Saves by Character Classes

Barbarians and Rangers are both warriors of the wilderness and have a greater understanding of Spiritual Powers than the Warrior while retaining a great deal of resistance to physical harm. Barbarians gain their Spiritual knowledge through Shaman and have more Spiritual Powers than a Warrior, while Rangers learn the powers of nature on their own and have a respectable array of Spiritual Powers.

However, neither class has been trained in the ways of combat as well as a Warrior, and thus they do not fair as well when faced with area effects since rarely is such a skill needed when exploring or adventuring in remote locations away from cities or armies.

These three classes are each similar to Warriors in that they are trained in physical combat, but they are also each primarily driven by a greater cause. Each of these classes has a greater understanding of magical and spiritual energy than a Warrior and they often spend their careers hunting down fiendish monsters that use magical powers, hence they have spent time learning to resist such attacks.

These three character classes are the most balanced of all character classes in the areas of Saving Throws: their rigorous training and beliefs have encouraged them to have no weaknesses, though this comes at the cost of having no special resistances. This fits well with their beliefs regarding the need for a balance of skills to be successful in adventuring and in life.

These two classes handle much of the law enforcement and criminal investigation throughout the world. These tasks take them into the dark and seedy side of major cities and towns where they must gather evidence and information. Their job requires toughness and the ability to understand the use of poison and survive contact with it since poisoning is a favorite tool of criminals. Their focus on their task offers some resistance to Sleep/Charm effects.

Thieves generally make a living performing sneaky and often illegal deeds. Not surprisingly, they are quite skilled at handling poisons and are resistant to the nasty explosive traps that they regularly encounter and disarm while on the road to lost treasure or somebody else’s money. Since Thieves regularly venture into places that most people would consider very dangerous, such as lost tombs and crypts, they have developed some knowledge of Death Magic and how to avoid its effects.

Thieves are vulnerable to Spiritual Powers since they rarely encounter such abilities and are usually smart enough to not steal from anyone with such skills. Their mix of greed, curiosity, and thrill-seeking nature leaves them rather vulnerable to Sleep/Charm effects.

Mathematicians are scholars, inventors, and practitioners of powerful magical and spiritual effects. Not surprisingly, they are quite good at resisting the tools of their trade: Spiritual Powers and Magical Weapons. Most Mathematicians have spent at least some time in laboratories amid various dangerous and toxic chemicals, hence they are more resistant to poisons than one might expect.

Despite their knowledge of poisons and magic, Mathematicians are still quite frail and lacking in physical endurance. They are also rather unfamiliar with Death Magic since it falls outside the normal scope of their studies. Most Mathematicians do not encounter Undead until their first adventure away from their libraries and universities.

Necromancers are the masters of the science of life and death, and though many of their kind resist the temptation to follow evil paths in life, all Necromancers have a great understanding of death and the Undead. Their studies of death have given them a resistance to toxins and poisons, as well as forcing them to be reasonably durable and resistant to harm. Necromancers are all trained in dealing with Undead, hence the resistance to Death Magic.

All Necromancers walk a fine line in life and face continual temptation to use their abilities in unholy ways to gain greater power, hence the weakness to Sleep/Charm effect. Necromancers also do not train in large-scale combat, thus they have little resistance to Area Effects.

Priests and Protectors have a deep sense of faith and duty and spend much of their lives combating Undead and other forces of darkness. This is reflected in their Saving Throws: it is very difficult to charm a Priest and turn him from his duty, just as it is difficult for the Undead to harm him with Death Magic since he has trained to fight them and his faith protects him.

Priest and Protectors are both very durable and focus heavily upon survival and defense - they have very few offensive tools at their disposal, but they are trained to resist attacks more than any other type of hero or adventurer. They are thus the only character classes to have Saving Throws that are above average. However, they do have a weakness against explosions and other area effects since they are trained as defenders and healers and thus know more about treating the results of such injuries than how to avoid being harmed in the first place.

Priests and Protectors have a deep sense of faith and duty and spend much of their lives combating Undead and other forces of darkness. This is reflected in their Saving Throws: it is very difficult to charm a Priest and turn him from his duty, just as it is difficult for the Undead to harm him with Death Magic since he has trained to fight them and his faith protects him.

Priest and Protectors are both very durable and focus heavily upon survival and defense - they have very few offensive tools at their disposal, but they are trained to resist attacks more than any other type of hero or adventurer. They are thus the only character classes to have Saving Throws that are above average. However, they do have a weakness against explosions and other area effects since they are trained as defenders and healers and thus know more about treating the results of such injuries than how to avoid being harmed in the first place.

Barbarians and Rangers are both warriors of the wilderness and have a greater understanding of Spiritual Powers than the Warrior while retaining a great deal of resistance to physical harm. Barbarians gain their Spiritual knowledge through Shaman and have more Spiritual Powers than a Warrior, while Rangers learn the powers of nature on their own and have a respectable array of Spiritual Powers.

However, neither class has been trained in the ways of combat as well as a Warrior, and thus they do not fair as well when faced with area effects since rarely is such a skill needed when exploring or adventuring in remote locations away from cities or armies.

Shamans are more durable than most character classes that rely upon spells or Spiritual Powers since they live in the wild, often among Barbarians, and thus cannot afford to be frail or vulnerable to poisons and illness. They often use their abilities to fight the wandering Undead that plague remote towns and their tribal villages, hence they have developed some resistance to Death Magic attacks in addition to their ability to withstand the Spiritual Powers that they have mastered.

Shamans are rather vulnerable to Magical Weapons since they are often the tools of Mathematicians, and Shamans have little understanding of the seemingly strange “science-magic” that Mathematicians use to fuel their powers. Shamans are also weak against Sleep/Charm effects since they are often idealists and dreamers.

As one can tell by the Warrior’s Saves, they focus heavily upon withstanding physical assaults: shrugging off explosions, poisons, and other physical harm comes naturally to members of this class. However, Warriors generally lack spiritual training, and the realms of magic are behind their knowledge, thus they suffer accordingly.

The Warrior Saving Throw Matrix is used as a basis for many other character classes that focus on direct physical combat and is then modified as needed. This Saving Throw Matrix is also useful as a basis for most creatures that focus on physical combat and have little, if any, magical or spiritual powers.

Wishsingers are masters of music and song, and use their skills to fuel a powerful array of abilities. They are quite resistant to the tools of their trade - Spiritual Powers and Sleep/Charm effects, and the stamina needed for powerful songs requires them to have some level of physical endurance. Since Wishsingers are often travelers, they have some experience with Undead and have learned to endure some Death Magic Effects.

Wishsingers often have little interest in science, laboratories, and technological inventions. As such, they have very little experience handling toxins or poisons and are ignorant of the strange nature of Magical Weapons.