Old School Essentials, BX D&D, and Swords & Wizardry, along with White Box, use a base AC of 9 for unarmored targets. The ascending AC to-hit number (AAC) for this is 10 or higher on a d20. In AD&D, the unarmored AC became 10, with an ascending AC to-hit number of 10 or higher on a d20. The formulas are slightly different to calculate: in BX, 19 - AC equals the AAC to-hit; in 1E, 20 - AC equals the AAC to-hit.
I have always preferred the BX base AC of 9 to the later AC base of 10. For one, the extra room in the AC muber started introducing new types of armor to fill gaps, like banded or splint mail, and the armor game felt muddled in comparison. Fighters tended to head towards plate mail anyway, and more types of armor did not really add much to the game.
The differences in AC come up when trying to use 1E modules or monsters in BX games; you need to make a one-point adjustment in the AC value to get the numbers perfect. There is no AC 10 in a BX game like there is in a 1E game.
Sometimes the numbers are exactly the same, but you will see a one-point difference in the AAC value. The Kobold on OSE has AC 7 [12], while the Kobold in OCSRIC 3.0 has AC 7 [13]. You will notice that both numbers add up to either 19 or 20, but the 7 [12] number of BX just feels more natural to me.
Which game has the easiest to-hits?
S&W gives a +1 to-hit modifier at STR 13, and a +1 damage modifier at 16. Only fighters get these bonuses; a +1 cap optional rule is present for other classes. This is the most hardcore game, but it is also the fairest.
OSRIC gives a +1 to-hit modifier at STR 17, and a +1 damage modifier at 16, and this is for all characters.
White Box typically gives a +1 starting at STR 15, and in some games this only applies to damage, while in others it applies to both damage and to-hit.
OSE gives a +1 to-hit and damage modifier starting at STR 13, and this is for all characters. This is the most generous game, but also the least fair.
So, in general, S&W is the most hardcore game that limits ability score modifiers the most, while OSE is the most generous. OSRIC is less generous, while White Box is slightly more. I like the less generous games when it comes to ability score bonuses, since it takes the focus off having high ability scores, and it allows more of the 3d6-generated characters to be viable.
In S&W, a STR 7 character is not penalized in terms of melee damage or to-hit, so I can be happy with rolling a 7 for my thief's STR, and it will not affect their combat abilities one bit. In OSE, that STR 7 thief will have a -1 in both to-hit and damage, and with a 1d4 dagger as a weapon, that becomes huge. In OSRIC, a -1 to-hit. In White Box, same as S&W, no penalty.
That STR 7 thief is just not viable in OSE or OSRIC.
In S&W, my STR 7 thief is just as deadly with a dagger as a STR 15 thief. We have the same chance to force open a door. The stronger thief can carry 10 more pounds of loot. I can be a scrawny, no-good thief in S&W and still feel perfectly fine, not like I am being penalized.
3d6 generation is still viable in White Box and S&W; more characters can be played since the ability scores matter less. Shouldn't they matter? Actually, they shouldn't, since we want the focus to be on problem-solving and the environment. That +1 to-hit and damage will fool you into thinking combat is still a viable option, when in any BX or 1E game, it just isn't.
And the stat-flation that plagues D&D 3 through 5E started in BX with the universal ability score modifier table and those too-generous ability score modifiers. The moment you open up "bonuses for everybody" is the moment you begin to need heroic ability score generation methods, such as 4d6 and drop the lowest. You are trying to "give everyone a bonus" in something, and it starts breaking the game.
In 5E, a +4 for everybody at 18 breaks the game. And given most characters are guaranteed these days to have at least one 18 in their prime attribute, the entire game is just building a bridge on broken pilings. The original polyhedral dice begin to mean less and less the higher the modifiers go, to the point where they become meaningless. Even the d20 became meaningless in D&D 3.5E with +20 to-hit numbers, and the designers had no clue except "make the numbers bigger."
Wizards have consistently gotten the math wrong for the last 25 years, and we have edition after edition to prove it.
"4d6 and drop the lowest" is just trying to solve a problem that too-generous ability score modifiers introduced. Remove the importance of modifiers, and 3d6 is viable again. Ability scores become descriptors instead of critical numbers for the game. My weak, scrawny thief is just as deadly and should be treated as a serious threat. A low STR is just a physical description at this point and has less of an impact on the game, or a minor one at best.
If I get lucky and roll a STR 18 thief in OSE? A permanent +3 to STR and damage all the time, even with that 1d4 dagger. Sure, it sounds fun, but it introduces an imbalance and upward pressure on ability scores, where the 97% of other characters who aren't as lucky feel penalized and not viable.
My STR 7 S&W thief? Sure, he gets no bonus to-hit or to damage, but he is just as deadly as any other thief. The focus on ability scores is removed, and my character must be clever and interact with the environment to survive, rather than relying on them and the false sense of security they provide.
Combat in any version of the early game, 0E to 1E, is a losing proposition.
That +3 is not going to help you when a random goblin kills you with a shortbow. Sure, the +3 feels great, but it creates a mix of entitlement and a false sense of security. This is one of those times when "it doesn't matter" and "it does matter" are both true at once; it just depends on your perspective.
And once you put too high an importance on ability score modifiers as a way to "win the game," you will get into the physiological differences between races and genders, and that whole argument. My female, lithe, STR 8 Egyptian temple assassin is just as deadly and dangerous as that male half-orc STR 16 assassin with the bulging muscles. Remove the ability score modifiers, and you remove the entire argument.
Plus, if we are trying to simulate fantasy fiction, a high STR only really mattered for fighters and those moments the writer wanted to flex on cleaving enemies in two with a greatsword. For most other characters in that narrative, a high STR never really came into play that much. That STR 8 temple assassin is going to be just as deadly to Conan as any other, in terms of narrative fiction.
When you get too many game designers in a room, they will make the math matter more than the narrative fiction, and something of value will be lost.
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