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All character classes start out with a base THAC0 of 20','which means that you need to roll a 20 on a 20-sided die in order to successfully strike an opponent with an armor class of 0. To calculate what you need to hit a different armor class, you just take your character's THAC0 and subtract your opponent's armor class. So, for example, a character with a THAC0 of 17 attacking a Hobgoblin with an armor class of 6 would need an 11 [17 - 6] or better on a 20-sided die to wound his foe. If your opponent has a negative armor class, the same rules apply, but remember that subtracting a negative number is, in effect, adding the positive. So, if that same Hobgoblin had a -2 armor class, you'd need a 19 [17 - (-2)] or better to successfully hit. Now, also keep in mind that no matter how good or how bad an opponent's armor class is, a 20 on a 20-sided die always hits and a 1 always misses. Many variables can affect a character's THAC0. Depending on what class you are, your THAC0 will decrease at a certain rate as you increase in level, with warriors decreasing the fastest and mages decreasing the slowest. To see a table of THAC0s up to level 20','check out the Calculated THAC0s table above. Increasing in level is not the only thing augmenting your THAC0. Things such as strength bonuses (melee attacks), dexterity bonuses (ranged attacks), and magical weapons can all affect it as well. For the purpose of an example, let's use a third level warrior with a strength of 18(00) and a dexterity of 16. First of all, due to his level, this warrior would have a base THAC0 of 18, and because of his exemplary strength, he gets a +3 attack roll bonus to his melee attacks (including thrown weapons). Again, we do a bit of subtraction here; 18 - (+3) is 15','so this warrior possesses a THAC0 of 15 when attacking in hand-to-hand combat with a nonmagical weapon. Now, let's take this same warrior and put him in ranged combat with a long bow. Since his strength has no bearing on how accurate his attack is via a ranged weapon like this one, we now look at his dexterity. A dexterity of 16 gives him a +1 bonus to ranged attacks, so his THAC0 would instead be 17 [18 - (+1)]. Pretty simple. Another modifier to THAC0 is magical weapons, and because of the nature of magical items in D&D, one weapon can possess multiple bonuses. For an easy example, let's say our warrior above with the base THAC0 of 18 finds himself a shiny Long Sword +2. Magical weapon modifiers are no different than strength or dexterity bonuses, so we simply use the same formula: 18 - (+2), giving our good warrior a THAC0 of 16. For a tougher example, let's imagine this warrior instead looted himself a Long Sword +3: Frostbrand. This powerful weapon confers a +3 bonus on most creatures, but a huge +6 against fire-based monsters, such as Fire Elementals. Now, our warrior has a THAC0 of 15 [18-(+3)] against most opponents, but a THAC0 of 12 [18-(+6)] against a fire-based creature. Take into account his crossbow, and you'll find yourself with several different THAC0s for one character. |
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Saving Throws THAC0 Turning Undead |
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