PotRP Design Diary #25

Saving Throws

I wrapped up the section on Saving Throws and was liking how it came together and decided to give a little sneak peek here:

A saving throw—also called a save—represents an attempt to resist a trap, a poison, a disease, an explosion, or a similar threat. You don’t normally decide to make a saving throw; you are forced to make one because your character is at risk of harm.

To make a saving throw, roll a d20 and add modifiers and match or beat the number on the type of save you are making.

There are six types of saves:

• Explosions: things that go boom like dynamite.
• Mentalism: mental or psychic attacks.
• Energy: fire, lightning, energy beams.
• Poison: lethal substances like a rattlesnake bite.
• Falls: dropping from heights, or other physical trauma.
• General: this is a catch-all for anything that doesn’t fall in the other categories.

A saving throw can be modified by a situational bonus or penalty as determined by the GM.

Modifiers to a saving throw are determined by the effect that causes it. For example, saving throw vs poison modifiers are determined by the potency of the poison.

Perhaps one of the most notable differences between various editions are saving throws. By default Gunslinger uses the same saves as in Warriors of the Red Planet which roughly align with:

The Average (or General) category is for systems that only use 1 Save stat. It might be a little silly to align it with Charisma, but I like the orderliness it gives to the table. And hey, maybe force of personality is the deciding factor whether or not a character saves!

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Gunslinger Strange Science in the Wild West is the prelude to the Princess of the Red Planet adventure. It is also a stand alone RPG that can provide Western adventures in the vein of the classic TV show Wild, Wild West or the cult-hit Adventures in Brisco County Jr. And of course it can be part of a larger Sword & Planet style campaign.