Here's the situation:
15th level game. I have a dwarf barbarian2/fighter4/battlerager5/bear warrior2. I have the Feral template from Savage Species, normally a level adjustment of +1, but the DM says it is +2 for his game because of the Fast Healing and Natural Armor.
The issue with the saving throw is this:
Calculating my base Fort save, I came up with a total of +14. +3 for 2 levels of barbarian, +4 for 4 levels of fighter, +4 for 5 levels of battlerager, +3 for 2 levels of bear warrior.
The DM is saying my bonus should only be +9. He said, "The +2 you get for a class that gives a good saving throw is a one-time only bonus. If you have two classes that start with +2 to save, you still only get to add it once. I am using fractional BAB and saving throws per UA to simplify math.
I checked the fractional saving throw rule per Unearthed Arcana and actually came up with 14.5, rounded down to 14. So, still I was not off. I mentioned this and he said, "The not adding +2 to your save twice is a standard rule. Your saving throw base can never be greater than the good saving throw for a character of your class and level. Hence at 15th level, you can never have a base save above a +9, unless a character class feature specifically gives a bonus to base saving throw. It just doesn't happen." And, "You have good fort saves for all your classes. Using the table on pg 73 of UA for gestalt for totaling this, your base save is +9-1/2. This rounds to +9. You only get to add the +2 at 1st level of your first class."
I haven't seen anything about adding a +2 bonus only once. And I have no idea what "standard rule" it is that says you do not add the save bonuses from each class. I have never heard or read that a 15th level character cannot have a base save higher than +9, and I've poured through the PHB, DMG and the parts of UA he referenced. The table he mentions in UA is fine, and works to my calculations. The text for the table even states, "to determine the total base save...add together the fractional values from each of her class levels".
Am I missing something about this +9 maximum base save for 15th level? Did someone stick that rule in the books about only getting a +2 bonus to your good save once, when I wasn't looking? I don't know if this guy is confused, if I'm making a mistake or what? I don't know why he mentioned gestalt characters since these are not gestalts and there was no mention of any of these rules (about base save scores) during the character creation process and no house rules were mentioned either.
Prove me right, prove him right, I don't care, I'm just looking for clear text answers.
15th level game. I have a dwarf barbarian2/fighter4/battlerager5/bear warrior2. I have the Feral template from Savage Species, normally a level adjustment of +1, but the DM says it is +2 for his game because of the Fast Healing and Natural Armor.
The issue with the saving throw is this:
Calculating my base Fort save, I came up with a total of +14. +3 for 2 levels of barbarian, +4 for 4 levels of fighter, +4 for 5 levels of battlerager, +3 for 2 levels of bear warrior.
The DM is saying my bonus should only be +9. He said, "The +2 you get for a class that gives a good saving throw is a one-time only bonus. If you have two classes that start with +2 to save, you still only get to add it once. I am using fractional BAB and saving throws per UA to simplify math.
I checked the fractional saving throw rule per Unearthed Arcana and actually came up with 14.5, rounded down to 14. So, still I was not off. I mentioned this and he said, "The not adding +2 to your save twice is a standard rule. Your saving throw base can never be greater than the good saving throw for a character of your class and level. Hence at 15th level, you can never have a base save above a +9, unless a character class feature specifically gives a bonus to base saving throw. It just doesn't happen." And, "You have good fort saves for all your classes. Using the table on pg 73 of UA for gestalt for totaling this, your base save is +9-1/2. This rounds to +9. You only get to add the +2 at 1st level of your first class."
I haven't seen anything about adding a +2 bonus only once. And I have no idea what "standard rule" it is that says you do not add the save bonuses from each class. I have never heard or read that a 15th level character cannot have a base save higher than +9, and I've poured through the PHB, DMG and the parts of UA he referenced. The table he mentions in UA is fine, and works to my calculations. The text for the table even states, "to determine the total base save...add together the fractional values from each of her class levels".
Am I missing something about this +9 maximum base save for 15th level? Did someone stick that rule in the books about only getting a +2 bonus to your good save once, when I wasn't looking? I don't know if this guy is confused, if I'm making a mistake or what? I don't know why he mentioned gestalt characters since these are not gestalts and there was no mention of any of these rules (about base save scores) during the character creation process and no house rules were mentioned either.
Prove me right, prove him right, I don't care, I'm just looking for clear text answers.
