Sunday, April 17, 2011

N: Numbers

Some numbers have a certain draw to them in D&D. Even at relatively low levels, there are certain numbers -- whether levels or something other -- that have stood out as milestones in D&D for me, whether as a DM or a player but especially as a player and more numbers still have a sort of intrinsic meaning if not importance.

A few:

0 --Found in everyone's favorite~ 2e hallmark, THAC0: To Hit Armour Class 0. That magic factor that did away with the to-hit matrix and similar such contrivances. It's also the second milestone for Armour Class, the one that says impressive (and often magical) negative AC is close at hand. For the first AC milestone there is of course

5 -- AC 5, the trusty chainmail. Whether you were working up to it or made damn sure you started with it, chainmail and its AC 5 are a nice comfort point in protection from getting splatted, especially early on. As "fifth level", 5 is also a moment of oh frabjous day for the spellslingers; see 3.

3 -- That wonderful moment when your magely type finally gains third-level spells. Fireball, here I come!

18 -- Of course, one wants as many of these as fate is willing to cough up when rolling up a character ...

20 -- You just rolled a natural 20. Need I say more?

1 -- And then you rolled a natural 1. Ouch, sorry dude.

1 comment:

The Badger King said...

Don't forget the other important ones...

00 (especially if following an 18): the fighter's ultimate goal, to max out their damage potential

9 - completely average stat, or the level where your character gets "name" status

(Word Verification: "neold" - someone needs to swipe that as a name of an OSR publishing company... "new+old")