trying to understand spellcasting


Rules Questions


I recently GMed my first game,(RotRL) and we came to a point where our cleric wanted to cast Charm person on a goblin, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out the save DC for the goblin. I've never even played a spellcaster so I never even thought to check.

I have tried to figure it out but I've had no luck. Can anybody help?


for a cleric, the spell DC is 10 + spell level + wisdom modifier. (i think it probably says it in the class description).
So, if he has a 16 wisdom and charm person is a 1st level spell, the DC is 10+1+3 = 14.
Then if he had some feat or something, like, spell focus(enchantment), that would add to the dc (say 15).

(If it's a domain ability or something (not a spell), then I think the DC is 10 + (half his cleric class level) + wisdom modifier.)

the goblin's stat block has its will save ... if it's just a normal goblin (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/monsters/goblin.html) then it's will save is -1 ... so 1d20-1 vs 14. if it rolls a 15 it saves, if it rolls a 14 it fails and is charmed.

side note: charm person affects "humanoids", so it would work on a goblin (since it's a humanoid) but not e.g. a dog or a manticore or an earth elemental or whatever (whose type is not humanoid).


Note: you shouldn't set the DC for a spell cast by player. The players should.

With that said, save dc's are (almost always) calculated as 10 + spell level + casting modifier.

In the case of your cleric, this would be 10 + 1 + WIS. Probably around 14 to 16 at first level.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Only question I've got is where a cleric got Charm Person from in the first place (I presume the Charm domain, but I've been wrong before).

Others have pointed out the correct calculations, the relevant rules text is in the Spells class ability:

Cleric - Spells wrote:
To prepare or cast a spell, a cleric must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a cleric's spell is 10 + the spell level + the cleric's Wisdom modifier.


Thank you so much, I looked everywhere but the cleric class, I know what to do next time.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Pro tip: have your players write down the save DC for their spells next to their spells prepared or spells known. They can either write down "DC: X plus spell level" where X is 10 plus their casting stat modifier (Wisdom for clerics), or they could write down the save DC next to each group of same-level spells, or they could write down the DC for each spell individually.

Each of those options offers some advantages.

The first one helps keep the spell levels in the players minds, and since "X" changes quite rarely will need updating far less frequently.
The second one requires up to ten separate entries on the character sheet (one for each spell level), also needs updating rarely.
The third one is the most accurate, since it will differentiate between spells that allow saving throws and those that won't, plus it allows the effects of feats and abilities that affect some (but not all) save DCs to be included. The downside being that the information will change every time the character changes their spells.

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