Yes. I like that the saves don’t prescribe exactly how they’re made, so we don’t have a Dodge save or a Willpower save or the like. Having names that add flavor and are more about what the attack form does is something I really like.
That said, I also think that saves can be renamed to fit better with specific settings. For example, what I’m working on won’t necessarily have some of the specific forms found in the save names, so I’m looking at renaming them all. Save vs Malignance, or Adulteration, or Discharge, or Deluge, or Intrusion.
I’m also looking at adding one for illusions and other mind-bending effects to differentiate them from spells that affect the physical body. So, Save vs Enchantment or the like.
Very insightful and I think I learned something. Especially about dividing the ingame narrative from the mechanic and the value of „horrible fates“ on the character sheet! What I like about the S&W single save + mod is that it makes it very easy to rule on the fly what a player should roll, as there is no prescribed taxonomy that one has to learn first.
with S&W as JustinH wrote, it easier easier to track from a referees standpoint - in terms of running or creating monsters, I also find it easier for players who are completely new to OSR and to TTRPGs (I run a lot of public games for total beginners).
One thing about the single save, is that even if it might feel counter-intuitive, I find it more granular than the B/X five saves. Sure there are five saves in B/X but then one has the tendency to fit every possibility of saves and modifiers into those five categories. Here, you can so easily give specific, customizable modifiers to that one number for a wide variety of things, situations, enemies, conditions etc. In fact you have to, because the game is written that way - class or origin bonuses. Again one might argue that you can do the same in B/X clones, sure, but my experience was that you try to fit all options into those five categories.
One last point, is that I find the S&W single saving throw more interesting in terms of character development because, get this, it changes every level. And this way the character progression is more tangible. I also really like S&W and think it’s just a very underappreciated system (and now I want to go and run it :D)
My perhaps most major gripe with OSE is the way it handles character progression. It’s very anti-climatic. Don’t get me wrong I absolutely love running, reading and creating for OSE. I also have been working on a different character progression system recently, so it’s on my mind.
The one place where I really see the use for saving throws is when something so huge attacks and distant that it cant even aim at a person. Like a dragon breath, or mortars/ cannons / dropped bombs in Operation Whitebox: WWII. Save and you take munor shrapnel or burns instead of insta-death.