Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Changing Saving Throws and DC's
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Spatzimaus" data-source="post: 3091604" data-attributes="member: 3051"><p>Sort of; we've used this rule in three separate campaigns.</p><p>In the first campaign (more or less straight D&D), yes, casters still used stats the way they always have.</p><p>In the second campaign (heavily house-ruled D&D) the Wizard and Sorcerer class were merged into a spontaneous INT-based caster (as was the Bard), but the save DC for ALL casters used your CHA (the INT/WIS determined bonus spells, max spell level, etc.)</p><p>The third campaign (the total homebrew) was mostly skill-based casting, meaning the casting stats didn't do as much; even though only one stat set the save DC, you couldn't raise only that one stat at the expense of the others. For instance, the custom Channeler class was a INT-based "drain" caster, in that casting any spell effectively cost you HP depending on its level. So, a Channeler needs a decent CON as well as his INT.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I don't know. Personally I'm not sure I like the flat DC system, if only because it makes certain 1st-level spells much stronger. For instance, compare the 1st-level <em>charm person</em> to the 4th-level <em>charm monster</em>; in most campaigns 90% of your powerful enemies will be a "person", so the power difference between the two spells is more based on the +3 DC difference than anything else. The only thing that keeps a high-level Sorcerer from using <em>charm person</em> a half-dozen times per day to dominate high-level play is its low DC.</p><p></p><p>The same logic applies to the <em>dominate</em> spells, <em>baleful polymorph</em>, <em>phantasmal killer</em>, all of the Shadow spells... and to anything you apply metamagic to. If you've got <em>fireball</em> and Empower Spell, do you really need <em>delayed blast fireball</em>? Effectively, metamagics become twice as effective, because now you can use them to replace high-level spells without suffering the save DC loss.</p><p>Basically, I think you'd need to adjust the levels of many low-level spells to keep things balanced, and I'm not sure the result is worth the effort.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>In most cases, the TOTAL save was slightly reduced (since you round down), but yes, saves were more averaged. But this doesn't give an advantage to the caster; if anything, it's a disadvantage.</p><p></p><p>Think about it. Right now, I look at a fast, agile Rogue, and I KNOW that a Reflex-based spell is worthless, but that anything else will be very effective. So, as long as I throw something non-Reflex, my chance of success is very high. While the average of his three saves is reasonable, I know his weaknesses well.</p><p>But under this system, his Reflex will be lower, and his others will probably be a bit higher. So what do I throw at him? No matter what I use, he'll have a noticeable chance to resist. I now can't be as sure which save to use. Okay, maybe he's a Weapon Finesse guy (meaning low STR, meaning his Fortitude save is low), but maybe he's not, and it makes a big difference.</p><p></p><p>(Of course, this logic only applies to single-target spells. AoE is another thing entirely.)</p><p></p><p>Also, this increases the mean saves of the Wizard, Sorcerer, STR-heavy melee types, etc., since their prime stat now increases a save. The Wizard, especially, is more difficult; he's got a good Will save from his class levels, but his high INT also gives a decent Reflex save... all that's left is Fortitude, and if he's a +CON race (Dwarf, Gnome?) even that can be questionable.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Spatzimaus, post: 3091604, member: 3051"] Sort of; we've used this rule in three separate campaigns. In the first campaign (more or less straight D&D), yes, casters still used stats the way they always have. In the second campaign (heavily house-ruled D&D) the Wizard and Sorcerer class were merged into a spontaneous INT-based caster (as was the Bard), but the save DC for ALL casters used your CHA (the INT/WIS determined bonus spells, max spell level, etc.) The third campaign (the total homebrew) was mostly skill-based casting, meaning the casting stats didn't do as much; even though only one stat set the save DC, you couldn't raise only that one stat at the expense of the others. For instance, the custom Channeler class was a INT-based "drain" caster, in that casting any spell effectively cost you HP depending on its level. So, a Channeler needs a decent CON as well as his INT. I don't know. Personally I'm not sure I like the flat DC system, if only because it makes certain 1st-level spells much stronger. For instance, compare the 1st-level [i]charm person[/i] to the 4th-level [i]charm monster[/i]; in most campaigns 90% of your powerful enemies will be a "person", so the power difference between the two spells is more based on the +3 DC difference than anything else. The only thing that keeps a high-level Sorcerer from using [i]charm person[/i] a half-dozen times per day to dominate high-level play is its low DC. The same logic applies to the [i]dominate[/i] spells, [i]baleful polymorph[/i], [i]phantasmal killer[/i], all of the Shadow spells... and to anything you apply metamagic to. If you've got [i]fireball[/i] and Empower Spell, do you really need [i]delayed blast fireball[/i]? Effectively, metamagics become twice as effective, because now you can use them to replace high-level spells without suffering the save DC loss. Basically, I think you'd need to adjust the levels of many low-level spells to keep things balanced, and I'm not sure the result is worth the effort. In most cases, the TOTAL save was slightly reduced (since you round down), but yes, saves were more averaged. But this doesn't give an advantage to the caster; if anything, it's a disadvantage. Think about it. Right now, I look at a fast, agile Rogue, and I KNOW that a Reflex-based spell is worthless, but that anything else will be very effective. So, as long as I throw something non-Reflex, my chance of success is very high. While the average of his three saves is reasonable, I know his weaknesses well. But under this system, his Reflex will be lower, and his others will probably be a bit higher. So what do I throw at him? No matter what I use, he'll have a noticeable chance to resist. I now can't be as sure which save to use. Okay, maybe he's a Weapon Finesse guy (meaning low STR, meaning his Fortitude save is low), but maybe he's not, and it makes a big difference. (Of course, this logic only applies to single-target spells. AoE is another thing entirely.) Also, this increases the mean saves of the Wizard, Sorcerer, STR-heavy melee types, etc., since their prime stat now increases a save. The Wizard, especially, is more difficult; he's got a good Will save from his class levels, but his high INT also gives a decent Reflex save... all that's left is Fortitude, and if he's a +CON race (Dwarf, Gnome?) even that can be questionable. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Changing Saving Throws and DC's
Top