| Sibelius Eos Owm |
I don't have a citation but I believe the answer is generally no, with a few exceptions specifically listed in individual spells. One such spell is the evil champion spell Litany of Self-Interest. There are others but I can't think of them off the top of my head--often the kinds of spells which have effects that are potentially either beneficial or harmful depending on perspective, so can be cast without save on willing allies or with save on unwilling enemies with the same effect.
| HammerJack |
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Just choosing to fail saves is not something any rule supports, outside of specific cases like drugs, but there is a sidebar you might find interesting on the Gliminal in Bestiary 3.
For context, this is a creature that can cause death by healing a living creature too much, causing them to explode from excess positive energy.
There aren't default rules for a creature choosing to be hit (to avoid exploding from a gliminal's healing), but you can allow an ally to improve their outcome by one degree of success against a willing target or allow the target to worsen the result of their saving throw by one step
EDIT FOR CLARITY: While the sidebar is only written for the Gliminal, I think it's a useful concept for adjudicating edge cases.
| breithauptclan |
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The rules don't really say one way or the other. Which kinda makes sense because there are times where it is reasonable to deliberately fail a save and times where it is definitely not. I think it is best to have the table of players adjudicate it on a case by case basis.
One of my whiteroom theorycrafting tricks that is relevant here would be the Shark Tank trick. A Druid that casts Aqueous Orb, runs it over themselves, casts Air Bubble, then Wild Shape (shark) on the next round.
There are a couple of questionable rulings on this. One is if you have to fail a Reflex save against your own spell DC in order to enter your Aqueous Orb. The other is if you are still able to Sustain a Spell while in Wild Shape. You definitely can't Cast a Spell while in Wild Shape, but I don't see anything that says that you can't sustain one.
| YuriP |
If yes, where is it in the rules?
By RAW: No
By RAI: Yes. I don't see way not a char cannot choose to "block a fireball with it's face".By Balance: Yes. I also don't see any balance problems in a a player explicity choose to fail a save. But this maybe analyzed by GM for each case to avoid some strange exploits.
Cordell Kintner
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Hammerjack's response is probably your best bet if you wanted to homebrew.
Saves are a reflex or automatic reaction to stimuli that your body goes through. Think of them this way:
If someone throws a ball at your face, you would instictively block or dodge it, that would be a reflex save.
If someone told you a joke and you tried not to laugh, that would be a Will save.
If you ate some bad food and you later have a stomach ache, that would be a fort save (and you failed).
This is not to say you can't practice with your teammates to forcefully fail a save. If one of your players has an ability that they forcefully want to fail against, try role playing them practicing with it during down time. There should be a reason they are totally fine with standing in an allies fireball, but not fine with it when an enemy does it.
| David knott 242 |
Voluntarily failing saves is allowed in PF1, but that game does not distinguish a critical failure from a normal failure.
If voluntarily failing saves is allowed in PF2, however, it would only work if you must voluntarily accept a critical failure on the save, as it could otherwise be a form of Assurance for saving throws to limit the worst effects of the spell in question.
I guess one obvious restriction would have to be that the PC knows he is being targeted by a spell cast by an ally, since otherwise the saving throw attempt would be automatic in PF2.
Thod
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Voluntarily failing saves is allowed in PF1, but that game does not distinguish a critical failure from a normal failure.If voluntarily failing saves is allowed in PF2, however, it would only work if you must voluntarily accept a critical failure on the save, as it could otherwise be a form of Assurance for saving throws to limit the worst effects of the spell in question.
I guess one obvious restriction would have to be that the PC knows he is being targeted by a spell cast by an ally, since otherwise the saving throw attempt would be automatic in PF2.
This is the important part
The break even point is 14. If you need a 14 to save (basic save for damage) then it is as good to automatic fail as to roll. The expected damage is the same.
If you need a 15 or more then it becomes beneficial to fail compared to roll a dice.
This doesn’t even take into account special cases where a crit fail might get you to dying 2 while a fail might keep you up and you take rather more expected damage for a sure outcome to stay up - even if this means some extra 10-15% of damage compared to a roll.
There are cases where it makes sense that you should be able to fail. But there are also cases where it could be misused.
The introduction of the crit fail really makes it complex to write a good rule when failing could be allowed.