To-Hit Bonus

[zeraser]

Was curious to harvest the board's wisdom: In your experience, what kind of bonus does a starting first-level fighter have on a to-hit roll in TSR-era D&D? In other words, when you total up things like a STR bonus, weapon specialization (if you use it), and so on, what are most fighters adding to the d20 roll? This isn't a "what's the mathematical average according to a set of rules" question but rather a "what's your gut feeling given the fighter PCs you've seen and played" question.

[inkmeister]

+2! (B/X D&D). a 13-15 is common enough by the book. Much more than that is really rare.

There are some blogs that have interesting comparisons of this across editions. Sorry I don't have any bookmarked.

[Finarvyn]

For OD&D, a +2 is possible but not likely. This depends, of course, on whether you use the M&M or Greyhawk rules.

On the "alternate" combat charts (M&M, p.19) all characters get +0 at first level. (The fighter gains his first plus at level 4, cleric at level 5, MU at level 6.) Using Chainmail combat, however, the Fighting Capability of the first level fighter is "Man+1."

As far as strength bonuses, the M&M fighter can't get a plus at all. The Greyhawk fighter could technically go as high as +4 with exceptional 18(00) strength, but more realistically would get a +1 with strength in the 13-16 range. A few 17's and 18's, but they wouldn't be the norm.

OD&D didn't have those fancy weapon specialist rules.

So, if I had to guess for a typical OD&D fighter, I'd guess a +1 or +2.

[barrataria]

Aug 8, 2013 20:52:35 GMT -6 inkmeister said:

+2! (B/X D&D). a 13-15 is common enough by the book.

In B/X 13-15 is only a +1 bonus, 16-17 is +2, 18 is +3. There isn't any weapon specialization or anything else. Halflings (which are technically halfling fighters) get a +1 bonus for missile weapons.

For my games +1 is the most common modifier you'd see for NPC brigand leaders or town watch serjeants and whatnot. Using 4d6 drop low/arrange as you like, players usually end up with a fighter with +2 STR. 18s are pretty rare even with 4d6 drop low. I had my current group of 4 roll up 2 characters each when we started and no one had an 18.

[inkmeister]

Yes.... but in B/X, you start with a +1 automatically (Thaco = 19). Therefore, with the common +1 bonus for having 13+ in strength (easy enough to roll), a starting fighter will often have a +2 melee. It is pretty easy to get the +2 (+3 at short range) in missile attacks too.

[Deleted]

Aug 8, 2013 16:30:21 GMT -6 zeraser said:

In your experience, what kind of bonus does a starting first-level fighter have on a to-hit roll in TSR-era D&D? [...] "what's your gut feeling given the fighter PCs you've seen and played" question.

+1

[scottyg]

I've been using UA since it was released. Most fighters I DM start with a strength score of 16 or 17, and most opt for double specialization, so +3 or +4 out of the gate.