Saving Throws in Play

A saving throw against an effect has a Difficulty Class (DC) determined by the effect. For most class features, the DC of an effect you create equals 10 + half your class level + your key ability score modifier. For spells, this is 10 + the level of the spell + your key ability score modifier. See page 181 to find the DC for weapon special properties and critical hit effects. The description of an effect from an item normally lists a saving throw DC.

A natural 1 (the d20 comes up 1) on a saving throw is always a failure. A natural 20 (the d20 comes up 20) is always a success.

You can voluntarily forgo a saving throw and willingly accept the result of an effect or spell. If you have special resistance to magic, you can suppress that resistance to accept the result (though doing so takes a standard action; see page 335).

If you succeed at a saving throw against an effect that has no obvious physical indications, you feel a hostile force or a warning tingle but cannot deduce the exact nature of the attack. Likewise, if a creature specifically targeted by one of your effects succeeds at its saving throw, you can generally tell that the creature has succeeded. You do not sense when creatures succeed at saves against effects you create that don’t target a single creature.