For the Witch's Needle of Vengeance and the Oracle's Interstellar Void specifically.
I know you roll for each trigger for something like Flaming Sphere but it's very specific on telling you to do so. My instincts say roll only once for the two spells since, unlike Flaming sphere, they aren't specific, but I want to be certain.
Bonus question:
For Interstellar void, does the fatigue apply (after the save I'm guessing) no matter the save result?
About Needle of Vengeance I have no doubt. The char will roll only once and them keeps damaging each time it sustains. But about Oracle's Interstellar Void my understand is different. You will automatically deal 3d6 when casts and them in each sustain action the opponent is allowed to do basic fortitude checks.
Even with Needle of Vengeance it is a bit unclear. I usually want to run it with only one save. Because while rolling a lot of dice is fun, rolling one die a lot of times is not.
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Interstellar Void adds "with a basic fortitude save" to the sentence describing the sustain action, so I think it's each time.
Needle on the other hand only has a save attached to the spell itself, so it should only be one check.
At least that's how I interpret it.
They chose the wording carefully with buzzing bites to explicitly say it only needs one save. I imagine other spells like clinging ice and needle of vengeance works the same.
Buzzing Bites is interesting. I think it's the most specific description I've read on the matter, even more so than Flaming Sphere. I don't know if I should read that as the general rule or the exception.
That said, Clinging Ice only ever had one damage trigger though, unlike Interstellar Void, so I think that was one is rather clear.
Additional question on Needle of Vengeance: Would the saving throw be rolled on cast or on the damage trigger? As in, would the target know in advance how bad they rolled or would they only find out after their first hostile attack?
Interstellar Void adds "with a basic fortitude save" to the sentence describing the sustain action, so I think it's each time.
Needle on the other hand only has a save attached to the spell itself, so it should only be one check.
At least that's how I interpret it.
I think this is what I'm after, a general rule of thumb on how to read these ongoing and repeated effects when it doesn't specify.
Like for most area effects that do ongoing damage like Cloudkill, our group defaults to rolling a new save each time. It feels natural with it not being attached to a particular target as people can go in and out, but I'm not even sure if that's RAW.
Later, I need to find another spell like Interstellar Void just for comparison. I'm sure there's one, but I can't remember what it was called and trying to find it on my phone is a nightmare.
Additional question on Needle of Vengeance: Would the saving throw be rolled on cast or on the damage trigger? As in, would the target know in advance how bad they rolled or would they only find out after their first hostile attack?
Depends on how bad the characters are about metagaming. And the details of how save outcomes are presented in-world.
If the character doesn't know how well their save result is and the player is really bad about metagaming, then I would have the first (and possibly only) saving throw rolled the first time damage would be triggered.
For all other cases - either characters do know their save outcomes intuitively, or the players don't metagame - it is easier to just roll the save as the spell is cast and play it out from there.
Thankfully, there's no rampant metagaming shenanigans at our table so save outcomes are mostly public. I just need some clarifications on how things work RAW, which I now realize I should have emphasized in the OP.
I'm GMing 2e for the first time in a while, so I've been refreshing myself on some rules and this one in particular stood out for some reason. Well, actually it's because it made me realize for the first time how inconsistent our group was on this.
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Most of the time, spells that have a save only let the targets attempt the save once. They will use the same result if they are affected by the spell again. Several spells have specific wording for that. And there are exceptions, such as Flaming Sphere that have specific rules saying that the target makes a new save against the spell each time they are targeted by it.
Unfortunately, there isn't a stated general rule - just a pattern that I see in most spells. So ultimately you will have to just make a ruling on the ambiguity and run with it. I don't think any of the suggested ways of running the spells is going to be a problem.
Most of the time, spells that have a save only let the targets attempt the save once. They will use the same result if they are affected by the spell again. Several spells have specific wording for that. And there are exceptions, such as Flaming Sphere that have specific rules saying that the target makes a new save against the spell each time they are targeted by it.
Unfortunately, there isn't a stated general rule - just a pattern that I see in most spells. So ultimately you will have to just make a ruling on the ambiguity and run with it. I don't think any of the suggested ways of running the spells is going to be a problem.
Yeah, I'll just have to discuss with the players which way they want to go for the ambiguous situations. I imagine less rolls if appropriate is going to be easier on everybody, the only concern being how swingy that can be for damage. Crit success/fails on ongoing effects are going to feel real good/bad for single rolls vs rerolling for each damage trigger. As long as everyone is on the same page on what they can dish out and take and that it goes for both sides, we should be good.