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Why THAC0 Rocks
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<blockquote data-quote="Thondor" data-source="post: 4690444" data-attributes="member: 31955"><p>I do admit that understanding how THAC0 functions is slightly more difficult conceptually. However, it more then makes up for it in accelerating game play. It is a concept that is easily explained by doing it though. </p><p> </p><p>Player: I don't get this THAC0 thing, why does AC go down?</p><p>DM: Both AC and THAC0 go down, lower is better. Your character has a THAC0 of 20 right</p><p>Player: Yeah</p><p>DM: Suppose you want to beat up and average bloke. He's not wearing any armour or particulary good at dodging, so his AC is 10.</p><p>Player: Um . . . OK . . .</p><p>DM: To know what you need to roll on this dice (holds up a d 20) in order to hit him, all you do is minus the AC from your THAC0</p><p>Player: oh, so 20 - 10, 10.</p><p>DM: Roll the dice</p><p>Player: It's a 12, so I guess I . .. hit.</p><p>DM: you hit, now you roll damage. Sometimes I won't tell you the AC, so you just tell me what you roll and I'll figure out if you hit.</p><p> </p><p>Yeah it can be a little DM heavy. If you want it to be. Still remebering a few players THAC0 isn't that tough. And you can just ask. Most of the time it'll be obvious though. Hmm he rolled really high. hit. really low miss. You <em>can</em> do this with BAB to of course but it's harder.</p><p> </p><p>One of the things that troubles me with BAB as a DM is that my players often say what they rolled and what they actually got (roll+BAB) which leads to confusion. Player " 17" DM "you missed", Player "what!? Last time I roll a 14 and hit!" DM "sigh, did you roll a 17 or get a 17?"</p><p>(note these players never played with THAC0 and should no better )</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><em>an aside</em></p><p>The mere fact that a DM can tell a player what they need to roll to hit, means it is much easier for those who have some difficulty with math ( in some cases because their Kids) to play.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Thondor, post: 4690444, member: 31955"] I do admit that understanding how THAC0 functions is slightly more difficult conceptually. However, it more then makes up for it in accelerating game play. It is a concept that is easily explained by doing it though. Player: I don't get this THAC0 thing, why does AC go down? DM: Both AC and THAC0 go down, lower is better. Your character has a THAC0 of 20 right Player: Yeah DM: Suppose you want to beat up and average bloke. He's not wearing any armour or particulary good at dodging, so his AC is 10. Player: Um . . . OK . . . DM: To know what you need to roll on this dice (holds up a d 20) in order to hit him, all you do is minus the AC from your THAC0 Player: oh, so 20 - 10, 10. DM: Roll the dice Player: It's a 12, so I guess I . .. hit. DM: you hit, now you roll damage. Sometimes I won't tell you the AC, so you just tell me what you roll and I'll figure out if you hit. Yeah it can be a little DM heavy. If you want it to be. Still remebering a few players THAC0 isn't that tough. And you can just ask. Most of the time it'll be obvious though. Hmm he rolled really high. hit. really low miss. You [I]can[/I] do this with BAB to of course but it's harder. One of the things that troubles me with BAB as a DM is that my players often say what they rolled and what they actually got (roll+BAB) which leads to confusion. Player " 17" DM "you missed", Player "what!? Last time I roll a 14 and hit!" DM "sigh, did you roll a 17 or get a 17?" (note these players never played with THAC0 and should no better ) [I]an aside[/I] The mere fact that a DM can tell a player what they need to roll to hit, means it is much easier for those who have some difficulty with math ( in some cases because their Kids) to play. [/QUOTE]
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