Saving Throws¶

A saving throw (or "save") is a d20 roll your Operator makes to avoid or reduce something bad happening to them - a flashbang going off in the room, a door blowing inward, gas filling the corridor, an interrogator getting in your head. Unlike an attack roll or a skill check, you don't choose to make a save; the GM tells you to roll one because something is being done to you.

In classic D&D 5E, saves get rolled against spells. Here they get rolled against blasts, gas, falls, suppression, fear, and coercion. The mechanics are the same.

How a Save Works¶

The GM names the save: "Make a DEX save" or "CON save against the gas."
The GM names a Save DC - usually 10 (easy), 12-13 (moderate), 15-16 (hard), 18+ (brutal). Hazards from gear and abilities list their DC explicitly.
You roll 1d20 + the relevant attribute modifier. If you are trained in that save, also add your Proficiency Bonus.
Total ≥ DC = success. Total < DC = failure. Many effects also have a "half on a successful save" clause; the GM will say so.

Example: Falke (Operator level 3, Proficiency Bonus +2, DEX 17 → mod +3, Save Training in DEX) is leaning out of a market-stall doorway when a frag grenade bounces in beside him. The GM calls a DC 14 DEX save - full damage on fail, half on success.

Rolls 1d20 → 12.

Adds DEX modifier: 12 + 3 = 15.

Trained in DEX saves, adds Proficiency Bonus: 15 + 2 = 17.

Total 17 vs DC 14 → save, takes half damage.

A teammate diving for the same doorway, also DEX +3 but with no Save Training in DEX, would have rolled the same 12 for a total of 15 - still a save, but only by 1. A militant in the stall (DEX +1, untrained) would roll 12 + 1 = 13, just under the DC, and eat full damage.

The Six Saves¶

Each of the six Attributes has a save. The attribute the save uses is the attribute that would help you avoid the effect, not the attribute of whoever is causing it.

Save	What it covers	Examples
STR	Resisting being moved, grappled, shoved, or physically pinned.	A breaching charge knocks you off the catwalk; an opponent tries to throw you from cover.
DEX	Dodging a sudden area effect, getting low, twisting out of the way.	Frag grenade lands at your feet; a vehicle clips your position; a flashbang detonates in the room.
CON	Enduring damage to the body itself - poison, disease, shock, suppression at close range, the worst of a blast.	Tear gas fills the room; a stim pushes you past safe limits; you take a heavy blast wave.
INT	Resisting confusion, deception, illusion, disorientation, or technical compromise.	A loud disorientation device scrambles your read of the room; a hostile network probe targets your kit.
WIS	Holding your nerve and your read on the situation. The fear save.	The Shaken track (Conditions); an interrogator works on your resolve; a horror moment.
CHA	Resisting attacks on your sense of self - long-form coercion, breaking cover, deep manipulation.	An interrogator tries to break your cover identity over hours; coerced narrative under duress.

Save Training¶

Like all proficiencies in this compendium, save proficiency comes from a Training Program - specifically, the Save Training track. At 1^st level, the Operator Class grants Save Training Level 1 in Strength and Dexterity for free, mirroring the classic-5E Fighter chassis.

Each Save Training level you have in a given save adds your Proficiency Bonus to that save. Stacking the higher levels of the track (or relevant Armor / Mental Fitness programs) can grant Expertise, which doubles the Proficiency Bonus - see Proficiency.

Example: Same firefight, ten minutes later. Falke (CON 11 → mod +0, not trained in CON saves) is clearing a back room when a CS-gas canister cooks off. The GM calls a DC 13 CON save against the gas - fail means a level of disadvantage on his next action and a round of coughing.

Rolls 1d20 → 11.

Adds CON modifier: 11 + 0 = 11. No Proficiency Bonus to add.

Total 11 vs DC 13 → fail. Eyes streaming, he stumbles back to the doorway.

If Falke had picked up Save Training Level 1 in CON during a later operator-training pick, the same roll would have totaled 11 + 0 + 2 = 13 - exactly the DC, save. The single Proficiency Bonus is the difference between holding the room and giving it back.

Save DC of Effects You Impose¶

When something you do forces another creature to save (a flashbang you threw, a takedown maneuver, a designation feature), the DC the target rolls against is:

Save DC = 8 + your Proficiency Bonus + the relevant ability modifier

The "relevant ability" is named by the source of the effect - usually DEX for thrown ordnance, CHA for command and intimidation effects, INT for technical attacks.

Example: Falke (Proficiency Bonus +2, DEX +3) cooks off a flashbang and tosses it through the doorway of a small room. The flashbang's save is keyed to the thrower's DEX, so the DC is:

8 + 2 (Falke's Proficiency Bonus) + 3 (Falke's DEX modifier) = DC 13

Two militants are inside.

Militant A (CON +1, untrained): rolls 1d20 → 9. 9 + 1 = 10 vs DC 13 → fail, stunned for one round.

Militant B (CON +2, untrained): rolls 1d20 → 15. 15 + 2 = 17 vs DC 13 → save, no effect.

If Falke levels up to 5 (Proficiency Bonus +3), the same flashbang would impose a DC 14 save - and Militant A's 10 would still fail by the same margin, while Militant B's 17 would still clear it. Higher proficiency widens the gap on the marginal rolls, not the obvious ones.

Compared to Classic D&D 5E¶

The d20 + attribute mod (+ proficiency if trained) ≥ DC formula is identical.
Six saves, one per attribute - same as classic 5E.
Where classic 5E uses saves mostly against spells, this game uses them against modern hazards: explosives, gas, suppression, interrogation, and disorientation.
Class-locked save proficiencies become Save Training Programs. Every Operator starts with STR and DEX trained, and can pick up the others as they level.
Death saves work as in classic 5E (see Hit Points - Going Down at 0 HP for how dying is handled in this compendium).