The saving throw is a die roll that gives a chance, however slim, that the character or creature finds some way to save himself from certain destruction, or at least lessen the damage of a successful attack.
More often than not, the saving throw represents an instinctive act on the part of the character—diving to the ground just as a fireball scorches the group; blanking the mind just as a mental battle begins; blocking the worst of an acid spray with a shield. The exact action is not important. DMs and players can think of lively and colorful explanations of why a saving throw succeeded or failed. Explanations tailored to the events of the moment enhance the excitement of the game.
Rolling Saving Throws[]
To make a saving throw, a player rolls 1d20. The result must be equal to or greater than the character's saving throw number. The number a character needs to roll varies depending upon his group, his level, and what he is trying to save himself from. A character's saving throw numbers can be found in Table 46. Multi-class characters use the most advantageous saving roll.
Saving throws are made in a variety of situations: For attacks involving paralyzation, poison, or death magic; rod, staff, or wand; petrification or polymorph; breath weapon; and spells. The type of saving throw a character must roll is determined by the specific spell, monster, magical item, or situation involved.
Monsters also use Table 46. However, they do not find their saving throw numbers by group and level, since they have neither. All creatures save against poison and death magic at a level equal to the number of their Hit Dice. Intelligent monsters save versus all other attacks at this level as well.
Creatures with no intelligence (even less than animal intelligence) save at a level equal to half the number of their Hit Dice. Any additions to their Hit Dice are counted as well, at the rate of one die for every four points or fraction thereof. Thus, an intelligent creature with 5 + 6 Hit Dice would save at 7th level (5 Hit Dice + another die for the 2 remaining). A non-intelligent beast of the same Hit Dice would save against all but poison and death at 4th level (round up).
Most monsters use the Warrior group table to determine their save. However, those that have abilities of other classes use the most favorable saving throw. A creature able to fight and use a large number of spells could use either the Warrior or Wizard groups, whichever was better for a particular saving throw. Creatures that lack fighting ability use the group that most closely resembles their own abilities. A fungus-creature that can only cast spells would use the Wizard group table to determine saving throws.
| Character Group and Experience Level |
Paralyzation, Poison, or Death Magic |
Rod, Staff, or Wand |
Petrification or Polymorph* |
Breath Weapon** |
Spells*** |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Priests | |||||
| 1-3 | 10 | 14 | 13 | 16 | 15 |
| 4-6 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 15 | 14 |
| 7-9 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 12 |
| 10-12 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 11 |
| 13-15 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 10 |
| 16-18 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 9 |
| 19+ | 2 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
| Rogues | |||||
| 1-4 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 16 | 15 |
| 5-8 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 13 |
| 9-12 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 11 |
| 13-16 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 9 |
| 17-20 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 7 |
| 21+ | 8 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 5 |
| Warriors | |||||
| 0 | 16 | 18 | 17 | 20 | 19 |
| 1-2 | 14 | 16 | 15 | 17 | 17 |
| 3-4 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 16 | 16 |
| 5-6 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 7-8 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 9-10 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 11 |
| 11-12 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 10 |
| 13-14 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 8 |
| 15-16 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 7 |
| 17+ | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| Wizards | |||||
| 1-5 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 12 |
| 6-10 | 13 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 10 |
| 11-15 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 8 |
| 16-20 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 6 |
| 21+ | 8 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 4 |
- * Excluding polymorph wound attacks.
- ** Excluding those that cause petrification or polymorph.
- *** Excluding those for which another saving throw type is specified, such as death, petrification, polymorph, etc.
Saving Throw Priority[]
Sometimes the type of saving throw required by a situation or item isn't clear, or more than one category of saving throw may seem appropriate. For this reason, the saving throw categories in Table 46 are listed in order of importance, beginning with paralyzation, poison, and death magic, and ending with spell.
Imagine that Rath is struck by the ray from a wand of polymorphing. Both a saving throw vs. wands and a saving throw vs. polymorph would be appropriate. But Rath must roll a saving throw vs. wands because that category has a higher priority than polymorph.
The categories of saving throws are as follows (in order of priority):
Paralyzation, Poison, or Death Magic: this is used whenever a character is affected by a paralyzing attack (regardless of source), poison (of any strength), or certain spells and magical items that otherwise kill the character outright (as listed in their descriptions). This saving throw also can be used in situations in which exceptional force of will or physical fortitude is needed.
Rod, Staff, or Wand: As its name implies, this is used whenever a character is affected by the powers of a rod, staff, or wand, provided another save of higher priority isn't called for. This saving throw is sometimes specified for situations in which a character faces a magical attack from an unusual source.
Petrification or Polymorph: This is used any time a character is turned to stone (petrified) or polymorphed by a monster, spell, or magical item (other than a wand). It also can be used when the character must withstand some massive physical alteration of his entire body.
Breath Weapon: A character uses this save when facing monsters with breath weapons, particularly the powerful blast of a dragon. This save also could be used in situations where a combination of physical stamina and Dexterity are critical factors in character survival.
Spell: This is used whenever a character attempts to resist the effects of a magical attack, either by a spellcaster or from a magical item, provided no other type of saving throw is specified. This save also can be used to resist an attack that defies any other classification.
Voluntarily Failing Saving Throws[]
No saving throw is made if the target voluntarily chooses not to resist the effect of a spell or special attack. This is the case even if the character was duped as to the exact nature of the spell. When a character announces that he is not resisting the spell's power, that spell (or whatever) has its full effect.
The intention not to resist must be clearly stated or set up through trickery, however. If a character is attacked by surprise or caught unawares, he is normally allowed a saving throw. The DM can modify this saving throw, making the chance of success worse if the situation warrants it. Only in extreme cases of trickery and deception should an unwitting character be denied a saving throw.
Ability Checks as Saving Throws[]
When a character attempts to avoid danger through the use of one of his abilities, an ability check can be used in lieu of a saving throw.
For example, Ragnar the thief has broken into someone's home when he hears a grating noise from the ceiling above him. He looks up to find a five-ton block of the ceiling headed straight for him! He is going to need speedy reactions to get out of the way, so a Dexterity ability check should be rolled to see if he avoids the trap.
Modifying Saving Throws[]
Saving throws can be modified by magical items, specific rules, and special situations. These modifiers can increase or decrease the chance of a successful saving throw.
Modifiers that increase the chance are given as a number preceded by a plus sign. Modifiers that make success more difficult are given as a number preceded by a minus sign (-1, -2, etc.)
Saving throw modifiers affect a character's die roll, not the saving throw number needed. Thus, if Delsenora needed an 11 for a successful saving throw vs. petrification and had a +1 bonus to her save, she would still need to roll an 11 or higher after all adjustments were made. But the +1 bonus would be added to her die roll, so that effectively she needs to roll only a 10 on the die to reach her saving throw number of 11.
High ability scores in Dexterity and Wisdom sometimes give saving throw bonuses. A high Wisdom protects against illusions, charms, and other mental attacks. Dexterity, if high enough, can give a character a slightly higher chance of avoiding the effects of fireballs, lightning bolts, crushing boulders, and other attacks where nimbleness may be a help.
Magical items like cloaks and rings of protection give bonuses to a character's saving throw (these are listed in the item descriptions in the appendices).
Magical armor allows a saving throw bonus only when the save is made necessary by something physical, whether normal or magical. Magical armor never gives a saving throw bonus against gas (which it cannot block), poison (which operates internally), and spells that are mental or that cause no physical damage.
For example, magical armor would not help a character's saving throw against the sting of a giant scorpion, the choking effects of a stinking cloud spell, or the transformation effect of a polymorph other spell. However, magical armor extends its protective power to saving throws against acid sprays or splashes, disintegration, magical and normal fires, spells that cause damage, and falls (if any saving throw is allowed in this case). Other situations must be handled on a case-by-case basis by the DM.
Specific spells and magical items have effects, both good and ill, on a character's saving throws. Often, spells force the victim to save with a penalty, which makes even the most innocuous spell quite dangerous. Specific information can be found in the spell descriptions, for spells, or in the Magical Items section, for magical items.
Minor poisons of verminous creatures such as giant centipedes, while dangerous, are weak and unlikely to bring about death in a healthy man. To recreate this effect in the game, a saving throw bonus is allowed for anyone affected by these poisons.
Unpredictable situations are sure to crop up. When this happens, the DM must determine whether saving throw modifiers are appropriate. As a guideline, modifiers for situations should range from -4 to +4. An evil cleric attacked in his shrine could very well have a +3 bonus to all his saving throws and a -3 penalty applied to those of his enemies. The powerful evil of the place could warrant the modifier.
DM modifiers should be used sparingly, and only when appropriate. If constantly assigned, they will no longer feel special to the player whose character's fate hangs on the toss of a single die.