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<blockquote data-quote="Mannahnin" data-source="post: 9588216" data-attributes="member: 7026594">Two tidbits:1. While THAC0 did appear in those earlier instances, technically the mechanic was a bit different, because officially in 1E the attack matrices had six repeating 20s.&nbsp; For example, a 1st level Fighter hit ACs 0 to -5 on a 20, but needed a modified 21 to hit AC -6, through a modified 26 to hit AC -10.&nbsp; This went along with there being no auto-hit on a natural 20 or auto-miss on a natural 1 rule in OD&amp;D or AD&amp;D 1E.2. While OD&amp;D and AD&amp;D (prior to 2E in 1989) officially used attack matrices/tables instead of a THAC0 calculation, we learned from historians <a href="https://playingattheworld.blogspot.com/2018/09/why-did-armor-class-descend-from-9-to-2.html" target="_blank">in 2018 that the pre-publication draft of OD&amp;D DID use a simple +1 improvement per level rate for Fighter</a>s.&nbsp; It turns out that the tables appear to have been used for the sake of familiarity to wargamers (since all or almost all wargames at the time used attack tables), and then the progression was broken into &quot;chunks&quot; due to space limitations on the page!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mannahnin, post: 9588216, member: 7026594"] Two tidbits: 1. While THAC0 did appear in those earlier instances, technically the mechanic was a bit different, because officially in 1E the attack matrices had six repeating 20s. For example, a 1st level Fighter hit ACs 0 to -5 on a 20, but needed a modified 21 to hit AC -6, through a modified 26 to hit AC -10. This went along with there being no auto-hit on a natural 20 or auto-miss on a natural 1 rule in OD&D or AD&D 1E. 2. While OD&D and AD&D (prior to 2E in 1989) officially used attack matrices/tables instead of a THAC0 calculation, we learned from historians [URL='https://playingattheworld.blogspot.com/2018/09/why-did-armor-class-descend-from-9-to-2.html']in 2018 that the pre-publication draft of OD&D DID use a simple +1 improvement per level rate for Fighter[/URL]s. It turns out that the tables appear to have been used for the sake of familiarity to wargamers (since all or almost all wargames at the time used attack tables), and then the progression was broken into "chunks" due to space limitations on the page! [/QUOTE]

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