Neonchameleon
Legend
Spell
Breath Weapon
Rod Staff Wand
Petrification or Polymorph
Death, Paralysis, or Poison
That seems like the most counter-intutitive and unmemorable thing ever. (Well, arguably not). But when you understand it it's actually very good and makes perfect sense. It's really good gamist logic disguised by a layer of obscurist versimilitude.
Let's rename the categories:
Spell
Physical Effect
Spell-in-a-can
Save or Lose
Save or Die
Spell and Physical Effect saves should be obvious although the main physical effect save was always breath weapon. And the question is what you can do to prevent yourself being affected by them. How they relate to each other is very much class dependent.
A spell in a can is, as far as I know, never any harder to to save against in every edition on every line of the saving throw table than an actual spell that would be using the spell save.
The Save or Lose spells are spells that will take you out of the fight but there is normally a way back from so you won't lose your character. Petrification turns you into a statue. When a statue, sure you can't do anything, but it can be reversed at a later date. Gone but not forgotten. And when you're polymorphed, unless it's a tpk, you can generally hop to safety. Again, you're out of it but not forgotten.
Save or die. Yes. Well. Death magic or poison. You be dead.
All perfect gamism. The more dangerous and the further round the hit point system something goes, the easier it is to save against with the exception of the spell/breath weapon split. And the splitting off of spells-in-a-can.
So. How did this vary by editions?
If we look at any of the pre-WotC editions we find there are five categories of saving throw. The common points are:
Every TSR edition of D&D from the 1974 brown box onwards has five saving throw categories with these five distinct effects. Magic. Physical. Spell-in-a-can. Save or Lose. Save or Die.
But there have over the editions been some floaters. Let's look at them.
Rod and Staff. Holmes Basic and B/X consider rods and staves wizard's tools. So they count as spell saves rather than saves for canned spells. Gandalf with his staff, etc. And it makes staves more interesting and powerful than wands.
Polymorph is only its own thing in AD&D. It doesn't appear as a category anywhere else.
Paralysis. B/X thinks it's a save or lose and doesn't outright kill you. AD&D thinks that getting paralysed in combat means you gonna die. No prior edition had Paralysis as a save (RC went with B/X and 2e of course). Is Hold Person Save or Die? IME yes. Normally. But not quite so directly as a death ray. Both very defensible choices.
So that's two basic saves for physical damage (magical and semi-mundane), a bonus against canned spells, a save or lose category, and a save or die category. And with those categories the wizards went for fireballs because the save or dies and save or loses wouldn't make it through.
Breath Weapon
Rod Staff Wand
Petrification or Polymorph
Death, Paralysis, or Poison
That seems like the most counter-intutitive and unmemorable thing ever. (Well, arguably not). But when you understand it it's actually very good and makes perfect sense. It's really good gamist logic disguised by a layer of obscurist versimilitude.
Let's rename the categories:
Spell
Physical Effect
Spell-in-a-can
Save or Lose
Save or Die
Spell and Physical Effect saves should be obvious although the main physical effect save was always breath weapon. And the question is what you can do to prevent yourself being affected by them. How they relate to each other is very much class dependent.
A spell in a can is, as far as I know, never any harder to to save against in every edition on every line of the saving throw table than an actual spell that would be using the spell save.
The Save or Lose spells are spells that will take you out of the fight but there is normally a way back from so you won't lose your character. Petrification turns you into a statue. When a statue, sure you can't do anything, but it can be reversed at a later date. Gone but not forgotten. And when you're polymorphed, unless it's a tpk, you can generally hop to safety. Again, you're out of it but not forgotten.
Save or die. Yes. Well. Death magic or poison. You be dead.
All perfect gamism. The more dangerous and the further round the hit point system something goes, the easier it is to save against with the exception of the spell/breath weapon split. And the splitting off of spells-in-a-can.
So. How did this vary by editions?
If we look at any of the pre-WotC editions we find there are five categories of saving throw. The common points are:
- Spell
- Breath Weapon
- Wand
- Turned to Stone
- Death or Poison
Every TSR edition of D&D from the 1974 brown box onwards has five saving throw categories with these five distinct effects. Magic. Physical. Spell-in-a-can. Save or Lose. Save or Die.
But there have over the editions been some floaters. Let's look at them.
Rod and Staff. Holmes Basic and B/X consider rods and staves wizard's tools. So they count as spell saves rather than saves for canned spells. Gandalf with his staff, etc. And it makes staves more interesting and powerful than wands.
Polymorph is only its own thing in AD&D. It doesn't appear as a category anywhere else.
Paralysis. B/X thinks it's a save or lose and doesn't outright kill you. AD&D thinks that getting paralysed in combat means you gonna die. No prior edition had Paralysis as a save (RC went with B/X and 2e of course). Is Hold Person Save or Die? IME yes. Normally. But not quite so directly as a death ray. Both very defensible choices.
So that's two basic saves for physical damage (magical and semi-mundane), a bonus against canned spells, a save or lose category, and a save or die category. And with those categories the wizards went for fireballs because the save or dies and save or loses wouldn't make it through.
