Six Saving Throws

In the old days (before the turn of the millennium), your saving throws were not directly related to your ability scores. They were, instead, a factor of your character class and level. Those of you who have been playing D&D long enough may smile fondly at the recollection of that venerable list of saves:

• Poison/Paralysis/Death Magic
• Rod/Staff/Wand
• Petrification/Polymorph
• Breath Weapon
• Spells

In 3e, saving throws were completely re-designed to establish a clear association with ability scores. In addition to class and level, now a relevant ability score bonus would influence your saving throws. The list was also reduced to three:

• Fortitude: Constitution bonus
• Reflex: Dexterity bonus
• Will: Wisdom bonus

The major change in 4e was that these three saving throws became static defenses, like Armor Class. (The saving throw became a separate mechanic.) Additionally, you were now allowed to choose the higher of two ability score bonuses to be added these defenses:

• Fortitude: Constitution or Strength
• Reflex: Dexterity or Intelligence
• Will: Wisdom or Charisma 

Leaving skills aside for the moment, let's consider the implications of this development. Characters are incentivized to seek good scores in just three abilities (one from each of the pairings). On the flip side, you can always identify two or three scores that are "dump stats" -- i.e., ability scores that you sacrifice completely so that you can improve in more relevant areas. For example, if I'm playing a fighter with the slayer build (from the D&D Essentials book Heroes of the Fallen Lands), I'm going to pump up Dexterity (which fuels the extra damage mechanic for my striker role) and drop my Intelligence to a lowly 8. That gives me a nice bonus to my Reflex defense (as well as my AC!), and the low Intelligence doesn't hurt me at all.

How are things shaping up in 5e so far? First, there are big changes from 4e. Fortitude, Reflex, and Will are gone. AC is now the only static defense. Traditional saving throws have returned, and here's the list:

• Strength
• Dexterity
• Constitution
• Intelligence
• Wisdom
• Charisma

That's right, your ability scores are also your saving throws. When an evil wizard hurls a fireball at you, you're no longer going to save vs. spells (as in 2e) or make a Reflex save (as in 3e). You're now going to make a Dexterity save. This is just one of the ways in which the six ability scores are going to be more important than ever before.

So...does this mean that there are no longer any dump stats? Well, from the perspective of saving throws, at least, most of the saves in the playtest materials seem to be against Constitution, Dexterity, and Wisdom -- or Fortitude, Reflex, and Will in disguise.