Al'Kelhar said:
However, it doesn't look like SR's changed at all from 3.0 to 3.5. I still maintain that SR is a poorly thought-out concept, and consideration should have been given to revising it in 3.5. Why is it a poorly thought-out concept? Because it is a simple "roll to succeed" concept (like most in D&D) but there is no way for characters to affect the roll - with the obvious exception of two feats (Spell Penetration, Greater Spell Penetration).
Um, only two?
Spell Power (gained from prestige classes Archmage and Red Wizard in 3.5 DMG; from converted/adapted Prestige Class Shadow Adept in FRCS). As I recall, the ability no longer adds to spell DCs, but adds to effective caster elvel
for all purposes ... including penetrating SR.
Tattoo Focus (regional feat from FRCS); adds +1 to all spell DCs in your specialised school (only specialist wizards can take this feat); adds +1 to SR penetration checks.
Spell Thematics (feat from MoF, and per the Errata'd text); your caster level is increased by +1 for one spell per spell-level; this would affect SR penetration as well.
Fortify Spell (metamagic from Unapproachable East); for each +1 level applied to the cost of preparing/casting the spell, you gain a +2 bonus to penetrate SR (the bonus stacks with itself and all others).
Shadow Weave Magic (feat from FRCS) and it's dependant metamagicks; for Illusion, Necromancy, and Enchantment spells, it has a benefit similar to Tattoo Focus; for Transmutation and Evocation, it has the opposite (a penalty), and for all others, it's neutral.
2. There's always a way of getting around DR - get the right weapon.
Which may be far easier said than done.
Anyway, there's always a way around SR: pick the right spell; not all of them are even SUBJECT to SR.
6. The feats which assist in overcoming SR are limited in use - i.e. they only assist in overcoming SR. Spell casters have limited numbers of feats, and won't take ones which are useful only in a few circumstances. The feats which assist in overcoming DR are useful against creatures without DR. Fighters get lots of feats and are quite happy to invest in feats which have limited use anyway.
Gee, I dunno.
Tattoo Focus is both a nice +1 to save DCs in yoru specialty school, and, a door-opener to the Red Wizard prestige class.
And
Spell Thematics is just darned FUN -- not to mention, you will occasionally see other benefits than SR penetration (before you hit 10th level, your Fireball (if in the main theme) will do +1d6 damage, for example).
...
With that said, I have an Epic spellcaster in the Exodus arena -- Dhao Mavri, a Thayan shadow-weave enchanter. With an enchantment spell, I roll 1d20+47 to penetrate SR; that, at least, won't change in 3.5e (though his save DCs will
plummet, argh). In essence, SR of less than 50 doesn't even make it onto my radar, let alone slow me down.