Goals of the system
- Saving throws should be of equivalent value
- Saving throws should have a mostly consistent success rate
Goals Outlined
1. Saving throws should be of equivalent value
The saving throw system creates inherent inequality for the value of saving throws. Characters are encouraged to focus on their defenses for the most common saves, ignoring the others. This results in Strength, Intelligence, and Charisma being less desirable saving throw proficiencies and much less desirable abilities to invest in unless your class depends on that ability score.
| Ability | % of total saves | % Damage | % hard control | % light control |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | 16% | 17% | 14% | 92% |
| Dexterity | 24% | 76% | 17% | 21% |
| Constitution | 35% | 49% | 29% | 26% |
| Intelligence | 2% | 67% | 67% | 22% |
| Wisdom | 19% | 4% | 66% | 47% |
| Charisma | 5% | 4% | 57% | 22% |
See Saving Throw Totals for the complete numbers.
2. Saving throws should have a mostly consistent success rate
Constitution based spells and features like cone of cone, stunning strike, and blight become far less valuable as players level due to monsters having more and more Cositution, but this unequal distribution is apparent at lower levels as well.
Intelligence suffers from a similar situation, but is on the opposite end of the spectrum in that it is extremely likely to succeed. This results in illusion type spells being particularly powerful against most enemies.
Player Saving Throw Success Rate
| Ability | Overall | Level 15-20 |
|---|---|---|
| Main Save | 65% | 65% |
| Secondary Save | 58% | 55% |
| Tertiary Save | 33% | 20% |
| Other Saves | 23% | 10% |
Monster Saving Throw Success Rate
| Ability | Overall | Level 15-20 |
|---|---|---|
| Strength | 45% | 46% |
| Dexterity | 39% | 40% |
| Constitution | 52% | 63% |
| Intelligence | 31% | 29% |
| Wisdom | 44% | 51% |
| Charisma | 43% | 53% |
See Saving Throw Success Rates for the complete numbers.
Solution
Saving throws condensed to Fortitude, Reflex, and Will
Fortitude measures the inherent toughness, mass, and resilience of your physique. It is the key defense against attacks that include effects such as disease, poison.
Reflex measures your ability to avoid area of effect spells and forced movement. It's useful against areas of effect such as dragon breath or a fireball spell.
Will is your defense against effects that daze, disorient, confuse, or overpower your mind. It measures your strength of will, self-discipline, and devotion.
Conversion
Fortitude uses your Constitution modifier
Reflex uses the average of your Strength and Dexterity modifiers
Will uses the average of the highest two modifiers from your Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma modifiers.
Use Ability Scores
If you'd like odd ability scores to matter first average the ability scores and then determine the modifier by removing 10 and dividing by 2.
Result
| Ability | % of total saves | % Damage | % hard control | % light control |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fortitude | 35% | 49% | 29% | 26% |
| Reflex | 40% | 52% | 16% | 49% |
| Will | 25% | 9% | 64% | 40% |
See Saving Throw Totals for the complete numbers.
Player Saving Throw Success Rate
| Ability | Overall | Level 15-20 |
|---|---|---|
| Main Save | 52% | 50% |
| Secondary Save | 33% | 20% |
| Tertiary Save | 28% | 15% |
Monster Saving Throw Success Rate
| Ability | Overall | Level 15-20 |
|---|---|---|
| Fortitude | 47% | 59% |
| Reflex | 46% | 54% |
| Will | 46% | 58% |
See Saving Throw Success Rates for the complete numbers.