Pete and Repeat were brothers.
Pete and Repeat got in a boat.
Pete fell out and who was left?
Repeat.
But that's not what's interesting.
While splashing around in the water, Pete finds a shiny little ring and brings it up to the shore. There's a catch, though. It's Repeat's birthday, and he's feeling pretty entitled to a nice, shiny present, so he asks for it nicely.
Then not so nicely.
Then they roll for initiative.
Here's the tale of the tape for our combatants. Both are halflings, which means they get a -1 to Strength and a +1 to Dexterity, which is factored into their stats. Both are level 1 thieves, neither are wearing armor (AC 10 baseline, but affected by the Defense Adjustments below) and neither has a weapon, so it will be all punches and kicks. Several modifiers are noted under the relevant stats. Other modifiers that are irrelevant for this fight (number of followers/languages/even thief abilities since this is an argument that turned to blows without surprise or a pickpocketing attempt) are left off for simplicity's sake. The THAC0 for level 1 thieves is 20. Pete has slightly higher strength, but Repeat's Dexterity and Constitution bonuses could be major factors at play here today. Neither of them are particularly wise, which is probably a contributing factor to this fight.
Pete Level 1 Halfling Thief
Str 9
Dex 16
Defense Adjustment -2
Reaction Adjustment +1
Missile Attack Adjustment +1
Con 10
Int 14
Wis 9
Cha 15
HP 5
AC 8
THAC0 20
To Hit Repeat: 14
Repeat Level 1 Halfling Thief
Str 8
Dex 19
Defense Adjustment -4
Reaction Adjustment +3
Missile Attack Adjustment +3
Con 15
HP Adjustment +1
Int 11
Wis 8
Cha 12
HP 6
AC 6
THAC0 20
To Hit Pete: 12
Repeat's got a Dexterity of 19, which is because he rolled an 18. in AD&D 2e, demihumans such as halflings have certain restrictions on their stats and not just the broad “-1 Strength.” Halflings' Dex is capped at 18 (the highest it can be normally rolled), but these restrictions are factored in prior to adding any racial modifiers (Player's Handbook, pg 20). Most of the demihumans in the Player's Handbook have maximums in the 17-18s, so its not a big deal, but a dwarf's Charisma max is 17, so he can't naturally roll an 18 for it and keep that. It would require a modifier of some kind to raise that number. Halfling maximum Dexterity is 18, so no conflicts there and the racial bonus elevates Repeat's Dexterity to 19.
Round 1 Initiative. 1d10 roll for each, lowest roll wins. Pete rolls 2, Repeat rolls 5. Pete wins. To Hit number is the defender's AC subtracted from the attacker's THAC0. Repeat's AC is 6 thanks to his insanely good Dex modifier, so 20 minus 6 means Pete needs to roll a 14 or higher to hit Repeat. Conversely, with Pete's AC at 8, Repeat needs to only roll a 12 or higher to hit him.
Pete rolls a 4 to attack and misses. Repeat rolls a 17 and that's a hit. And now we get to play with the Punching rules (PHB 97).
Every character who has hands can throw them, so no one is truly unarmed in a fight. Except the literally unarmed. The attack is rolled as normal, and when successful, the Punching and Wrestling Table is consulted (Table 58, PHB 97), which is a d20 roll where any attack modifiers would apply. A roll on this chart can successfully deal damage even if the character rolls a 1 or lower.
Repeat rolls a 14, which is an Uppercut that deals 1 damage to Pete. But wait, there's more! Every punch attack also rolls a percentile dice for a chance to knock out the opponent. For this uppercut, there's an 8% chance of a KO. Repeat rolls a 96, so no KO.
Pete HP 4
Repeat HP 6
Round 2 initiative. Pete wins initiative and attacks, rolls a 2 and misses. Repeat rolls a 12 and thanks to Pete's inferior Dexterity, that will hit. Repeat rolls a 9 on the Punching table. It's a Combination, so Repeat gives Pete the Ol' One-Two, which only does 1 damage. It's a 10% chance to KO, and shockingly, Repeat rolls an 8. Pete's eye's roll back in his head, he sways on his little legs, and he faceplants into the mud.
Pete HP 3
Repeat HP 6
The fight's over, but there's an evil gleam in Repeat's eyes as he drags his unconscious brother to the waterline. Eventually the bubbles stop rising to the surface, and Repeat gets to enjoy his ill-gotten gains: A nice, shiny Ring of Invisibility that certainly isn't an ancient artifact that tempts mortals to self-destructive acts of greed and violence.
I'm sure that will not come back to bite anyone in the end.
In housekeeping news, I've got some projects going on in the background that will be coming to fruition this year, so until those ducks are in a row the blog might not be very active.
HOWEVER, I do intend to keep messing around with the 2nd Edition AD&D combat rules and have a fun idea for that in mind that involves a fake gumball machine. Stay tuned.
