Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
AD&D players and referees, what do you think of ascending AC?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Mannahnin" data-source="post: 9273016" data-attributes="member: 7026594"><p>On the occasions when I play AD&D (or other TSR editions) I'm familiar and comfortable with descending, but as you point out, the math is the same, just simpler, with ascending (or <a href="http://www.oedgames.com/target20/" target="_blank">Target 20</a>), so I'm easy either way.</p><p></p><p>I do think it's a bit silly to keep the descending scale once the rules allow ACs to go below 0. Negative numbers basically spoil what elegance the original system has.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Gygax considered it for FIRST edition AD&D.</p><p></p><p>DMG 164: "ARMOR AND SHIELD (III.F.) As Dungeon Master you must be fully conversant with the armor gradation system. Because prior game forms worked from a high base number (9) upwards, I have opted to follow the same progression herein for the sake of continuity and familiarity."</p><p></p><p>Sadly he made the mistake of assuming that he needed to placate the existing 70s fans to maintain backwards compatibility with a then-small pool of existing products, and then 2E's mandate to maintain reverse compatibility with 1E prolonged the mistake further.</p><p></p><p></p><p>I agree re: TWF in AD&D being balanced, but sidebar: could you remind me where AD&D clarifies that "it does not double your attacks"? I don't see any clear statement in Attacks With Two Weapons on page 70, but I imagine there's a clarification or Sage Advice ruling somewhere. I know the 2E PH is explicit that you only ever get 1 additional attack.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mannahnin, post: 9273016, member: 7026594"] On the occasions when I play AD&D (or other TSR editions) I'm familiar and comfortable with descending, but as you point out, the math is the same, just simpler, with ascending (or [URL='http://www.oedgames.com/target20/']Target 20[/URL]), so I'm easy either way. I do think it's a bit silly to keep the descending scale once the rules allow ACs to go below 0. Negative numbers basically spoil what elegance the original system has. Gygax considered it for FIRST edition AD&D. DMG 164: "ARMOR AND SHIELD (III.F.) As Dungeon Master you must be fully conversant with the armor gradation system. Because prior game forms worked from a high base number (9) upwards, I have opted to follow the same progression herein for the sake of continuity and familiarity." Sadly he made the mistake of assuming that he needed to placate the existing 70s fans to maintain backwards compatibility with a then-small pool of existing products, and then 2E's mandate to maintain reverse compatibility with 1E prolonged the mistake further. I agree re: TWF in AD&D being balanced, but sidebar: could you remind me where AD&D clarifies that "it does not double your attacks"? I don't see any clear statement in Attacks With Two Weapons on page 70, but I imagine there's a clarification or Sage Advice ruling somewhere. I know the 2E PH is explicit that you only ever get 1 additional attack. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
AD&D players and referees, what do you think of ascending AC?
Top