@jalanhenning sent a follow up mail with some thoughts on H&H saving throws. Looking at the stats in the cheat sheet, he made this table:
save vs. death 5 save vs. dragon breath 8 save vs. explosions 1 save vs. paralysis 5 save vs. poison 15 save vs. rays 2 save vs. spells 16
I guess explosions are something I use for non-monsters, like grenades. The one reference in the cheat sheet is the ice devil casting *ice storm* and you “save vs. explosions” for half damage. It just looks better in my mind’s eye than using “save vs. dragon breath”.
Well, J. Alan Henning has a different proposal: to streamline them slightly!
Jeff Rients on saving throws (2009)
He reclassifies them:
save vs. death 5 → save vs. death ray save vs. dragon breath 8 save vs. explosions 1 → save vs. death ray save vs. paralysis 5 save vs. poison 15 save vs. rays 2 → save vs. death ray save vs. spells 16
Is the ice devil’s storm more like a death ray? I don’t know! I’m feeling like I should be shouting: “Noooooo! This changes everything!” But the truth is, of course, that this is exactly what people should do. 😁
save vs. death ray 8 save vs. dragon breath 8 save vs. paralysis 5 save vs. poison 15 save vs. spells 16
In an effort to write super concise rules mashing up H&H and the Target 20 variant from *Searchers of the Unknown* he ends up with this for saving throws: “roll a d20, add their level, and add the modifier as shown below; roll 20 or higher to succeed.”
spells +1 dragon breath +2 paralysis +3 death ray +4 poison +5
An interesting choice! Poison is the harshest, dragon breath is not so bad. Or not? Of course, it’s the reverse: a higher bonus makes it more likely to make the target number, so poison is the least dangerous where as spells are the most dangerous. All right! Well, only playtesting can show whether it works – and I suspect players simply adjust their risk behaviour to compensate for any perceived changes. If at all! I know that as a player I hardly ever think too much about the details of the rules.
#RPG #Old School #Halberds and Helmets