Mass Saving Throws Table

Level	Death	Poly	Wands	Breath	Spells
0	25%	20%	15%	5%	10%
1-2	35%	30%	25%	20%	20%
3-4	40%	35%	30%	25%	25%
5-6	50%	45%	45%	40%	35%
7-8	55%	50%	45%	45%	40%
9-10	65%	60%	55%	60%	50%
11-12	70%	65%	60%	65%	55%
13-14	80%	75%	70%	80%	65%
15-16	85%	80%	75%	85%	70%
17+	90%	85%	80%	85%	75%

Every so often, a game will come up with a
situation in which a large group of NPCs will
have to make a saving throw. Making individual
saves takes up a lot of time, while making group
saves tends to get disproportionate results.

The key here is to realize that in large groups,
the statistical average becomes an almost absolute
rule (try flipping a coin a million times or
so). The trick is to realize what fraction of a
given group will make the save and apply that
fraction to the number of that group making
the save.

If the targets have varying hit dice or levels, it
will be necessary to break the target group into
individual levels and apply the adjustments to
each separate group first.

For example, an army is subjected to mass
death magic. The army?s composition by fighter
levels is: 50%, zero level; 30%, 1st-2nd level;
15%, 3rd-4th level; and, 5%, 5th or 6th. Only
25% of the zero levels (12.5% of the total army)
should survive, 35% of the 1st and 2nd levels
(10.5% of the total army), 40% of the 3rd and
4th levels (6% of the total army), and 50% of the
elite (2.5% of the total army). Only 31.5% of the
army is still left, and the largest part of it consists
of zero-level fighters who are probably
going to take to their heels.

Rather than endlessly rolling dice, the effects
of the spell can be adjudicated in mere
moments, letting the game go on. In the interests
of space, only the fighter saving-throw
tables have been converted to percentages
(using my table), as monsters and fighters are
usually the only NPCs who come in large
groups, and both use this table.

SD. Anderson
Whittier CA
(Dragon #125)