Why do I have a -1 on my spell difficulty class?

[My man boobs are better]

Im new to dnd and this game and trying to learn all the math and game mechanics that go into it but somethings are really confusing? So right now with this character I leveled up at level 2, looking at spells as paladin. looking at thunderous smite and wrathful smite. I see that thunder has a STR saving throw and wrath has a WIS saving throw. Now when I hit T and hover over the saves either or gives me the description of what a save is, and then below in white it says
SPELL DIFFICULTY CLASS (my character name)
-1
Im at the beach in the beginning no special gear or anything just the first level up screen. my STR is 10 and my WIS is 12, also CHA is 15 (im not trying to min max i know you typically go Str on paladin im trying to have fun and recreate characters from tv shows) So without being in combat or any other modifiers at all that i can see, shouldnt my spell dc say a bigger number? I cant seem to find exactly what spell dc is? i just keep finding regular DC and Spell saving throw which the wiki from what i can understand isnt really describing Spell DC. Just what goes into performing attack but not countering, (the Spell DC)? Dont i get like some kind of +1 bonus for the Spell DC for the WIS Wrath attack and 0 on the Str thunder attack? what is this -1? where is it coming from? When I hover over it it also just shows a blank/empty 1 character wide text box?

To add another question to this each class has a different ability they use for spell casting, so for palidins i heard (doesnt say anywhere in game that I can see) that they use charisma... sooo does that mean this Thunderous Smite factors my charisma skill into it attacking? or it uses my Str skill. Cause if it uses my Str then I dont undrestand what the point of all these lines on the wiki of specific classes use certain abilities on their spells. sounds like thats much more of just role playing and that your more likely to have skills and magic centered around that ability but you will still have access to skills that arent their main :/.

[Gaius]

Smites don't have a roll. They automatically hit if you hit with the melee attacks.

That's why paladins need STR (or AGI) for melee hits AND CHA for spells targeted at enemies, and that's also why people love to multiclass Haxblade (or, in BG2, pact of the blade warlock) to be able to use CHA for their weapon attack rolls.

[Dremall]

Each class has it's own primary casting stat. Bards, Paladins, Sorcerers, and Warlocks use Charisma. Clerics, Druids, and Rangers use Wisdom. Eldritch Knights, Arcane Tricksters, and Wizards use Intellect.

The spell will call for what type of save (if any) that is required, and it is calculated off your primary casting stat. If a spell calls for a Wisdom save, and you are a Wizard, then only your Intellect is used to calculate how hard it is to save against the spell.


The DC to resist one of your spells equals 8 + your spellcasting ability modifier + your proficiency bonus + any special modifiers.

Some spells require the caster to make an attack roll to determine whether the spell effect hits the intended target. Your attack bonus with a spell attack equals your spellcasting ability modifier + your proficiency bonus.

Most spells that require attack rolls involve ranged attacks. Remember that you have disadvantage on a ranged attack roll if you are within 5 feet of a hostile creature that can see you and that isn't incapacitated.

Smite is an ability that consumes spell slots. Starting at 2nd level, when you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can expend one spell slot to deal radiant damage to the target, in addition to the weapon’s damage. The extra damage is 2d8 for a 1st-level spell slot, plus 1d8 for each spell level higher than 1st, to a maximum of 5d8. The damage increases by 1d8 if the target is an undead or a fiend, to a maximum of 6d8.

[My man boobs are better]

Originally posted by Gaius:

Smites don't have a roll. They automatically hit if you hit with the melee attacks.

That's why paladins need STR (or AGI) for melee hits AND CHA for spells targeted at enemies, and that's also why people love to multiclass Haxblade (or, in BG2, pact of the blade warlock) to be able to use CHA for their weapon attack rolls.

That's doesn't make sense tho? I'm asking about the enemies chance for a saving throw and my spell dc being -1? So your saying that if I use thunderous smite and hit the enemy obviously the enemy makes no saving throw for prone effect at all? Cause it looks like they do?

[My man boobs are better]

Originally posted by Dremall:

Each class has it's own primary casting stat. Bards, Paladins, Sorcerers, and Warlocks use Charisma. Clerics, Druids, and Rangers use Wisdom. Eldritch Knights, Arcane Tricksters, and Wizards use Intellect.

The spell will call for what type of save (if any) that is required, and it is calculated off your primary casting stat. If a spell calls for a Wisdom save, and you are a Wizard, then only your Intellect is used to calculate how hard it is to save against the spell.


The DC to resist one of your spells equals 8 + your spellcasting ability modifier + your proficiency bonus + any special modifiers.

Some spells require the caster to make an attack roll to determine whether the spell effect hits the intended target. Your attack bonus with a spell attack equals your spellcasting ability modifier + your proficiency bonus.

Most spells that require attack rolls involve ranged attacks. Remember that you have disadvantage on a ranged attack roll if you are within 5 feet of a hostile creature that can see you and that isn't incapacitated.

Smite is an ability that consumes spell slots. Starting at 2nd level, when you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can expend one spell slot to deal radiant damage to the target, in addition to the weapon’s damage. The extra damage is 2d8 for a 1st-level spell slot, plus 1d8 for each spell level higher than 1st, to a maximum of 5d8. The damage increases by 1d8 if the target is an undead or a fiend, to a maximum of 6d8.

So the thunderous and smite attacks are "spells" correct? So I'm referring to their added abilities like frighten and prone and the saving throw against them. So your saying that with thunderous smite for the prone effect with my stats i should have 8 (default) +1 (12 wisdom since thats the saving throw it uses) +2 (cause of proficiency) equaling 11. So sitting in no combat open world with no modifiers my [spell dc] should be 11. So they would jave to roll an 11 or higher to make a successful saving throw against those effects? So is the game just bugged then? Why does it say I have -1? Also to reiterate prone/frighten being inflicted on the enemy would be based off of my Charisma skill and not the saving throw skill? That's just used in the defense of their saving throw counter?

[Detective Costeau]

Yeah, there's two things going into the save- your save DC (based on your CHA and proficiency bonus for a paladin) and the enemy's save modifier (based on their relevant attribute).
So if, say, a smite spell has a constitution save, and an enemy has 8 constitution, they'd roll 1d20-1 for their save, against your CHA based save DC.

[Indure]

Originally posted by My man boobs are better:

Originally posted by Gaius:

Smites don't have a roll. They automatically hit if you hit with the melee attacks.

That's why paladins need STR (or AGI) for melee hits AND CHA for spells targeted at enemies, and that's also why people love to multiclass Haxblade (or, in BG2, pact of the blade warlock) to be able to use CHA for their weapon attack rolls.

That's doesn't make sense tho? I'm asking about the enemies chance for a saving throw and my spell dc being -1? So your saying that if I use thunderous smite and hit the enemy obviously the enemy makes no saving throw for prone effect at all? Cause it looks like they do?

The smite spells you are using are triggered on a successful attack, have guaranteed bonus damage and a chance to proc an effect.

The save, is the ability score your enemy uses to resist the effect. For example a stength save, causes the enemy to roll a D20 + their strength modifier to resist the effect.

The DC (difficulty check) the enemy has to overcome is 8 + proficiency (2 @ early levels) + your spellcasting modifier (charisma +2) = 12.

I'm not sure what the -1 you are referring to is.

[Groucho]

Originally posted by My man boobs are better:

So the thunderous and smite attacks are "spells" correct? So I'm referring to their added abilities like frighten and prone and the saving throw against them. So your saying that with thunderous smite for the prone effect with my stats i should have 8 (default) +1 (12 wisdom since thats the saving throw it uses) +2 (cause of proficiency) equaling 11. So sitting in no combat open world with no modifiers my [spell dc] should be 11. So they would jave to roll an 11 or higher to make a successful saving throw against those effects? So is the game just bugged then? Why does it say I have -1? Also to reiterate prone/frighten being inflicted on the enemy would be based off of my Charisma skill and not the saving throw skill? That's just used in the defense of their saving throw counter?

they're talking about divine smite, you are correct in that thunderous smite is a spell and here's how it works:

you use a bonus action to cast thunderous smite, you then use an attack to deliver the spell. if the attack hits, you do the attack's regular damage plus the spell's damage. at this point, the target has to make a strength saving throw against your spell save DC or be knocked prone. so your DC is determined (8 + proficiency + charisma bonus in a paladin's case) so it's 8 +2 +2 = 12. the target would roll plus their strength modifier and, if they're proficient in strength saves, that bonus too, to meet or beat a 12.

so when you report that the game is showing your spell save as being -1, it's confusing because that number cannot possibly relate to that stat. it's either a display bug or there's a misinterpretation happening

edit: it could be showing that the TARGET is saving at -1 due to a low strength stat

[Dremall]

With a Charisma of 15 as a paladin your save should be 8+2 (charisma) +2(proficency) for a 12. There saves regardless of type called would be against that DC of 12. Not sure where your getting a -1 from.

[My man boobs are better]

Originally posted by Detective Costeau:

Yeah, there's two things going into the save- your save DC (based on your CHA and proficiency bonus for a paladin) and the enemy's save modifier (based on their relevant attribute).
So if, say, a smite spell has a constitution save, and an enemy has 8 constitution, they'd roll 1d20-1 for their save, against your CHA based save DC.

Ok? So does everyone just have a -1 then? And that what I'm looking at here is basically just a bug bot displaying all the info uts supposed to? Also do I always use Charisma for everything even if it has a Wisdom save?

[RealDealBreaker]

Originally posted by My man boobs are better:

Im new to dnd and this game and trying to learn all the math and game mechanics that go into it but somethings are really confusing? So right now with this character I leveled up at level 2, looking at spells as paladin. looking at thunderous smite and wrathful smite. I see that thunder has a STR saving throw and wrath has a WIS saving throw. Now when I hit T and hover over the saves either or gives me the description of what a save is, and then below in white it says
SPELL DIFFICULTY CLASS (my character name)
-1
Im at the beach in the beginning no special gear or anything just the first level up screen. my STR is 10 and my WIS is 12, also CHA is 15 (im not trying to min max i know you typically go Str on paladin im trying to have fun and recreate characters from tv shows) So without being in combat or any other modifiers at all that i can see, shouldnt my spell dc say a bigger number? I cant seem to find exactly what spell dc is? i just keep finding regular DC and Spell saving throw which the wiki from what i can understand isnt really describing Spell DC. Just what goes into performing attack but not countering, (the Spell DC)? Dont i get like some kind of +1 bonus for the Spell DC for the WIS Wrath attack and 0 on the Str thunder attack? what is this -1? where is it coming from? When I hover over it it also just shows a blank/empty 1 character wide text box?

To add another question to this each class has a different ability they use for spell casting, so for palidins i heard (doesnt say anywhere in game that I can see) that they use charisma... sooo does that mean this Thunderous Smite factors my charisma skill into it attacking? or it uses my Str skill. Cause if it uses my Str then I dont undrestand what the point of all these lines on the wiki of specific classes use certain abilities on their spells. sounds like thats much more of just role playing and that your more likely to have skills and magic centered around that ability but you will still have access to skills that arent their main :/.

The "strength" (i guess accuracy or difficulty to resist) of your spells which determines what your spell save DC and spell attack modifiers are are based off Charisma as a paladin and this is always the case for a paladin's spells (things get a bit more messy if you were to multiclass, but keep it simple for now). The spells are saying that the TARGET must make a Str or WIS save against your save DC (which again is determined by CHARISMA for a paladin). So the one that requires a STR save: Think of it as your magical energy is trying to force the target to be pushed back, the strength of your magical push is determined by your spell save DC which is 8+proficiency+CHARISMA modifier (8 + 2 + 2 = 12 in your case, or at least it should be) and the target resists this magical push using the save specified (STR in this case).

EDIT: And yes, each class has a different casting ability. Wizards, Eldritch Knights (a fighter subclass) and Arcane Tricksters (a rogue subclass) use intelligence; cleric, druids, and rangers use wisdom; bards, paladins, sorcerers, and warlocks use charisma.

[Detective Costeau]

A paladin always uses their CHA for save DC. If the spell says "wisdom save" that means the *target* saves using 1d20+their Wisdom modifier.

[Indure]

Originally posted by My man boobs are better:

Originally posted by Detective Costeau:

Yeah, there's two things going into the save- your save DC (based on your CHA and proficiency bonus for a paladin) and the enemy's save modifier (based on their relevant attribute).
So if, say, a smite spell has a constitution save, and an enemy has 8 constitution, they'd roll 1d20-1 for their save, against your CHA based save DC.

Ok? So does everyone just have a -1 then? And that what I'm looking at here is basically just a bug bot displaying all the info uts supposed to? Also do I always use Charisma for everything even if it has a Wisdom save?

I would double check the combat log after using a Smite to see if the correct number is being used. Might be a visual bug, but it could also be a bigger issue.