In MToF pg 180 for Zariel “Horrid Touch” mentions making a saving throw but gives no DC. Is it a typo or should we assume same as spell save DC? use spell save dc
— Mike Mearls (@mikemearls) May 22, 2018
Con I assume? I’d stick to the spell DC one – not worth trying to slice it finer than that IMO
— Mike Mearls (@mikemearls) May 22, 2018
Tons of people reported this flaw when the earliest previews went out, yet it never got corrected.
Quality control seems to be slipping.
Also, it seems like this doesn’t actually fix things.
First up, it feels weird to have an ability that has both an attack roll, and a saving throw. Typically it’s one or the other – not both. There are exceptions, but this is highly irregular for this power.
Secondly, HOW does the saving throw apply? Does success negate both the necrotic damage AND the buffed up poisoned condition? Does it cause half damage, and no effect? Is the damage not part of the saving throw at all, and you’re just saving against the effect itself?
Thirdly, what about non-standard but common situations that complicate things? How does it interact with Evasion? How does it interact with Dwarven Resilience?
This ability is simply broken. The rules are mangled beyond use. This is unacceptable quality control, and it hammers home how little the makers seem to care about consistency within the 5E systems for magic and abilities.
Descent into Avernus fixes this issue, finally. Should have been included in the Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes errata IMO, but here you go:
They got rid of the attack roll and made it a straight CON save against Zariel’s spell save DC instead. On a failed save, the target takes the necrotic damage and is poisoned for 1 minute. Additional conditions apply while poisoned in this way. Target gets to repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns.