Could some one explain how ability to hit works and how damage is done.?

[Sorcerer Dave]

How is it determin if you hit someone taking into account Thac0 and AC?
I think I know how damage works but please explanin that to.

[trux]

Thac0 stands for = To Hit Armor Class 0. so if you're Thac0 is 10, and someone has an armor class of 3, you would roll 1d20 (one 20-sided di) and need a 7 or over to hit the opponent. the game does this for each attack your player makes.

As far as damage goes, each weapon has a base amount of damage it can do. Some of these are:
2handed sword = 1d10 (meaning a 10-sided di is rolled and causes that amount of damage)
long sword = 1d8
staff = 1d6
dagger = 1d4
these are just a few. extra damage can be added if the weapon is magical, like a staff + 4, which would do 1d6 + 4 added on to the roll. a character can gain greater damage capabilities with mastery specialization in a weapon, or magical items like girdle of hill giant strength.
the computer also generates this number each time you character makes an attack.

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trux

[Case00]

Everything is based on an Imaginary roll of a 20 sided Die. Your Thac0 is what you would need to roll to hit something with a 0 armor class (that is what thac0 stands for.. To Hit Armor Class 0) So if you have a thac0 of 16, and are attacking something with an armor class of 5 you would need to "roll" an 11
(16-5). To hit something with an armor class of -3 you would need a 19 (16+3)..

[Robin, Thief of Hearts]

Well the lads have answered and quite well too.
Let's see if I can do it in a mathematical way to make it easier-

THAC0 = amount you need to hit armour class of 0. The lower the THAC0, the better for you.

Now, the lower the armour class, the harder it is to score a hit.
Thus an AC of 5 is easier to hit than an AC of -3.

Your swing-weapon dice-roll( 1-20) will score a hit IF it is equal to or greater than your THAC0 minus the enemy AC.

If Random roll >= (your THAC0 - enemy AC) ------------------------> You HIT.

(If you can dredge up memories of math class, it should be clear that a NEGATIVE AC is a good thing for you to have, and the more negative the better.)

If you should roll a full 20, then you score a "Critical hit". Now, some instances allow critical hits to occur if you roll just 19. I think this can happen if you're using a single weapon and have proficiency in single weapon usage skill, for example.
That mighten't sound like a whole lot of improvement, but look at it this way:
Regular chance to get a Crit hit = 1 in 20.
Augmented chance to get a Crit hit = 2 in 20, or TWICE as often!

A Critical Hit does substantially MORE damage than a regular hit, but helmets can block them. It's rather like the headshots in Doom. Since MANY many enemies wear helms, it can be a disadvantage to score lots of Crit Hits in battle. Those blows just ring off the enemy helm.
*Dong!*

There are few things you can do to improve your chances of hitting the enemy.
- Never fight when exhausted. It spoils your THAC0.
- Backstab the enemy wherever possible, this is said to help your THAC0. I don't know the details, but brother it SURE helps your damage!!

Now, about damage -
Working out damage inflicted is pretty easy. Read up your weapon stats and there you go:
1D4 = from 1 to four points. ( roll one 4 sided dice.)
2D6 = from 2 to 12 points( 2 times 1D6 )

Some weapons have an additional add on damage- eg a magical bonus. This ranges from plus 1 to plus 5 in the game. A rare single weapon, the Spear of Impaling does a Gigantic super-whopping extra 10 points damage!
Some other weapons have associated special effects that do additional damage-
such as fire arrows, which do additional 2 points fire damage.

[Vaskez]

How does damage work? Well you hit and they feel pain....they often bleed to death too

[Sorcerer Dave]

Does anyone know where I can get a script for mIRC to do this?

[Maever]

Hi all!

Besides Thac0, there is also a base Thac0...
so wat is that?
anyone care to explain?

[Vaskez]

LOL base THACO is just your THACO without any modifiers for strength, weapon specialisation etc.