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<blockquote data-quote="Endur" data-source="post: 148687" data-attributes="member: 3346">Saving Throws: Critical Failure/SuccessThe automatic 1 critical failure and automatic 20 critical success for saving throws were deliberately left out of the PHB and the DMG.There were two reasons why they chose to implement critical failure and critical success for attack rolls and chose not to do so for saving throws.1) For an attack, a roll of 20 is more than a success, you also get a chance to do greater damage (critical hit).&nbsp; For a saving throw, there is no equivalent critical success (i.e. if you save against a spell, the spell caster doesn't automatically die or something).2) For an attack, missing one out of twenty attacks is not a big deal.&nbsp; For saving throws, failing one out of twenty can be a problem for player characters.&nbsp; Suppose you are a high level fighter, if you get hit twenty times in your career for more than 50 points of damage, then you will die, guaranteed from the massive damage rule regardless of how high your fort save is or your hit points are.&nbsp; In a game that depends on characters surviving so that you can continue to play the game next week, it didn't make sense to make character death essentially automatic by using the law of odds to guarantee that characters will eventually die after they take twenty or so saving throws.&nbsp; TomEndur Stonehelm</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Endur, post: 148687, member: 3346"] [b]Saving Throws: Critical Failure/Success[/b] The automatic 1 critical failure and automatic 20 critical success for saving throws were deliberately left out of the PHB and the DMG. There were two reasons why they chose to implement critical failure and critical success for attack rolls and chose not to do so for saving throws. 1) For an attack, a roll of 20 is more than a success, you also get a chance to do greater damage (critical hit). For a saving throw, there is no equivalent critical success (i.e. if you save against a spell, the spell caster doesn't automatically die or something). 2) For an attack, missing one out of twenty attacks is not a big deal. For saving throws, failing one out of twenty can be a problem for player characters. Suppose you are a high level fighter, if you get hit twenty times in your career for more than 50 points of damage, then you will die, guaranteed from the massive damage rule regardless of how high your fort save is or your hit points are. In a game that depends on characters surviving so that you can continue to play the game next week, it didn't make sense to make character death essentially automatic by using the law of odds to guarantee that characters will eventually die after they take twenty or so saving throws. Tom Endur Stonehelm [/QUOTE]

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