Of Feats and Saves

As I’ve been reviewing the core rules draft (I really want to finalize this before I get too deep into books 2 and 3… ), I find that many abilities end up working similar to saving throws… a thief’s ability to pilfer an object or foil traps is based on his level modifier + his dex modifier +4.

But so is his saving throw.

So do I need two mechanics?

Actually. I don’t.

As of right now, a save has been defined as a defensive/resistant ability. Thief abilities are generally active. However, I’ve already layered sense into your save, and that can be active or passive, depending on the situation.

I need to re-define saves. And I think I’m using feats, a la army ants.

It’s the same number derived in the same way. Roll a FEAT to do any of these things… withstand a poison, prevent being turned to stone, sneak around, sense the unknown… and you can get situational or magical modifiers to these rolls. You can take a talent that makes you a better burglar (+2 to burglary FEAT rolls), drink a potion that makes you more perceptive (+2 to sense FEAT rolls) or face a spider with a weaker than usual poison (+2 to the FEAT to resist the poison).

Since I am re-branding ‘saves’ as FEATS, I will have to re-brand what I’ve been using as feats as ‘Talents’. It’s mostly semantics, but these are important semantics in terms of their overall function in the game…