ihsien
@ihsien.bsky.social
Host of @criticallit.bsky.social and @totalpartythrill.bsky.social. A couple of ENnie noms.
🫡 Top notch trench work, truly.
November 14, 2025 at 5:24 PM
🫡 Top notch trench work, truly.
Sure, tradwifery is better than feudal serfdom.
October 14, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Sure, tradwifery is better than feudal serfdom.
Reposted by ihsien
tl;dr: THAC0 is the tradwife of RPGs. Do not romanticize this inelegant and clumsy mechanic.
October 14, 2025 at 10:20 PM
tl;dr: THAC0 is the tradwife of RPGs. Do not romanticize this inelegant and clumsy mechanic.
tl;dr: THAC0 is the tradwife of RPGs. Do not romanticize this inelegant and clumsy mechanic.
October 14, 2025 at 10:20 PM
tl;dr: THAC0 is the tradwife of RPGs. Do not romanticize this inelegant and clumsy mechanic.
A no-brainer in hindsight, but at the time a brave slaying of the THAC0 sacred cow that some misguided old-timers still mourn today. Many of them liked THAC0 as a gate they could keep. Of course, 3e has plenty of other problems, but leaning into addition was never one of them.
October 14, 2025 at 9:47 PM
A no-brainer in hindsight, but at the time a brave slaying of the THAC0 sacred cow that some misguided old-timers still mourn today. Many of them liked THAC0 as a gate they could keep. Of course, 3e has plenty of other problems, but leaning into addition was never one of them.
As a corollary, Bracers AC 4 were better than Bracers AC 6, rings of protection lowered your AC, etc. With 3rd ed, all the axes were flipped to face the same direction. S o a naked peasant is still AC 10, but now armor and magic items increase AC, and a higher attack bonus is always better.
October 14, 2025 at 9:43 PM
As a corollary, Bracers AC 4 were better than Bracers AC 6, rings of protection lowered your AC, etc. With 3rd ed, all the axes were flipped to face the same direction. S o a naked peasant is still AC 10, but now armor and magic items increase AC, and a higher attack bonus is always better.
You can see how this is stupid. Everyone had their own little math game to speed up this process. If you knew your target's AC, you could figure out what you needed to roll in order to hit, and then rolling was just pass/fail rather than subtraction or number inversion or whatever method you used.
October 14, 2025 at 9:39 PM
You can see how this is stupid. Everyone had their own little math game to speed up this process. If you knew your target's AC, you could figure out what you needed to roll in order to hit, and then rolling was just pass/fail rather than subtraction or number inversion or whatever method you used.
went down, since you didn't need to roll as well on your d20 in order to connect with an attack. Made-up numbers ahead: So let's say your level 1 fighter had a THAC0 of 17. If you rolled an 11 on the die, you were 6 numbers short of hitting AC 0. That meant you hit AC 6. Roll a 19, hit AC -2.
October 14, 2025 at 9:37 PM
went down, since you didn't need to roll as well on your d20 in order to connect with an attack. Made-up numbers ahead: So let's say your level 1 fighter had a THAC0 of 17. If you rolled an 11 on the die, you were 6 numbers short of hitting AC 0. That meant you hit AC 6. Roll a 19, hit AC -2.
Your PC's THAC0 was the number on a d20 that they needed to roll in order to hit a creature with an Armor Class of 0. Keep in mind ACs got lower as they got better. A bog standard human in rags has AC 10. I believe full plate was AC -2 (?), so AC 0 was quite good. As you gained levels, your THAC0
October 14, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Your PC's THAC0 was the number on a d20 that they needed to roll in order to hit a creature with an Armor Class of 0. Keep in mind ACs got lower as they got better. A bog standard human in rags has AC 10. I believe full plate was AC -2 (?), so AC 0 was quite good. As you gained levels, your THAC0
Ok, I'm always up for some THAC0-bashing while my soup simmers. Disclaimer: from memory. So prior to 3rd ed D&D, PCs didn't have an "attack bonus." Instead, they each had a numerical value that indicated how good they were at hitting stuff. It was called THAC0 (To Hit AC 0) & it sucked as a mechanic
October 14, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Ok, I'm always up for some THAC0-bashing while my soup simmers. Disclaimer: from memory. So prior to 3rd ed D&D, PCs didn't have an "attack bonus." Instead, they each had a numerical value that indicated how good they were at hitting stuff. It was called THAC0 (To Hit AC 0) & it sucked as a mechanic
Here’s my old-man-yells-at-clouds answer. 3rd ed D&D’s “all numbers go up” rubric was a revelatory experience.
October 14, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Here’s my old-man-yells-at-clouds answer. 3rd ed D&D’s “all numbers go up” rubric was a revelatory experience.
Waiting to play Godot.
September 10, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Waiting to play Godot.