Vocabulary lesson

happslapp

Im a big fan of RPGs. Elder Scrolls, FF, Fallout, and my favorite is of course Baldur's Gate 1 and 2. However i never got into actual D&D, so I never had a clue what THACO, AC, or any of the rest meant or how they were important to BG. Could anyone give me a quick synopsis on the main abbreviations i should know to better understand and appreciate BBEE.

diggerb

This might help... http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=9892

Awong124

AC - Armor Class. How difficult you are to hit. Armor in D&D 2nd edition usually doesn't actually reduce damage, it just makes you harder to hit. I think in 3E armor actually has some damage reduction, but it still has nothing to do with armor class.

THAC0 - It's actually "THAC0" with a zero, not "THACO". It stands for "To Hit Armor Class 0". It's just the system used in 2E to determine how likely it is that you'll hit another creature/character. You use your THAC0 value against an enemy's AC, and you roll to see if you actually hit.

happslapp

so you want a high AC and a low THAC0?

Dee

THAC0: "To Hit AC 0" - the number that you have to roll for your attacks in order to hit a target with an AC of 0. If the target has an AC higher or lower than 0, subtract the AC from the required number. A low THAC0 is good; a high THAC0 is bad.

(Saving Throws work the same way.)

AC: "Armor Class" - the number that quantifies the level of defenses possessed by the character. Subtract this number from the value (THAC0) required to hit that character. In other words, a low AC is good; a high AC is bad.

Those are the main items that might be hard to understand. Is there anything else?

Awong124

happslapp said:

so you want a high AC and a low THAC0?

In 2E you want low on both, you can actually get into negative values. It's kind of counter-intuitive I don't why they did that. In 3E they revamped it so that high values in both are better, more intuitive that way, though they no longer call it "THAC0" they just call it "To Hit".

happslapp

thanks that does help. i was mainly confused about the number in the little shield on the inventory screen when you put on armors and rings and all.

happslapp

also are then anymore important terms i should know of?

Coriander

There's also this http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/195/word-explanation#latest

kamuizin

@happslapp as you asked here is something more.

If you never take notice to the saving throws in BG, understand that they're your special resistance there, when some magic or ability with special effects try to affect you, you play a d20 dice against one of the 5 saving resistances. If you didn't know this before is something good to take notice.

Saving Throws works on the following manner:

a D20 dice is launched (virtually of course). the result, the value of the dice against your save resistance + or - the bonus penalities. This value gonna be used against one of the 5 kinds of save throw you have, so let's call it X for now.

If X is a greater value than you actual saving resistance you passed the save and will benefit from this. If X is a lesser value than your save resistance, you failed the save and gonna suffer the consequences.



So an example:

your Save x Enchantment is 10 and someone use domination against you.

It's a spell that submit you under the control of the caster unseless you pass a save x enchantment with 4 penality (if i'm not wrong).

The sameway that happens in Armor Class, in saving throws the lesser the value of the save, the better it is. so a 4 penality make your save x enchantment in this situation 14.

A D20 is launched, a result between 1 and 13 make you fail the save, a result between 15 to 20 make you pass the save. It's a shame to assume but i don't remember what happens when in drawns TT!

Another thing is: a 20 is always a critical save, so even if you have a penality that make your save x enchantment 40, for example, no matter what, if you get a 20 you always pass the save. The 1 result is a critical fail, so if you have 0 as value in save x enchantment an get a 1 you fail the save, no matter what.



Saving throw is the counter part of AC, while one rules fight questions, saving throws rules the effects of magic and abilities. Hope to explain more than confure !