), or did you subtract your d20 roll from your THAC0 and tell the DM what AC you've hit? Or something else?

My method was "play a wizard, and then your attack rolls don't matter anyway."

 

[Lanefan]

My method was "play a wizard, and then your attack rolls don't matter anyway."

Sure they do - in games that have such, you can still fumble...