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Message: <blockquote data-quote="T. Foster" data-source="post: 3018083" data-attributes="member: 16574">Appendix E of the 1E DMG (the "Alphabetical Recapitulation of Monsters (With Experience Point Values)" (pp. 196-215)) includes a column labeled "To Hit A.C. 0" which is a shorthand reference back to the "Attack Matrix for Monsters" table on DMG p. 75 -- if you know the monster's required roll To Hit A.C. 0 it's a simple calculation to determine what it needs to hit other ACs (but note that because of 1E's "repeated 20s" rule this short-hand value isn't actually usable for all ACs -- for instance, a brownie has its To Hit A.C. 0 value listed as 20, which is correct, but since that's the 2nd 20 on the table, you can't reverse calculate from that to get what the brownie needs to hit other ACs (i.e. they need a 16 to hit AC 5, not a 15); likewise an orc has a To Hit A.C. 0 value of 19, but because of the repeated 20s will hit an opponent with AC -8 on a 22, not a 27). So, while what was later called "THAC0" technically appeared as early as the 1E DMG in 1979, it was just intended as a shorthand reference to the table, not an actual formula the way it was in 2E AD&D.Note also that modules in the late 1E era tended to include "THAC0" in creature statblocks, typically with an explanation that mirrors what was later included in 2E. See, for instance, REF3: The Book of Lairs (1986):It's a testament to the lax attitude towards the AD&D rules at TSR in those days that the "repeated 20s" paradox isn't mentioned and, for instance, the kobolds on p. 43 of that book are listed with THAC0 20 with no asterisk or footnote indicating that this is actually the 2nd, rather than the 1st, 20 on the table (and thus calculations To Hit other ACs should be based on 21 rather than 20)...</blockquote>

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