Hi I'm new here, and this topic sparked my interest, so here's my take:
Saving throws should absolutely be treated much like a skill check. Indeed, make them an action. To be precise: a re-action (not referring to the 5e mechanic).
Do Not Do(GM): "The dragon breaths a jet of flame at you, roll DEX save."
Do (GM): "The dragon breaths a jet of fame at you, what do you do?"
Player: "I dive behind that stone pillar."
GM: "Roll DEX against difficulty 14"
Dice Mechanics: I see no advantage to using D6's. It just adds complexity. Stick with D20 roll-high.
Save Difficulty: Adjust appropriately for the situation. Save difficulty should depend on the danger and situational factors. If the player comes up with a creative/cool way to avoid whatever it is, give them a bonus or lower the difficulty. Likewise, if they are tied up, that makes it difficult to dodge out of the area of a fireball.
Save Skill/Stats: Save categories are like skills. Each gets a +bonus. Based them on ability scores (every ability gets an associated +modifier, something 5e gets about right). But there might be some saves that are defined apart from ability scores. Increase with level by whatever makes sense, like each level you can add +1 to one save, or divide +3 points to distribute among saves, or whatever scaling makes sense (not a fan of a generic proficiency bonus). I see no reason not to let players customize a bit on what they are good at resisting/avoiding. [Edit: Class should affect save +bonuses as well, at least initially. So fighter gets +1 or +2 on STR & CON, that sort of thing]
Which stat to use when?: Call for whatever save makes sense. I agree the defined save categories make no sense. Is it something that might be overcome with brute force? STR. Is it an attack on the will or spirit (fear, temptation)? WIS. Is it socially manipulative/deceptive/psychic? (CHA or WIS or INT) Is it something that can be dodged? DEX Is it poison/desease/magical affect that alters the body? CON Spell/Wand/Paralysis/Dragon Breath? Base it on the effect, see above.
Get creative. Maybe some effects are worse if you are smart: make the INT +mod a penalty in that case.
Interpret Results: Especially for DEX (dodge-like) situations, the character should probably actually move 5-15 feet, unless they are just ducking. A successful STR save might break or damage whatever was resisted. Instead of just success/fail, all-or-half damage. Compare die roll to difficulty. High avoids all damage instead of half. Fail, but close, three-quarter damage. For something, how bad you fail might determine duration, such as a fear effect. A failed-but-close CON save might give you some time before fully succumbing to a poison. And so on.
Last edited by Greylander (2023-05-16 00:18:08)