Save Categories
Effects (mostly magical effects) can sometimes be "resisted". The dice roll that determines if an effect is resisted is a "save" (or saving throw). There are 3 base types of saving throws: Reflex, Will, and Fortitude. Reflex saving throws help you avoid effects by dodging them (e.g., jump out of the burst of a fireball). Will saving throws help you avoid effects that attempt to manipulate your mind (e.g., charms, illusions, paralysis, ...). Finally, Fortitude saving throws help you avoid effects that directly target your body (e.g., poison, disintegration).
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Magical objects can modify a character's saving throws. Positive values are bonuses while negative values are penalties.
APPLY_SAVE_WILL
APPLY_SAVE_FORTITUDE
APPLY_SAVE_REFLEXDescriptors are "flags" that characterizes saves. It's quite similar to the racial classification of animals. "Mammals" and "Reptiles" would be categories, like Reflex, Will, and Fortitude; and "Water-breathing" would be a descriptor: a creature can be a mammal or a reptile and, in both case, be able to breathe water or not. That's the same with save descriptors. They describe whether a save has a specific "quality" or not.
Let's use an example: the Evil descriptor. That descriptor means that the spell/effect that is being saved against is evil. Imagine an evil cleric creating a burst of evil energy; to avoid it, you would do a Reflex save. Imagine an effect caused by a vampire's touch that drains life out of your body and uses this drained energy to heal the vampire; to avoid it, you would do a Fortitude save. In both cases, the effects would have the Evil descriptor. Some descriptors, like the Evil one, can apply to various kinds of saves, while other descriptions always apply to the same kind of save.
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Instead of modifying the save value for a whole save category, you can make an object increase the save only for effects with a specific descriptor:
APPLY_SAVE_VS_ACID
APPLY_SAVE_VS_AIR
APPLY_SAVE_VS_CHAOTIC - e.g., spells that use chaotic energy, like "chaos hammer"
APPLY_SAVE_VS_COLD
APPLY_SAVE_VS_DARKNESS
APPLY_SAVE_VS_DEATH - e.g., spells that can cause death, like "weird", "slay living", ...
APPLY_SAVE_VS_EARTH
APPLY_SAVE_VS_ELECTRICITY
APPLY_SAVE_VS_EVIL - e.g., "unholy blight"
APPLY_SAVE_VS_FEAR
APPLY_SAVE_VS_FIRE
APPLY_SAVE_VS_FORCE
APPLY_SAVE_VS_GOOD - e.g., "holy smite"
APPLY_SAVE_VS_LAWFUL - e.g., "order's wrath"
APPLY_SAVE_VS_LIGHT
APPLY_SAVE_VS_MIND_AFFECTING
APPLY_SAVE_VS_SONIC
APPLY_SAVE_VS_WATER
APPLY_SAVE_VS_PARALYSIS
APPLY_SAVE_VS_POISONFor some effects, if you successfully save, you avoid all damage. For other effects, a successful save means that you take only half damage or that you avoid part of the effect (e.g., you take some damage but do not immediately die). Once the save is done (whether it was successful or not), there can be a need to apply damage. But even if a spell is supposed to deal, say, 20 points of damage, it is quite possible that the target does not suffer exactly 20 points of damage.
There are two things that need to be taken into consideration here: (damage) resistance and (damage) reduction.
Damage resistance indicates how resistant/immune/susceptible a creature is to some kind of damage. Let's consider fire for example. A red dragon would be totally immune to fire damage. From the 20 damage, it would suffer ... 0. A drakeling (don't look it up - I've just come up with that name) would be resistant to fire, but would still be burnt some. As a creature resistant to fire, it would take only 10 points of damage from the 20. A normal human would not have any specific immunity/resistance/vulnerability to fire and would thus suffer the normal 20 damage. Finally, a mummy, with all its dry bands of cloth, would be susceptible to fire ... it would actually suffer 30 points of damage (1.5 times the normal value) instead of 20.
Resistance is set either in the race class or in the description of a unique mobile. There are 3 fields taking in "RIS_" flags (remember RIS and you'll remember the order too : R - I - S). The first field lists all the energy types for which the creature is Resistant (half damage); the second lists the energy types for which the creature is Immune (no damage); and the last one lists the energy type for which the creature is Susceptible (150% damage). Note that objects cannot modify a creature (or a PC)'s damage resistances. Those percentages are set once and for all either in the race file or in the unique mobile description.
Damage resistance is one way damage might be reduced (or augmented). Damage reduction is another way. Where resistance takes a portion of the damage away (or adds it), reduction takes (or adds) a fixed amount of damage. A damage reduction of 5 against fire simply means that all fire-based damage suffered by the creature is reduced by 5: instead of taking 50 points of fire damage, the creature will only take 45 points of damage. If the damage reduction reduces the amount of damage below 0, the creature is not healed ... it simply suffers no damage.
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Just like for resistance, we have one reduction flag for each damage type:
APPLY_REDUCTION_NONMAGIC_BLUDGEONING
APPLY_REDUCTION_NONMAGIC_SLASHING
APPLY_REDUCTION_NONMAGIC_PIERCING
APPLY_REDUCTION_MAGIC_BLUDGEONING
APPLY_REDUCTION_MAGIC_SLASHING
APPLY_REDUCTION_MAGIC_PIERCING
APPLY_REDUCTION_FIRE
APPLY_REDUCTION_COLD
APPLY_REDUCTION_ELECTRICITY
APPLY_REDUCTION_ACID
APPLY_REDUCTION_SONIC
APPLY_REDUCTION_DIVINE_ENERGY
APPLY_REDUCTION_MAGICAL_ENERGYLast notes
There's one last thing I need to mention here: spell resistance. Spell resistance offers a way to avoid a magical effect. Drow, for example, are known to be naturally resistant to spells. Spell resistance couldn't have been represented by a general bonus to all saves ... because that would have only worked for spells that allow a save; spell resistance works for ALL spells.
Spell resistance is expressed as a number that the spellcaster needs to beat in order to affect the creature. If a creature has a spell resistance of 25, in d20, the caster must roll 1d20, add its caster level (eventually modified by feats that help him overcome spell resistance), and must get a result of 25 or more for his spell to have any effect. How does it work on FK?
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APPLY_SPELL_RESISTANCE