Please note that that setting says SPELL SAVE DC MOD . This means that whatever value you put here will be added on top of the calculated spell save DC using the selected spellcasting ability and CR for the monster. So the calculated spell save DC for this NPC is 15 (8 + 3[PB for CR 8] + 4[CHA mod]). If you want this to equal 17, you need to set the SPELL SAVE DC MOD to 2 . Also note that the same formula above (PB for CR + CHA mod) is used to calculate the spell attack modifier. So currently this NPC has a +15 (7[PB + CHA mod] + 8[Global Magic Attack Modifier]) to hit with spell attacks.