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  1. - Top - End - #1
    Pixie in the Playground
    Join Date
    Oct 2018

    Default Need help with DMing

    I'm new to DMing and to the D&D world in general. I am setting up my next session and I need to get the monsters ready. The campaign I am using is "The Battle of Gib Rus." I am not sure what some of the acronyms are. For example they need to fight some trolls and it reads as follows.
    "Trolls [5]: AC4, MV. 12", HD 6+6, #AT 3, Dmg. 5-8/5-8/2-12, THAC0 13. "
    Now I know what some of that means (or believe to know) but unsure of how to use the information given. I know Dmg means Damage but how do those numbers come into play.
    I guess what I am asking is can someone explain this to me like I was 5. I feel like once I get a grasp on this first encounter the rest should fall into place.

    Thanks .

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Barbarian in the Playground
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Hopping across the planes
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Need help with DMing

    That seems to be an AD&D adventure release in 2005, and AD&D is the edition that covers from 1980 to late 90s (depending if it's the 1st or 2nd edition of AD&D). So, first of all, you are on the wrong forum, this one is for 4th Edition D&D.

    Second, I kindly suggest you to pass early editions if you are new to the hobby, not only they are crunchy and not very intuitive, but also, it's harder to find a group to play them. For instance, THAC0, which says "the lower, the better", is a counter-intuitive rule considering the standard in games, as explained below.

    That said, for your Troll:

    MV means movement and refers to how much a creature can move. MV. 12'' means the troll moves 120 feet per turn while inside a dungeon (1 square is 5 ft. across), 120 feet per round exploring dungeons and cities, 120 yards per round outside cities and in the wilderness, 120 miles per half-day trekking.

    HD 6+6 means the troll rolls 6d8+6 for its hit points.

    #AT 3 is the number of attacks the troll makes per round of combat.

    Dmg. 5-8/5-8/2-12 is the damage range for each of its attacks. 5-8 means it deals a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 8 points of damage. Now you have to find a combination of dice and flat bonus to give you that, like 1d4+4, and 2-12 is easily 2d6.

    THAC0 13 is the bonus the troll have to hit a creature. When making an attack in AD&D, you roll a d20, subtract your THAC0 and add the target's AC. If you hit 0, you hit (THAC0 means To Hit Armor Class 0). For instance, the troll attacks someone with AC -2. It fist add its THAC0 to the target's AC, so 13+(-2) equals 11, then it rolls a 1d20 and subtract 11. If the result is 0 or below, the troll hits its target.

    AC 4 is the troll's armor class, it will add its AC to the THAC0 of any attacker to determine if that attack is successful or not.
    ___

    Again, I strongly do not recommend you to play AD&D or that adventure for now. I suggest you pick up 5th edition (as it is easier to find a group and to learn with them), or 4E, which has its bad reputation and is harder to find a group, but is a very good game.

  3. - Top - End - #3
    Pixie in the Playground
    Join Date
    Oct 2018

    Default Re: Need help with DMing

    Well we did already start it and did the beginning part so I am not worried about a group. I found it as a pdf. file when I searched D&D 4e adventures.
    Thank you for answering anyway the info that you gave me definitely helps.
    I will just modify some of it to fit the characters we have. I'm the DM who's going to question me.

    Thanks again. Do you have any suggestions for an adventure if I can't make this work?

  4. - Top - End - #4
    Barbarian in the Playground
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Hopping across the planes
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Need help with DMing

    If you are playing 4e, I very much recommend Reavers of Harkenwold as starting adventure, and Madness at Gardmore Abbey at mid levels (5–10). Some people also like Keep on the Shadowfell, although I've never played it myself, and there is a great "fan improved" version of that adventure path somewhere online.

    EDIT: Madness at Gardmore Abbey might require some DMing experience, since it has a very complex ecology and it's not trivial to reach the proper "mad" tone of the adventure.
    Last edited by Marcloure; 2018-10-28 at 01:18 AM.

  5. - Top - End - #5
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Knaight's Avatar

    Join Date
    Aug 2008

    Default Re: Need help with DMing

    Quote Originally Posted by IareIan View Post
    Well we did already start it and did the beginning part so I am not worried about a group. I found it as a pdf. file when I searched D&D 4e adventures.
    Thank you for answering anyway the info that you gave me definitely helps.
    I will just modify some of it to fit the characters we have. I'm the DM who's going to question me.

    Thanks again. Do you have any suggestions for an adventure if I can't make this work?
    This sounds like an attempt to run 4e characters and early D&D monsters - they're not compatible, at all. D&D editions, starting with the transition from 2nd to 3rd are less like edition changes and more like switching to an entirely different game, albeit a very similar one when compared to the much broader spectrum of RPGs. This is a bad idea.
    I would really like to see a game made by Obryn, Kurald Galain, and Knaight from these forums.

    I'm not joking one bit. I would buy the hell out of that.
    -- ChubbyRain

    Current Design Project: Legacy, a game of masters and apprentices for two players and a GM.

  6. - Top - End - #6
    Halfling in the Playground
    Join Date
    Apr 2016

    Default Re: Need help with DMing

    Grab a 4e monsters manual and find similar creatures of appropriate level, replace them. Traps and other dangers will be more work since AD&D didn't use much in the way of skill checks and traps tend to just hit you and call it a day. Check out some 4e adventures and the DMG (the best DMG for any edition, says guy who never played 4e) for ideas on how to fill in the stats on things that aren't monsters.

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