Saving Throws for Items

Saving throws for items apply whenever a character's body is thrown, broken or subjected to various natural and magical attacks that affect the charcter's whole person. In such instances, equipment can be damaged or incinerated, clothes can be made unwearable, substances can be rendered inert or useless and even armour can be destroyed. Therefore, when a character is subjected to any of the attacks listed below, the objects worn and carried by the character must also make a saving throw or else be ruined.

Items affected include weapons, clothing, armour, magical objects, containers, stored goods, alchemical preparations and anything else not directly protected from the effects of the attack. These saving throws are rolled individually per item, unless the object is part of a set — such as a suit of armour — in which case a single throw may be rolled for the whole. Most items use the saving throw category associated with their principal material: leather, cloth, wood, glass, metal, stone and so on. Items that fail their saves may be sundered, melted, broken, soaked, frozen, rotted, burnt or otherwise rendered useless or partially damaged, depending on the nature of the effect and the judgment of the dungeon master.

In most cases, an item's destruction should be apparent — a flask shattered, a scroll burnt, a sword warped beyond use. The game does not require precise simulation of partial degradation or tracking of every buckle and hinge, but encourages common sense and rulings made with consistency. Where it improves drama or realism, a DM may allow a damaged item to be repaired or salvaged, at cost, delay or risk. However, objects like potions, spell components or fragile one-use items are typically lost outright if their saving throw fails.

Adjustments

All magical items gain a minimum +1 bonus to saving throws against the effects described, regardless of their nature. If the item is a piece of armour or a weapon with an enchantment bonus, that bonus replaces the minimum — so that a +2 weapon, for example, gains a +2 bonus instead of +1. This rule extends to defensive magical items such as bracers, a cloak or a ring of protection, which use their own modifier when determining their save. Additionally, both the cloak and ring of protection grant a +1 saving throw bonus to all other worn or carried items belonging to the same character, reflecting a general aura of protection that these items bestow.

When the magical item is specifically enchanted to resist a particular type of damage — as with a ring of fire resistance against any form of fire — that item gains a +5 bonus against that specific effect. This stacks with any general saving throw bonus the item might possess.

Items that are stored within a container or shielded by a protective outer layer do not need to roll saving throws unless the container or covering fails its own roll. For instance, a scroll inside a scrollcase will not need to save unless the scrollcase itself is destroyed. A spellbook inside a box or chest is similarly protected. Garments worn beneath another item — such as a doublet under armour, or a linen shirt beneath a hauberk — are presumed spared if the outer article withstands the effect. Where multiple layers exist, only the outermost must save unless it fails, in which case the next layer is tested in turn.

Item material	Acid	Crushing blow	Disintegrate	Electricity	Fall	Fireball	Fire (magical)	Fire (normal)	Frost	Lightning	Normal blow
bone or ivory	11	16	10	20	6	12	4	3	2	8	1
book or leather	10	4	2	20	1	8	5	4	3	13	1
ceramic or pottery	4	18	12	19	11	5	3	2	4	2	1
cloth & food	12	6	3	20	2	15	14	13	1	18	1
crystal or vial	6	19	14	20	13	5	4	3	7	15	5
gem or pebble	3	17	7	18	4	5	3	2	1	14	2
glass	5	20	15	20	14	6	5	4	6	17	1
liquid	15	1	1	20	1	15	14	13	12	18	15
metal (hard)	7	6	2	17	2	6	2	1	1	11	1
metal (soft)	13	14	9	19	4	13	6	5	1	16	1
mirror	12	20	15	20	13	9	6	5	6	18	1
paper or parchment	16	11	6	20	1	8	18	17	2	20	1
wood or rope (thin)	9	13	6	20	2	12	10	9	1	10	1
wood or rope (thick)	8	10	3	19	1	8	6	5	1	12	1

Attack Forms

• Acid: includes breath of the Dragonis Malignans, giant slug spittle, enzyme from creatures such as the ankheg, along with substances like aqua fortis, aqua regia, vitriol, and other acid attacks.

• Crushing blow: refers to any overwhelming or massive physical impact that deals 33 or more damage in a single strike. When such a blow occurs, determine by 50/50 chance whether the character’s weapon or shield must first make a saving throw. If no shield is present, it must be either the weapon or armour. Should that first item fail its save, then the armour must immediately save. If the armour also fails—or was not present—then all items worn or carried on the upper body, both front and back, must individually make saves. It is assumed that at this point the blow has hurled the character bodily and compromised all carried gear.

• Disintegrate: includes effects that replicate the spell in name or force. All items within the effect’s 10-foot cube must make saving throws, regardless of whether they are protected or enclosed. Nothing is considered safe from this form of attack.

• Electricity: applies to all forms of ambient or creature-generated electrical discharge that are not defined as lightning. This includes attacks such as those from the electric eel or magical effects like an electrical glyph of warding. Attacks like shocking grasp do not trigger item saves. Furthermore, if the target is not grounded when struck, item saving throws are not required.

• Fall: describes falls where a minimum of 22 hit points of damage occurs. Unless the landing surface is 20° or more, roll 50/50 for the character's back or front to determine which carried objects are affected by the fall.

• Fireball: describes the effects of the spell, which lasts for a split-second. A failed save will scorch or discolour materials but will not render them useless, except in the case of delicate magical formulas such as potions, oils, ointments and healing salves. Magical scrolls that fail save have a 20% chance of being made unreadable; likewise, if a spellbook fails save, each individual spell in the book has a 20% chance of being made unreadable, so that it must be replaced.

• Fire (magical): describes one combat round's sustained exposure to fire produced by magical spells, such as burning hands, wall of fire and flame strike. Flammable objects failing their save will be set alight with normal fire. Other objects are considered scorched, smoked or singed, so that they are reduced in value by 20%. A saving throw must be made for each round that an object is exposed to magical fire.

• Fire (normal): describes one combat round's sustained exposure to naturally occurring fire, including burning oil, exposure to a firepit or a burning environment such as a house or forest fire. Flammable objects failing their save will be set alight. Other objects are considered scorched, smoked or singed, so that they are reduced in value by 10%. A saving throw must be made for each round that an object is exposed to normal fire.

• Frost: describes one hour's sustained exposure to ice crystals that infuse the object, coating it with rime or frost and causing its temperature to fall well below freezing. Objects that contain water will be split open by expanding ice. Paper, once it has thawed, will become wet and useless. Mirrors, glass and vials will crack. Hard metal or stone will, if subjected to a normal blow, will break without gaining a saving throw.

• Lightning: describes both magical and natural bolts of lightning passing through creatures and objects. Unlike natural lightning, magical lightning does not require the target to be grounded. As lightning passes through every part of its target, all objects must make save regardless of protection or location on the body.

• Normal blow: describes any strong physical blow that causes 22–32 damage (for greater blows, see crushing blow, above). Roll a 50/50 chance to see if the character's weapon or shield must save first; if there is no shield, then it must be either the character's armour or weapon. If the weapon or shield fails, the armour must save afterwards. If the armour fails (or there was no armour), then everything on the character's upper body, both back and front, must make save (following the armour's fail, it is assumed the force has knocked the character down).

Notes on Materials

• Bone or ivory: includes items carved or worked from skeletal material or tusk, such as figurines, knife handles, combs, flutes and decorative inlays. These items are generally brittle, with a susceptibility to heat and sudden shock. Items made from unshaped bone, such as femurs used as clubs or tusks lashed to poles, should instead save as wood or rope (thick) or thin, depending on size. Ivory carvings tend to be more fragile than bone, particularly when finely detailed.

• Book or leather: includes all types of leather goods, such as belts, gloves, pouches, boots, vests and leather or studded leather armour. Books bound in leather are protected by their covers; their pages need only save separately if the leather fails. Satchels, scroll tubes and scabbards are treated as leather, regardless of their contents. Books without leather binding — whether paper or parchment — should be treated entirely as paper or parchment.

• Ceramic or pottery: refers to kilned clay vessels, amphorae, bowls, jugs, bricks, statuettes and other fired earthenware. These are prone to shattering from impact or sudden temperature changes. Fine ceramics, such as majolica, porcelain or faience, are more delicate and should be treated as crystal or vial. Ceramic containers that serve as grenade-like missiles (such as flasks of acid or oil) are expected to break on impact and need not save if they are used in this way; but when carried, they are vulnerable.

• Cloth & food: includes all woven or felted natural fibres, including linen, cotton, wool, burlap, and silk, as well as common items like tunics, hose, cloaks, tents, bags, tapestries and sacks. Ropes of wool or plant fibre also save as cloth if loosely twisted. Food, when affected by forces such as fire, frost or acid, should save as cloth unless it is carried in a secure container — and even then, it may spoil or melt due to the nature of the attack form.

• Crystal or vial: includes any glass item manufactured with the addition of lead or other materials to increase clarity and resonance. Vials, decanters, magical lenses, crystal balls and cut glass ornaments are all examples. These items are slightly more durable than glass but prone to shattering under stress or extreme temperature shifts. Because they are often used to contain valuable or magical liquids, their failure often ruins the contents as well.

• Gem or pebble: refers to any natural stone or mineral under the size of a plum, including semi-precious and precious stones, polished pebbles and carved beads. These items are typically resistant to fire, cold and force, but remain vulnerable to the spell disintegrate. Stones larger than a plum — such as boulders or paving stones — are assumed to be unaffected by any attack form that allows a saving throw. Organic gemstones, like amber, coral or pearl, should instead save as metal (soft) due to their lower durability.

• Glass: includes everyday glass items such as bottles, lantern panes, window panes, drinking vessels and hourglasses. Compared to crystal, glass is more fragile and more likely to break under minimal stress. Glass containers may contain valuable substances, but unlike crystal, they seldom preserve contents if they fail save. Glass mirrors are treated separately under mirror.

• Liquid: applies to any carried liquid, regardless of its container. This includes magical potions, alchemical substances, perfumes, oils, poisons and ordinary fluids like wine and vinegar, beer, ink, whale or lamp oil, perfume and poison. Even if the bottle or vial containing the liquid survives, the liquid must still save, as magical or chemical properties may be disrupted. Potions lose potency, oils turn rancid or evaporate, and magical brews may destabilize or spoil. Liquids will not detonate if struck by lightning or engulfed in flame, but may become inert or useless.

• Metal (hard): refers to weapons, tools, armour, fittings and reinforced parts of gear made from forged iron, steel, bronze or other hard alloys. These items are resistant to most attack forms, except corrosion or magical destruction. The thickness of the object is irrelevant; a dagger and a polearm save the same, provided they were forged using similar techniques. While hard to destroy, such items may still warp or become brittle under prolonged exposure to magical elements.

• Metal (soft): includes cast or shaped metals like tin, lead, gold, silver, copper and electrum, as well as jewellery and adornments made from these. Items not subjected to high heat or quenching during their creation — such as chains, rings, coinage and delicate fittings — save more poorly. Organic minerals like amber and mother-of-pearl, which are shaped in similar ways, fall under this category due to their fragility.

• Mirror: describes silvered glass mirrors, often housed in wooden or metal frames. These are especially vulnerable to magical or sudden force attacks, as both the silvering and glass can crack or flake. Mirrors without glass — such as polished steel — should save as metal (hard); decorative or silver mirrors using foil or reflective paste should save as metal (soft). Magical mirrors may receive additional bonuses.

• Paper or parchment: applies to unbound papers, scrolls, loose-leaf manuscripts and pamphlets — anything not encased in leather or stored in a container. These are among the most vulnerable materials, especially to flame or electricity, as they are liable to combust, smear, or disintegrate. Even surviving pages may be rendered unreadable or ruined if exposed to frost, wet or shock.

• Wood or rope (thin): includes arrows, hafts, rods, rope thinner than ¾-inch, staffs, tool handles, instrument frames, whips and slender poles. These objects are more prone to snapping or burning and are more frequently used in delicate or movable mechanisms, such as traps or kits. Arrows are especially vulnerable and may splinter from physical shock or fire.

• Wood or rope (thick): refers to beams, planks, furniture, wagons, chests, portcullises and structural timbers. Mooring lines, rigging and other large ropes also qualify, for construction and living purposes, doors, floor planks, furniture, wagons, carts, heavy cable ropes and wooden armour. These objects are durable but can still be damaged by magical flame, crushing force or disintegration. Saving throw reflects the object's integrity in whole or in part; for instance, a wagon losing one wheel may still be rendered useless.

See also,
Combat
Injury
Saving Throws