Last night during my weekly session, my players and I ran into a scenario that I was unsure about. I made a ruling as DM based upon what I had thought was correct. My players would attack a creature and just hit the creatures AC and vice versa. In past gaming systems, the rule has always been that a tie with AC would mean that defender won. In PFRPG, is this not the case? Would an attacker beat a defender's AC if the attacker ties with the defender's AC?
Even in 3.5 a hit is scored if your attack roll meets or beats the target's AC, and so it is with PRPG.
From 3.5 SRD:
"Your Armor Class (AC) represents how hard it is for opponents to land a solid, damaging blow on you. It’s the attack roll result that an opponent needs to achieve to hit you. Your AC is equal to the following: "
And more clearly explained in Player's Handbook page 139:
"Your attack roll is 1d20 + your attack bonus with the weapon you’re using. If the result is at least as high as the target’s AC, you hit and deal damage."
Last night during my weekly session, my players and I ran into a scenario that I was unsure about. I made a ruling as DM based upon what I had thought was correct. My players would attack a creature and just hit the creatures AC and vice versa. In past gaming systems, the rule has always been that a tie with AC would mean that defender won. In PFRPG, is this not the case? Would an attacker beat a defender's AC if the attacker ties with the defender's AC?
It's been like that always in D&D - in first edition (and more in 2nd) there was a stat called THAC0 - To Hit Armor Class 0 (which was equivalent to AC 20). Basically if you had +10 to hit, your THAC20 would be 10 (10+10 = 20).
You may be thinking of Magic the Gathering or Spellfire with defender wins ties. In 3.0 and 3.5 ties were usually broken by the higher modifier or stat (for initiative and grappling for instance)... Or was 3.0 Grapple defender wins ties?.. I forget I'm afraid.