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Old 11-24-2002, 03:18 AM   #1
The Cavalier
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Maybe I'm too young, but I don't understand many of these D&D rules. What is THACO? The lower the better, right? Same with Armor class? What is save vs. spell/breath/etc? What is THACO +3, Damage 1D10 +2 on a weapon? What is 1D10? Would 1D8 or 2D6 be better? Which would be better: A sword with THACO +3 Damage 1D6+2, or THACO +2 Damage 1D6+3? I do not understand these things. I've just been kinda assuming stuff as I go along...
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Old 11-24-2002, 03:28 AM   #2
Angelousss
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you've got it. Thac0 is, to hit armor class 0. it's just a base #. the lower the better cause it's based on a roll of a 20 sided dice. so if your thac0 was 10 and you fought someone w/ an armor class of 0 you'd need to roll a 10 or better. If his armor class was lower your thac0 would be higher, and vice versa. when someone says +3 to thac0 it means it lowers it by 3.
any xDy is
x= how many
y=the type of dice
so 2D6 is 2 rolls of a six sided dice
usually a weapon is +2 or whatever it does +2 to thac0 and damage

[ 11-24-2002, 03:29 AM: Message edited by: Angelousss ]
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Old 11-24-2002, 03:33 AM   #3
philip
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Nearly everything in 2nd edition D&D rules whic are used in BG2 is lower means better accept for hp and mony arrows and such.
THACO means To hit armor class 0. so it has something to do with how well you can hit low armor classes.
Most spells have saves. If it's cast at you, and you're allowed to make a save (look in the spell descriptions if you want to know which) the computer (I think) rolls a dice and adds your bonus (in your character record) to it. if you have rolled high or low (I'm not sure on this) enough the spell has less effect or are somne effects cancelled. The computer calculates this and doesn't show it so you don't notice it except for the spells having less effect sometime.
THAC0+3 means that if you have the weapon equiped you have a higher THAC0 so more chance to hit something.
1D10+2 means that damae is calculated by rolling 1 dice of 10 adding 2 to this.
the numer before the D is how many dice are rolled and the number behind is which dice are rolled. (in D&D the following dice are used D4, D6, D8, D10, D12,D20 and D100)
Which sword is best depends on what you're fighting. 1D6+3 does more damage but can hit less and the 1D6+2 can hit more but does less damage. Some monsters need weapons which are at least THAC0+3 or +4
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Old 11-24-2002, 03:54 AM   #4
dragon_lord
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Does anyone understand Advanced D&D rules? Really 2nd Edition D&D logically doesnt make any cense. Why is having a higher AC worse than a lower one, it should be around the other way. Why is it + to this and that when it really means -?
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Old 11-24-2002, 03:56 AM   #5
The Cavalier
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Yeah, you'd figure it'd make more sense that way. I'll learn to live with it this way though, if I can just figure it out.
it is starting to make more sense. the 20 sided dice, does its numbers go from -10 to 10 (that makes sense if you figure the best armor rating is -10 and my archer has a thaco of -7 or something like that), or is it 1-20? So if I have a thaco of say, 5, and my enemy has armor class of say 1 or 2, what do I have to roll? what if he has an armor class of -1 or -2? So which weapon would be better? 2D10 or 1D20?

[ 11-24-2002, 03:59 AM: Message edited by: The Cavalier ]
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Old 11-24-2002, 04:08 AM   #6
Angelousss
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The dice go from 1-20 but rember 0 is not the lowest ac. so if you have a -3 thac0 and you fight someone with an ac of -8 your to hit roll might need to be a 5 or the like. The books have all sorts of tables for things like that but you don't really need to worry about it because the game does all the rolling.
A 1D20 and 2D10 are nearly the same. a 1D20 you roll 1 20 sided dice and use whatever number comes up 1-20. a 2D10 you roll 2 ten sided dice and add the #s, 2-20.

that was the idea behind the 3rd edition rules, get things to make more sense. fix things like thac0
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Old 11-24-2002, 04:11 AM   #7
LennonCook
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Your to hit roll is rolled on a D20, or 20 sided die. If you roll above your THAC0, you hit. Then the modifiers come in.
Your opponent's armour class is added to your roll, which is then compared to your THAC0. If you have +3 to THAC0, it is added to the roll.
Same with saving throughs - all modifiers are put onto the roll, rather than what you need to roll above.

If your THAC0 = 5 and your enemy has an AC of 2 Then
You roll a 20 sided die, and add 2 to the roll you make.
If that value is now above 5, you hit.

The only two cases where this is different are when you roll, without modifiers, 1 or 20.
A roll of 1 before modifiers *always* misses; a roll of 20 before modifiers *always* hits.

As for which weapon is better, assuming you hit:
2d10 gives you a minimum damage of 2, maximum of 20.
1d20 gives you a minimum damage of 1, maximum of 20.

So, 2d10 is better because the damage you are guaranteed is higher. Twice as much infact.
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Old 11-24-2002, 04:16 AM   #8
The Cavalier
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Your to hit roll is rolled on a D20, or 20 sided die. If you roll above your THAC0, you hit. Then the modifiers come in.

So if I have a negative thaco, I always hit?

On an unrelated note: How do I add them neat little silver bars when I'm quoteing somebody?
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Old 11-24-2002, 04:27 AM   #9
Angelousss
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Quote:
Originally posted by The Cavalier:
Your to hit roll is rolled on a D20, or 20 sided die. If you roll above your THAC0, you hit. Then the modifiers come in.

So if I have a negative thaco, I always hit?

On an unrelated note: How do I add them neat little silver bars when I'm quoteing somebody?
these bars? hit the quote button above whatever they just wrote.

you always miss a roll of 1
a negative thac0 is for zero, thier ac could be lower
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Old 11-24-2002, 04:35 AM   #10
dragon_lord
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Quote:
Originally posted by LennonCook:
for which weapon is better, assuming you hit:
2d10 gives you a minimum damage of 2, maximum of 20.
1d20 gives you a minimum damage of 1, maximum of 20.

So, 2d10 is better because the damage you are guaranteed is higher. Twice as much infact.
Ah, but your forgetting that theres a 1 in a 100 chance of rolling two 10s with two 10 sided dice. Compared to 1 in 20.

I think 1D20 would be better, heres why: When you roll a 20 sided die you have a 1 in 20 chance of rolling a 20. With a 10 sided die there is a 1 in 10 chance of rolling 10. With two 10 sided dice there are 100 different combinations (1+1, 1+2 etc). So to roll 18 there is a 2 in 100 (two possible combinations: 10+8 or 8+10) chance of rolling it. This is why i believe a single 20 sided die is better, its more likely to role a high number. Although i could be wrong, i have forgotten most of the probability stuff i learnt in maths.
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