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<blockquote data-quote="FormerlyHemlock" data-source="post: 7127627" data-attributes="member: 6787650"><p>Not quite, on two levels:</p><p></p><p>(1) AD&D doesn't have a reaction economy or impose penalties for being prone (AFAIR), and tends to be much looser as well on exact positioning (Theatre of the Mind is more popular, as witness the combat examples in the 2nd edition PHB), so it's much harder to rule out the possibility that a Dex save might involve dropping prone or dodging behind something. In 5E you know that the Thief didn't drop prone to avoid the Fireball because he's not prone, and he still has his full movement so he didn't just stand up from being prone.</p><p></p><p>(2) According to Gygaxian prose as I understand it, there is no unified mechanic for saving throw success in AD&D. A wizard who successfully saves vs. a Fireball may have partially counterspelled it; a fighter may have toughed it out; a holy man may have been protected by his god or God. Wizards get better at counterspelling as they increase in level; holy men get holier; fighters get tougher; etc. But the idea that there is precisely one way to avoid a Fireball isn't a part of AD&D in the first place, unlike 5E, which commits to "Dexterity" as a universal component of saves vs. Fireball and is therefore halfway to specifying a universal method of avoiding Fireballs.</p><p></p><p>Similar things could be said about other saves in 5E, e.g. why does Dexterity help against heat (red dragon breath) but not against cold (white dragon breath).</p><p></p><p>But then, similar things could be said about AD&D saves, e.g. why is dragon breath so different from a spell that is has an entirely different saving throw profile?</p><p></p><p>I know of no saving-throw system without displeasing warts.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="FormerlyHemlock, post: 7127627, member: 6787650"] Not quite, on two levels: (1) AD&D doesn't have a reaction economy or impose penalties for being prone (AFAIR), and tends to be much looser as well on exact positioning (Theatre of the Mind is more popular, as witness the combat examples in the 2nd edition PHB), so it's much harder to rule out the possibility that a Dex save might involve dropping prone or dodging behind something. In 5E you know that the Thief didn't drop prone to avoid the Fireball because he's not prone, and he still has his full movement so he didn't just stand up from being prone. (2) According to Gygaxian prose as I understand it, there is no unified mechanic for saving throw success in AD&D. A wizard who successfully saves vs. a Fireball may have partially counterspelled it; a fighter may have toughed it out; a holy man may have been protected by his god or God. Wizards get better at counterspelling as they increase in level; holy men get holier; fighters get tougher; etc. But the idea that there is precisely one way to avoid a Fireball isn't a part of AD&D in the first place, unlike 5E, which commits to "Dexterity" as a universal component of saves vs. Fireball and is therefore halfway to specifying a universal method of avoiding Fireballs. Similar things could be said about other saves in 5E, e.g. why does Dexterity help against heat (red dragon breath) but not against cold (white dragon breath). But then, similar things could be said about AD&D saves, e.g. why is dragon breath so different from a spell that is has an entirely different saving throw profile? I know of no saving-throw system without displeasing warts. [/QUOTE]
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