DR/Magic - would you change it to this?

[Krelios]

EXACTLY! All those dragons and whatnot with the DRs of 20/magic have nothing in reality. No character would be facing off against them without at least a +1 weapon so why bother with it at all?

Which means you'll have to increase the CR if you implement this rule since dragons are designed to face characters with magic weapons. Adding DR that the PCs can't bypass at the appropriate level will make them harder to kill.

You'll also see many fewer weapons with special properties. Everyone will be trying to get +5 before they bother with the flaming, defending, etc.

 

[Psychic Warrior]

Which means you'll have to increase the CR if you implement this rule since dragons are designed to face characters with magic weapons. Adding DR that the PCs can't bypass at the appropriate level will make them harder to kill.

I really don't think this will be the case. I can't expect a 20th level character to have a +4 weapon? C'mon!

You'll also see many fewer weapons with special properties. Everyone will be trying to get +5 before they bother with the flaming, defending, etc.

Actually the max you will need is +4. I changed it based on early comments.

 

[Stalker0]

Smart monsters will use their strengths to their advantage. Alright, I have DR 15/magic, and he has a magic sword? Get that magic sword!! Take it, break it, whatever. Who cares if you provoke an AOO, once that sword is gone your sitting pretty.

If you do want to change it though, I think the best middle ground is every +1 subtracts X amount from the total DR. So its not all or nothing.

 

[XCorvis]

XCorvis, How is that any different than more powerful monsters "forcing" PCs to spend money on bettering their AC?

It's slightly different. There are maybe a dozen ways to improve your AC. There is ONE way to overcome magic damage reduction.

My primary objection to it is limitation of choice. When I first saw the Sure Striking ability in 3.0 (Sword and Fist?) I said "Thank god! Now I can stop dumping my precious gold into boring enhancement bonuses!" (Sure Striking makes your weapon considered +5 for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction. It is a +1 bonus in terms of cost.)

Besides, with the other areas of damage reduction - alignment and weapon materials - why is magic such a big deal?

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

Are they less boring if your +4 LSword bites deeper into the Dragon's hide than does your buddies +1 Flaming burst, Frost brand of Darkness?: D

 

[Spatzimaus]

When I first saw the Sure Striking ability in 3.0 (Sword and Fist?) I said "Thank god! Now I can stop dumping my precious gold into boring enhancement bonuses!"

If the only reason you wanted those enhancement bonuses was for their DR-defeating abilities, then you were REALLY doing something wrong. Forget the DR part of it, the accuracy boost is what really matters. Ever watch a dual-wielding Ranger/Rogue using +1 daggers with tons of enchantments try to hit an opponent? I have, and it's sad.

The only character I've ever had who used Sure Striking was a Half-Ogre Fighter/Barbarian. (Custom LA+0 half-ogre, not the official one) His STR and BAB were high enough that he didn't miss often.

Anyway, to the original topic: rather than say "+1 enhancement cancels DR 5/magic", I'd say "Against DR N/magic, +1 cancels (N/5)/magic". Everyone uses multiples of 5 anyway for DR, so why not? That means, DR 20/magic reduces mundane by 20, +1 by 16, +2 by 12, +3 by 8, +4 by 4, and +5s get through.

 

[Fieari]

Kinda complicated... it's a formula, but not one I can do instantly in my head, so I'd need a chart, and I'm not a fan of charts... I mean, each +x would do something different for each amount of DR.

 

[Nifft]

Let's not forget that +5 weapons easily "defeat" DR 5/--.

Very few weapon enhancements increase your attack roll, which you can translate into damage using Power Attack. "+5" is better than "+1" due to the +20% hit chance, and the extra +4 damage which is multiplied on a critical hit.

Having seen the numbers run against various enhancement-priced special abilities, "+1" is pretty sweet for its price, and "+5" is not underpowered by any means.

(I don't want people to stop working on stuff like this, I'd just hate to see an already powerful option become more powerful, and therefore PC choices become more uniform and boring.)

Cheers, -- N

 

[Stalker0]

To expand on Nifft's point, by the numbers the energy enhancement beat the straight out "+1s" in straight out average damage. However, there's tons of benefits to gaining that attack accuracy. One is disarm and sunder rolls, another is more consistent hitting. Another is just the fun factor, missing is boring, noone likes missing. And of course there are classes that get the bulk of their damage from elsewere (like rogues) in which its all about the to hit. What does a rogue care about another 2d6 when he's already doing 6d6...he just wants to make sure that 6d6 connects as often as possible.

The point being, there are other reasons other than DR to gain enhancement bonuses, so if that's an assumption going in to this, its a flawed one. However, if its not, please continue

 

[green slime]

Let's not forget that +5 weapons easily "defeat" DR 5/--.

Very few weapon enhancements increase your attack roll, which you can translate into damage using Power Attack. "+5" is better than "+1" due to the +20% hit chance, and the extra +4 damage which is multiplied on a critical hit.

Having seen the numbers run against various enhancement-priced special abilities, "+1" is pretty sweet for its price, and "+5" is not underpowered by any means.

(I don't want people to stop working on stuff like this, I'd just hate to see an already powerful option become more powerful, and therefore PC choices become more uniform and boring.)

Cheers, -- N

What I do find that is extremely boring, that there is today in 3.5 utterly no reason for a player to invest in straight pluses.

Due to the advent of the Greater Magical Weapon with its enormous duration, together with the DR X/magic:
1) It is now illogical to purchase magical arrows.
2) It makes sense to just get the first +1, making it magical, then just adding special qualities as desired. If you need more "plusses" just whollop on a GMW. Most of the special weapon qualities are not otherwise replicable.

I, for one, don't like it. I do like the suggestion given by the OP, I implement something similar.