The saving throw is a die roll that gives a chance, however slim, that the character or creature finds some way to save himself from certain destruction (or at least lessen the damage of a successful attack). More often than not, the saving throw represents an instinctive act on the part of the character--diving to the ground just as a fireball scorches the group, blanking the mind just as a mental battle begins, blocking the worst of an acid spray with a shield. The exact action is not important. Game Masters and players can think of lively and colorful explanations of why a saving throw succeeded or failed. Explanations tailored to the events of the moment enhance the excitement of the game.
To make a saving throw, a player rolls a 20-sided die (1d20). The result must be equal to or greater than the character base saving throw number. Saving throws are made in a variety of situations. The type of saving throw a character must roll is determined by the specific spell, monster, magical item, or situation involved.
No save is made if the target voluntarily chooses not to resist the effect of a spell or special attack. This is the case even if the character was duped as to the exact nature of the spell. When a character announces that he is not resisting the spell's power, that spell (or whatever) has its full effect. The intention not to resist must be clearly stated or set up through trickery, however. If a character is attacked by surprise or caught unawares, he is normally allowed a saving throw. The Game Master can modify this saving throw, making the chance of success worse, if the situation warrants it. Only in extreme cases of trickery and deception should an unwitting character be denied a saving throw.
When a character attempts to avoid danger through the use of one of his abilities, an ability check can be used in lieu of a saving throw. For example, Ragnar the thief has broken into someone's home when he hears a grating noise from the ceiling above him. He looks up to find a five-ton block of the ceiling headed straight for him! He is going to need speedy reactions to get out of the way, so a P.P. ability check should be rolled on a D30 to see if he avoids the trap. If he has a P.P. of 18, he must roll below 18 to succeed.
Some creatures or items strongly resist the effects of magic (or impart such resistance to others). This makes them more difficult to affect with magical energy than ordinary creatures or items.
A rare few creatures are extremely anti-magical--magic rolls off them like water off a duck's back. More common are creatures, especially from the Outer Planes of existence, which live in enchanted or sorcerous lands and are filled with powerful magical energies. These creatures eat and breathe the vapors of wizardry, and they have a high tolerance against arcane power.
Magic resistance is an innate ability--that is, the possessor does not have to do anything special to use it. The creature need not even be aware of the threat for his magic resistance to operate. Such resistance is part of the creature or item and cannot be separated from it. (Creatures, however, can voluntarily lower their magic resistance at will.)
Magic resistance is also an individual ability. A creature with magic resistance cannot impart this power to others by holding their hands or standing in their midst. Only the rarest of creatures and magical items have the ability to bestow magic resistance upon another.
Magic resistance is given as a percentile number. For a magical effect to have any chance of success, the magic resistance must be overcome. The target (the one with the magic resistance) rolls percentile dice. If the roll is higher than the creature's magic resistance, the spell has a normal effect. If the roll is equal to or less than the creature's magic resistance, the spell has absolutely no effect on the creature.
Magic resistance enables a creature to ignore the effects of spells and spell-like powers. It does not protect the creature from magical weapon attacks or from natural forces that may be a direct or accidental result of a spell. Nor does it prevent the protected creature from using his own abilities or from casting spells and using magical items. It can be effective against both individually targeted spells and, within limits, area-effect spells.
If a magic resistance roll fails, and the spell has normal effect, the target can make all saving throws normally allowed against the spell.
Magic resistance applies only if the successful casting of a spell would directly affect the resistant creature or item. Thus, magic resistance is effective against magic missile (targeted at a creature or item) or fireball (damaging the area the creature or item is in) spells.
Magic resistance is not effective against an earthquake caused by a spell. While the creature may suffer injury or death falling into a chasm the spell opens under its feet, the magical energy of the spell was directed at the ground, not the creature. Magic resistant creatures are not immune to events that occur as the consequence of spells, only to the direct energy created or released by a spell.
Player characters do not normally have magic resistance (though they still get saving throws vs. magical spells and such); this ability is reserved mainly for special monsters.
A successful magic resistance check can have four different results, depending on the nature of the spell being resisted:
