Talk:Guidebook
Weapons - Does it tell us anything to compare Nethack weapon stats with the d20 system?
What is supposed to be shown by this comparison?
The d20 system referred to is edition 3.5 of the (A)D&D rules. Without cross-checking release dates, the reference to AD&D in the guidebook must be to first or second edition, because these were the only versions that included the word "Advanced" in the title. http://www.mjyoung.net/dungeon/char/weap033.html contains one person's report of the contents of the weapons table in first edition AD&D. As you can see, the table contents correspond much more closely to what can be seen in nethack.
Following the data in the above link to make the more relevant comparison of nethack to AD&D edition 1:
| d20 System | NetHack | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weapon | Dmg (S/M) | Dmg (L) | Weapon | SDAM | LDAM |
| dagger | 1d4 | 1d3 | dagger | 1d4 | 1d3 |
| axe, hand | 1d6 | 1d4 | axe | 1d6 | 1d4 |
| axe, battle | 1d8 | 1d8 | battle-axe | 1d8+1d4 | 1d6+2d4 |
| dwarven ugrosh | non-existent | ||||
| light pick | non-existent | pick-axe | 1d6 | 1d3 | |
| heavy pick | non-existent | ||||
Looks more comparable I think?
In essence, comparing nethack to d20 merely demonstrates how much the (A)D&D rules have changed, which is off-topic for a nethack wiki.
Also, from my recollection the small/medium and large damage categories in edition 1 did indeed refer to target size, not weapon size. I believe this change came in 3rd edition, so would not be in "Advanced" D&D, although the only support I have for this is a joke in the online comic Order of the Stick.
AD&D 2nd edition tables
Im a longtime (A)D&D player as well as a NetHack player. I have most of the 2nd and 3rd edition books and some 1st. I can tell you that the AD&D weapon tables referred to in the guidebook are the AD&D 2nd edition tables. They are nearly a direct match including all the weird polearms, which only existed in 2nd ed. On the mainpage someone asked if someone with a reliable AD&D source would copy the tables. If it would assist the wiki, I am more than happy to do so. I dont know markup well so someone else would have to format them into the main page but I can provide the values and weapon names directly from Unearthed Arcana and the Players Handbook. Please let me know by dropping a note on this talkpage. And yes to the above user it did refer to damage vs monster size, not weapon size.
