If you consistently misread the ACs followed by dashes, you'd have a lot of very weak creatures (like, otherwise playable low-level monsters) with ridiculously hard ACs: for example, in its first appearance in this work, the 6th-level Naga would be given AC −5, whereas in the later Monster Manual it more clearly appears with AC 5.
The majority of entities, even greater gods, tend have ACs capped at 2 (plate), the same as for monsters in the original rules. The only creatures I see listed in Sup-IV with truly negative ACs are: the Fenris Wolf (AC −2), the Midgard Serpent (body AC −4), and the Earth Queen (AC −3). For more of the rare monsters who have negative ACs in OD&D, see: Sup-I (elder dragons and will-o-wisps), and Sup-III (demons and ki-rin).
And yet, the first printing of negative ACs is the first edition AD&D books. Clearly Gygax wasn't misreading stuff, but wanted to add more stages to the system.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm misreading you here? There are in fact some negative ACs listed in OD&D Supplements I, III, and IV. Just not very many of them, and it's easy to misread in parts of Sup-IV.
DeleteKey example: The table of extended armor classes in OD&D Sup-I, p. 15.
@ Delta:
DeleteAh, you know what? I didn't even bother reviewing 'em.
: (
Strange then that there wouldn't be negative ACs in GDG&H.
I agree!
DeleteSpeaking of Sup-III, there are a number of typos as late as the 9th printing of that. Type V demons are listed as having AC 7; combined with its fairly low 7 HD, that would make them almost comically easy to defeat for a party accustomed to fighting Type I-IV demons. It's also clear that EGG intended for it to be AC -7, as that's what it became when the Type V demon showed up in the AD&D Monster Manual.
ReplyDeleteThe daggers and double daggers used to indicate special features are also messed up; Orcus is mistakenly indicated to have the double-move "hop" ability that belongs to the Type II demon, and nobody has the symbols that the legend says represent 12-sided or 20-sided hit dice - presumably, the intention was for Orcus to have 12d12 hit points and Demogorgon to have 10d20, but that's not what the booklet actually says!
You're right, good points! Particularly what was intended for the Orcus & Demogorgon hit dice.
DeleteAlways bugged me that 1E Iron Golems have platemail AC (3) when it seems way undervalued. Any idea why they were so hesitant to assign negative ACs to monsters?
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is that negative numbers are the top stumbling block for my students, and historically in the West weren't accepted until a very late date (17th century). In short: people hate 'em.
Delete