Kanegrundar said:
Pardon the mistype on the number of saves in C&C. (I really should proof-read my posts a little better somtimes!) It's still doubling the amount of record keeping (in the area of saves alone), and it was an uneccesary move IMO. Saves in 3E is not one of the areas that is a drag in playing the game, so why change?
Here's my take on the saving throw situation, and while it may not be what the designers intended, it's what I glean.
Don't think of the SIEGE checks (can't come up with a better name without the rulebook handy) as just saving throws; think of saving throws, skill attempts, ability checks, etc. ALL as challenges to the character's abilities. 3E handles it three separate but related ways: Saving throws, Ability checks, and skill checks - each modified by ability scores, but all having very different totals. Now, the SIEGE system says that a charm attempt is a challenge to someone's willpower the same way that a sense motive is; for purposes of a fast-moving game system, there doesn't need to be three ways to resolve something when 1 would be close enough for a simulation. So you are "challenged" by a petrification, a strength check, a climbing check, what have you; it's a challenge with a single target number to hit as a goal.
Therefore, a slim, wiry and fast fighter with STR and DEX as prime abilities will not easily passs that test, whereas the old sensei with WIS as a prime ability will more easily pass it. It's like saying your will reflex save and your ride skill use the same modifier, which is equal to your level (or thereabouts).
Personally I think the Troll Lords tout the whole "you can customize it" line a little TOO much, because it ends up with them (Davis and Steve) answering ALL arguments that way rather than explaining the reasoning behind a game rule. You can of course customize it, but using it as-is also can get the job done, too, and might have a bit of elegance behind it when you want a system you can play both long-term and in a few hours.
