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<blockquote data-quote="T. Foster" data-source="post: 3906142" data-attributes="member: 16574">Generalized d20-based ability checks (i.e. roll your stat or less on 1d20) began showing up in third-party products in the late 70s (and were probably mentioned in APAzines even earlier) -- Judges Guild's Caverns of Thracia (1979), for instance, includes several such instances. The Dig spell description (PH, p. 76) includes a Dex or less on d20 saving throw, but that method is specific to the spell and isn't suggested as a general rule. The first appearances of generalized d20 stat checks in TSR products (per an old thread at dragonsfoot, where people did a search) were in 1981, in the Moldvay-edit D&amp;D Basic Rulebook (which wasn't an AD&amp;D product, but was the &quot;gateway drug&quot; for a very large number of AD&amp;D players and thus strongly colored their perceptions) and in module A2: Secret of the Slaver's Stockade. By around 1983 this method had become the standard/default and most modules from that time forward (e.g. I3: Pharaoh (1982)) included something like this in their introduction section:Likewise with THAC0, which was developed in the APAzine culture of the 70s and began appearing in modules long before its adoption as the official default mechanic in 2E. Most modules from c. 1984 on had something like this (from UK2: The Sentinel (1983)) in their intro:Check pretty much any later-period 1E module (or supplement, like REF3: The Book of Lairs (1986)) and you'll almost certainly find both of these concepts in use (and explained in the intro).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="T. Foster, post: 3906142, member: 16574"] Generalized d20-based ability checks (i.e. roll your stat or less on 1d20) began showing up in third-party products in the late 70s (and were probably mentioned in APAzines even earlier) -- Judges Guild's [i]Caverns of Thracia[/i] (1979), for instance, includes several such instances. The [i]Dig[/i] spell description (PH, p. 76) includes a Dex or less on d20 saving throw, but that method is specific to the spell and isn't suggested as a general rule. The first appearances of generalized d20 stat checks in TSR products (per an old thread at dragonsfoot, where people did a search) were in 1981, in the Moldvay-edit D&D Basic Rulebook (which wasn't an AD&D product, but was the "gateway drug" for a very large number of AD&D players and thus strongly colored their perceptions) and in module [i]A2: Secret of the Slaver's Stockade[/i]. By around 1983 this method had become the standard/default and most modules from that time forward (e.g. [i]I3: Pharaoh[/i] (1982)) included something like this in their introduction section: Likewise with THAC0, which was developed in the APAzine culture of the 70s and began appearing in modules long before its adoption as the official default mechanic in 2E. Most modules from c. 1984 on had something like this (from [i]UK2: The Sentinel[/i] (1983)) in their intro: Check pretty much any later-period 1E module (or supplement, like [i]REF3: The Book of Lairs[/i] (1986)) and you'll almost certainly find both of these concepts in use (and explained in the intro). [/QUOTE]

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