Worldbuilding through Saving Throws

I don’t think I’m the first person to make this observation (as an OSR blogger, I almost never am), but it occurred to me today how useful the saving throw names are for communicating the kinds of challenges your character will face in the game. 

Death. Wands. Paralysis. Breath Attacks. Spells.

By looking at your character sheet, you have a glimpse into a life of adventure: struggling against the zaps and enchantments of evil sorcerers, the fiery breath of dragons, and the mummy’s curse of instant death. 

And when you change them, you change the feeling of the game. The texture and tone. Look, here’s the saving throws from Dolmenwood.

Doom. Ray. Hold. Blast. Spell.

Are these the same? Well, yes, in a practical way – you can see how these map directly to the original ones from OSE. But they also are telling you something different. You can dodge Blasts–not just dragon breath. Use this mechanic to avoid all sorts of area attacks. 

For what it’s worth, I rather preferred the recasting of the saving throws that Brian Yaksha used for their Dolmenwood-adjacent Wildwood Manuscript:

Enchantment. Substance. Geas. Dragon Spume (my fave). Ensorcellment.

My colleague Mars at Save vs. Worms recently said “Save vs.” is one of the most useful phrases to come out of old-school games. How right she is! It’s like the implications of the cleric being able to turn undead. These are the things you’re up against in this game. These are the tools you have to avoid them.

When making your beloved retroclone on your blog, naming your saving throws is a tool that you can use to say what your game and your world is all about.