Number reference question

rhaeloth

On the inventory menu, where they have the list of numbers, in various shaped boxes. The upper most one, for Khalid, is at 1, then I give him the fists of the brawler, and it goes to -1, his dex goes from clean 16, to red 18.

What significance is that 1 to -1, and why is his dex going in the red?

rhaeloth

edit - my main character has dex 18 and if i had t he gloves, nothing happens, but on Anjis, he goes down -2 from positive 2

Dee

Red signifies that the ability score is being modified (by the gloves in this case). The increased Dexterity results in a higher bonus to your Armor Class, which is why Khalid's AC is going from 1 to -1.

rhaeloth

Game has confusing indicators.

So red, is not a negative marker. ?
-# = towards a positive reason. ?

elminster

AC, Thac0, or saving throws being lower is a good thing. Stats (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma) being higher is a good thing.

Red on a stat simply means something (an item or spell) is changing that stat. That could be a beneficial or harmful change.

dreamrider

The so-called inconsistencies in the scaling of values are all derivative from the original source game system, the paper and pencil rules set Dungeons & Dragons. Believe it or not, they actually made a lot more sense when they were not forced to scale nearly as far, and were being managed by a living storyteller/game master, 40+ years ago.

But now, with 40 years of accumulated modifications, and 10s or 100s of millions of players familiar with a certain basic structure of play for the widest spread role playing game system in the world, you are kind stuck with accepting the core numerics the way they are - or choosing to play another game & game system altogether.

Sceptenar

dreamrider said:

...or choosing to play another game & game system altogether.

I recommend Pathfinder. The true heir of the Dungeons & Dragons tradition.

wubble

If you want to be able to calculate it (you probably don't it just sometimes helps to know how the game calculates it)
the game will roll a 20 sided die to see if you hit
Thac0 - AC = roll required to hit
a roll of 20 is always a hit and a roll of 1 is always a miss

you only really need what elminster said though