[mad=dog]

I meant that there is no guaranteed way to make a saving throw without rolling. Even if you have -6 in save vs. petrify you'll still turn to stone on a roll of 1. (Why have lower values than 2 then.... Well many spells and effects call for a modifier on the saving throw.)
I agree that the rules could and should be bend. The first edition(s) of AD&D had the silly assumption that everyone was a powergamer. The game explains the level limitation on demihuman races with "otherwise everybody would just be playing demihumans". Yeeez. Give us a little roleplaying credit here and let us decide that. Wouldn't you think that an elf with a near immortal lifespan could reach higher levels of wizardry than a human? So would I, so that's the way it is.