BAB- An abbreviation from Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition® for a character's Base Attack Bonus. Base Attack Bonus is a numerical measurement of a character's combat prowess and determines how easy it is for the character to hit opponents in combat. A fighter-type class has a BAB equal to their level, while pure spellcaster classes have BAB of only one-half their level. The rest, like hybrid casters, have a BAB right between the two extremes, at 3/4 their level. When a character reaches +6 BAB, they gain a secondary attack at -5 from the first. They also gain additional attacks at +11 and +16, making tertiary and quaternary attacks (so if you have +16, you attack first at +16, then another attack at +11, then +6, and finally at +1, totaling 4 attacks) BAB reaches its maximum at 20th level, and after that remains constant unless a character takes the Epic Prowess Feat. Though it varies for each character depending on their class, every character has a Base Attack Bonus to melee and ranged attacks.
Examples:
- A 6th level fighter has a +1 BAB per level progression, so he attacks at +6, then again at +1.
- A 17th level fighter has a +1 BAB per level progression, so he attacks at +17, then again at +12. then +7, and finally +2.
- A 12th level wizard has a +1 BAB per 2 levels, so he also attacks at +6 and then again at +1.
- A 9th level cleric has a +3 BAB per 4 level progression, so even though 9·3/4=6 3/4, we round down always, so he also attacks at +6 and then +1.