Where did you first see THAC0?

[Emiricol]

I first saw it in about '84-'86 (somewhere in there). It was crunchy stuff included in a module by a third-party UK company (which was quickly sued by T$R and stopped making modules).

I bought the module in a bookstore in Virginia. If I remember, it had a silver cover, and all I remember of it - besides my introduction to this new thing called THAC0 - was that it involved a triangular castle. I never ran the module, but the castle and details on surrounding area made a great fief for my fighter! Had a very British flavor, naturally enough. I think the module's plot had to do with a plot to usurp power from the rightful ruler, and the PCs had to stop it (go figure!).

I wish I could remember more about the module's name and contents, but there ya go!

 

[VorpalBunny]

The AD&D 2nd Edition Player's Handbook, 1991. I was a 1st edition holdout - when I finally picked up 2nd ed., I remember looking it over and thinking it was a good idea at the time - "Oh, look. No more 'to-hit' charts! This will make things much easier!"

 

[Bregh]

p. 196 of the DMG.

c. 1982 or so for me.

 

[Remathilis]

1992, AD&D 2e PHB.

Check the Sig.

 

[Emiricol]

p. 196 of the DMG.

c. 1982 or so for me.

I wasn't aware 1E had THAC0 in the DMG.

 

[the Jester]

In an old Polyhedron from the 1e days...

All I remember about the adventure was a red dragon casting fire shield to protect himself from cold.

 

[Bregh]

Strictly speaking, it wasn't in the acronymic, but pp. 196-214 contained charts with the stats of the monsters from the MM. Part of this chart was the notation "To Hit A.C. 0" and the relevant number.

By the mid-80s THAC0 was a common listing in the AD&D modules (cf. Book of Lairs I, II et. al., and Dungeon magazine).

Was a bit trickier to employ, because the "20" repeats six times on the OAD&D "to hit" charts before rising to 21, &c (which means a natural 20 wasn't always a hit ), but we use it for short-hand quite often, and have the repeating 20 sequence pretty much memmed (like you d20 folk have magic bonus types memmed WRT circumstance/competence/&c) so it ain't much of an issue.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Strictly speaking, it wasn't in the acronymic, but pp. 196-214 contained charts with the stats of the monsters from the MM. Part of this chart was the notation "To Hit A.C. 0" and the relevant number.

By the mid-80s THAC0 was a common listing in the AD&D modules (cf. Book of Lairs I, II et. al., and Dungeon magazine).

Was a bit trickier to employ, because the "20" repeats six times on the OAD&D "to hit" charts before rising to 21, &c (which means a natural 20 wasn't always a hit ), but we use it for short-hand quite often, and have the repeating 20 sequence pretty much memmed (like you d20 folk have magic bonus types memmed WRT circumstance/competence/&c) so it ain't much of an issue.

I seem to remember that THAC0 was listed on the OD&D character sheets, along with slots just listing the numbers for all the other ACs, and you were supposed to copy out the entire line from the table. That's where I learnt it.

Actually maybe the 0 was seperated from the THAC...

 

[JoeGKushner]

The first place I remember seeing this is in Role Aids by Mayfair and then TSR started using it in Second Edition.

 

[coyote6]

I think the first time I saw it was in a module. I want to say it was a "solo module" for Basic or Expert D&D, but I'm not at all sure.

It definitely wasn't in the PH or DMG (though I seem to recall having the 1e fighter chart memorized at one point. I've spent more neurons that way . . . ).