Magic Resistance VS. Magic Weapons

[vaguy010]

Hello All,

A friend of mine asked me if his character had magic resistance, would he get a MR roll for the effects from magic weapon, such as a vorpral sword (the weapon in question), or any other magic weapon effect sword of sharpness, sword of wounding, dagger of life stealing ect..ect..

I told him no but I could not explain why, not very well at least.

This is in my 2nd edition AD&D game.

Any thoughts?

 

[full_moon_draw]

Check out this thread - may be this will help?

Spell Resistance & Magic Weapons

Cheers - FMD

 

[Umbran]

I told him no but I could not explain why, not very well at least.

This is in my 2nd edition AD&D game.

Any thoughts?

For 2e, if I recall correctly you have it right. And the reason is, "Because that's what the rules say". There was no solid overarching metaphysic in the system upon which you could base logical justifications.

The mechanical reason is pretty simple - otherwise, MR became too darned effective. It seems to have been there to tone down spellcasters a bit, not to make critters overall invulnerable.

 

[grodog]

From the definition of Magic Resistance in the AD&D MM1:

MAGIC RESISTANCE indicates the percentage chance of any spell absolutely failing in the monster’s presence. [snip] Note also that the magic resistance of a creature has an effect on certain existing spells such as hold portal, where it indicates the probability of the magic resistance shattering the existing spell.

Thus, it only applies to spells and spell-like effects. There was a good article in Dragon 79 on MR, too: "Magic Resistance: What it is, How it Works."