Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
The truth about THAC0
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Janx" data-source="post: 2148628" data-attributes="member: 8835"><p>I think storminator and quasqueston have hit it on the head.</p><p></p><p>It sounds like bunches of you played where the DM wouldn't tell the players the AC. When that happens in 2e, it slows down the game, because you have to do math on both sides of the <= sign. Which is why in all the games I played, we just gave out the AC. In about 1 swing, a fighter's gonna know how tough it is to hit the guy anyway, so why dork around making the math harder. (one house rule was, you don't get told the AC until you commit to attacking the bad guy, no take backs once you find out he has a -10 AC and you have an 15 THAC0).</p><p></p><p>Short of it is, all players had the THAC0 for each weapon, by each weapon on their char sheet. An attack went by as follows:</p><p>Player: I attack the goblin</p><p>GM: AC is 7</p><p>Player: need a 12 to hit (rolls) got a 13</p><p>Player: (rolls d6) I do 5 damage</p><p>GM: you jab your sword under his, and jab the goblin in the ribs, he winces in pain and brings his shield in tighter</p><p></p><p>Doing the secret AC method in 2e slows the game down for little benefit. The GM or the player would have to modify the result to figure out which AC was hit, if the AC was not automatically told. I prefer to let the players do the work and spread the workload (figure 1 round, 6 players, they each have to do the math once, versus making the GM do math 6 times, plus his own monsters).</p><p></p><p>In 3e, the math requirements are similar, but it naturally allows the DM to protect the AC, without any work on either side's part. This is why the AC reversal in 3e is better, as it gives GMs the best of both worlds, the players do their own math AND they can keep AC secret.</p><p></p><p>Janx</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Janx, post: 2148628, member: 8835"] I think storminator and quasqueston have hit it on the head. It sounds like bunches of you played where the DM wouldn't tell the players the AC. When that happens in 2e, it slows down the game, because you have to do math on both sides of the <= sign. Which is why in all the games I played, we just gave out the AC. In about 1 swing, a fighter's gonna know how tough it is to hit the guy anyway, so why dork around making the math harder. (one house rule was, you don't get told the AC until you commit to attacking the bad guy, no take backs once you find out he has a -10 AC and you have an 15 THAC0). Short of it is, all players had the THAC0 for each weapon, by each weapon on their char sheet. An attack went by as follows: Player: I attack the goblin GM: AC is 7 Player: need a 12 to hit (rolls) got a 13 Player: (rolls d6) I do 5 damage GM: you jab your sword under his, and jab the goblin in the ribs, he winces in pain and brings his shield in tighter Doing the secret AC method in 2e slows the game down for little benefit. The GM or the player would have to modify the result to figure out which AC was hit, if the AC was not automatically told. I prefer to let the players do the work and spread the workload (figure 1 round, 6 players, they each have to do the math once, versus making the GM do math 6 times, plus his own monsters). In 3e, the math requirements are similar, but it naturally allows the DM to protect the AC, without any work on either side's part. This is why the AC reversal in 3e is better, as it gives GMs the best of both worlds, the players do their own math AND they can keep AC secret. Janx [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
The truth about THAC0
Top