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<blockquote data-quote="Puggins" data-source="post: 4691338" data-attributes="member: 12386"><p>Thondor, with all due respect, you're ignoring that both equations are commutatively equal.</p><p></p><p>X >= THACO - AC <strong>:</strong> X + AC >= THACO</p><p></p><p>X >= AC - BAB <strong>:</strong> X + BAB >= AC</p><p></p><p>They are the same in terms of mathematical functionality. The difference lies in their level of intuitiveness.</p><p></p><p>Look at the the second equation of each. </p><p></p><p>The BAB equation is perfectly intuitive. I have a value that tells me how good I am at swinging a sword. If I add that value to the die roll, which also tells me how well I swung at this very moment, I get the sum total of the effectiveness of my attack. If it's higher than a target number, then I hit.</p><p></p><p>The THACO equation... welll, it's just as workable, it is simply less intuitive. I have to add the target number I'm trying to hit to my roll, and then comparing the total against my skill representation. The first version of the equation is somewhat more intuitive, but not increidbly so- you have the monsters AC, which gets better as it goes down compared against one value that gets better as it goes down and another value that gets better as it goes up. It's simple, but it's not elegant.</p><p></p><p>That said, all brains are wired differently. If you really like THACO, then converting 3/4e to THACO is amazingly simple:</p><p></p><p>AC(THACO) = 20 - AC(BAB)</p><p></p><p>THACO = 20 - BAB</p><p></p><p>I don't particularly care for it, since I prefer a system that goes one direction in nunber quality, but it's ultimarely your game.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Puggins, post: 4691338, member: 12386"] Thondor, with all due respect, you're ignoring that both equations are commutatively equal. X >= THACO - AC [b]:[/b] X + AC >= THACO X >= AC - BAB [b]:[/b] X + BAB >= AC They are the same in terms of mathematical functionality. The difference lies in their level of intuitiveness. Look at the the second equation of each. The BAB equation is perfectly intuitive. I have a value that tells me how good I am at swinging a sword. If I add that value to the die roll, which also tells me how well I swung at this very moment, I get the sum total of the effectiveness of my attack. If it's higher than a target number, then I hit. The THACO equation... welll, it's just as workable, it is simply less intuitive. I have to add the target number I'm trying to hit to my roll, and then comparing the total against my skill representation. The first version of the equation is somewhat more intuitive, but not increidbly so- you have the monsters AC, which gets better as it goes down compared against one value that gets better as it goes down and another value that gets better as it goes up. It's simple, but it's not elegant. That said, all brains are wired differently. If you really like THACO, then converting 3/4e to THACO is amazingly simple: AC(THACO) = 20 - AC(BAB) THACO = 20 - BAB I don't particularly care for it, since I prefer a system that goes one direction in nunber quality, but it's ultimarely your game. [/QUOTE]
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