Roll to Hit

From The Authentic D&D Wiki
Revision as of 04:15, 19 July 2020 by Tao alexis (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigationJump to search

Describes the roll necessary to hit an opponent with a weapon, touch an opponent or — sometimes — to hit with a magically propelled force such as Melf's arrow or spiritual hammer. The success of a given roll is determined by THAC0, in which the chance to hit is determined by the attacker's experience level and the opponent's armour class (AC).

Note that rolls of 1, 2 or 20 are important as they invoke critical hit & fumble rules.

Penalties and bonuses to hit modifies the die roll, or rather the number needed to hit. Below is a list of the most common modifiers (with expectations that this list will eventually be complete):

  • Charging: the attacks of charging combatants are accomplished with bonuses to hit and damage, depending upon various circumstances.
  • Cover: defenses offered by fortifications, vegetation or terrain can offer varying attack modifiers depending on the position of the combatant.
  • Dexterity: subtracts or adds to the attack die when using missile weapons, depending on the ability stats of the attacker.
  • Grenade Missiles: special rules in which the target is sometimes not the defender but the combat hex. Typically the attacker need only hit AC 10 to have a direct effect.
  • Illumination: the amount of illumination and comparable darkness affects the chance of combatants to hit, particularly with missile weapons.
  • Invisibility: because of the nature of invisibility in the game, there is normally no chance of hitting an invisible creature if it is not detected. The sage ability heightened senses may enable a character to hear the creature breathing, however, so that attacks in such cases may be made at -4 to hit, with the skilled character being able to positively identify the invisible defender's hex. Characters that shimmer translucently are attacked at -2 to hit. [unlike AD&D specifies, no % bonus is given for leveled persons to identify invisibility according to their experience.]
  • Missile Ranges: when attacking opponents with missile weapons at a range of 2 hexes, the modifier is +1 for the attacker. Attacks at medium range are done at -2 and at long range at -5.
  • Paladin Class: paladins are continuously protected by protection from malevolence, subtracting 2 from all attacks made against them.
  • Rear & Flank Attacks: rear attacks receive a +2 bonus to attack; thieves and assassins will receive +4 against the rear, when the opponent is surprised. Flank attacks receive a +1 bonus to attack.
  • Strength Ability: subtracts or adds to the attack die when using hand-to-hand weapons, depending on the attacker's strength.


See Attacking in Combat