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I'm a little confused on magic item saving throws. An encounter in our last game needed a player to roll a save for his magical bow, but how do you determine the saving throw bonus for a magical item or weapon?
I've read through the PFSRD, but I'm still a little confused on things.
The weapon needing to make the saving throw is a (+1 corrosive composite longbow)
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The answer depends on the situation:
[quote=Saving Throws: Non-magical, unattended items never make saving throws. They are considered to have failed their saving throws, so they are always fully affected by spells and other attacks that allow saving throws to resist or negate. An item attended by a character (being grasped, touched, or worn) makes saving throws as the character (that is, using the character's saving throw bonus).
Magic items always get saving throws. A magic item's Fortitude, Reflex, and Will save bonuses are equal to 2 + half its caster level. An attended magic item either makes saving throws as its owner or uses its own saving throw bonus, whichever is better.
So if he was holding the bow at the time, then use the PC's saving throw.
If the bow was just lying around on the ground or something, use its own saving throw: +1 has a caster lvel of 3. Corrosive has a caster level of 10, so you use the highest of those, so 10. The bow's save bonuses are 2 + (10/5) = 7. So just roll the save as normal, with +7 as the modifier.
Corrosive: Upon command, a corrosive weapon becomes slick with acid that deals an extra 1d6 points of acid damage on a successful hit. The acid does not harm the wielder. The effect remains until another command is given.
Moderate evocation; CL 10th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor , acid arrow ; Price +1 bonus
Caster Level for Weapons: The caster level of a weapon with a special ability is given in the item description. For an item with only an enhancement bonus and no other abilities, the caster level is three times the enhancement bonus. If an item has both an enhancement bonus and a special ability, the higher of the two caster level requirements must be met.
Corrosive is in Ultimate Equipment but I don't remember if it's the Core rulebook or not. But I just found it here on the SRD. And here - scroll down just a little bit to "Caster Level for Weapons".
Really, I suggest that the GM for sure, and probably also the players, should have (or at least have access to) all the books they use. Or at minimum, use the online resources like the SRD. Use them a lot so you become familiar with them, it's really worth your time. A game this complex has gazillions of rules. I doubt anybody knows them all, but it's important to know how and where to look them up. I know we all want to just sit down and play, but having an in-depth understanding of this complex rules set really pays dividends.