D&D 5E (2014) Magic Resistance Alternatives

[James Gasik]

After creating a special weapon for the Fighter to use that will suppress magic resistance, I just realized there's a simpler way.

Just like a warrior needs an enchanted weapon to bypass resistance to non-magical attacks, a magic implement (like say, the Wand of the War Mage and it's ilk) could give a spellcaster the ability to overcome magic resistance!

 

[Quickleaf]

After creating a special weapon for the Fighter to use that will suppress magic resistance, I just realized there's a simpler way.

Just like a warrior needs an enchanted weapon to bypass resistance to non-magical attacks, a magic implement (like say, the Wand of the War Mage and it's ilk) could give a spellcaster the ability to overcome magic resistance!

That can work. Narratively, if you have an "anti-magic material" like dimertium (Witcher games) or orichalcum (some editions of D&D), then you have a narrative explanation too: the Wand is made of this material.

It'll get into the same binary issue you see with warriors in 5e – once you get a magic item, the resistance to non-magical B/P/S line becomes meaningless. It's an on/off switch that once switched on will almost never switch off again. If that's cool by you, then you've got a fine solution.

 

[James Gasik]

That can work. Narratively, if you have an "anti-magic material" like dimertium (Witcher games) or orichalcum (some editions of D&D), then you have a narrative explanation too: the Wand is made of this material.

It'll get into the same binary issue you see with warriors in 5e – once you get a magic item, the resistance to non-magical B/P/S line becomes meaningless. It's an on/off switch that once switched on will almost never switch off again. If that's cool by you, then you've got a fine solution.

I do wish there were degrees of weakening resistance instead of just on/off, but that's the game we have. Damage reduction and SR were tossed out the window, so here we are.

Which I'll admit, DR did have it's own problems, with how it basically killed people using lower damage weapons and two weapon fighting, but again, it'd be nice to have a paradigm more interesting than "no, 50%, 100%", lol.

 

[Reynard]

Out of curiosity: how does rolling with disadvantage slow down play noticeably?

 

[Quickleaf]

I do wish there were degrees of weakening resistance instead of just on/off, but that's the game we have. Damage reduction and SR were tossed out the window, so here we are.

Which I'll admit, DR did have it's own problems, with how it basically killed people using lower damage weapons and two weapon fighting, but again, it'd be nice to have a paradigm more interesting than "no, 50%, 100%", lol.

Oh, hah, I have the flipped reaction - when I encounter something problematic in D&D, I go change it. But soon enough I'm going to have a frankensystem that few players will want to play.

I think for that specific issue, though, you can do so many tweaks behind the screen (without player push back) to get a more interesting effect than on/off. If you're so inclined.

 

[J-H]

I'm running a Baldur's Gate II game right now. I'm adapting all the +X% magic resistance items as +Y to saves vs magic.
5% magic resistance gives +1 to saves vs spells. +50% (Carsomyr) will give +10 to saves vs. spells if they ever get it (and if they can convince a Paladin that the group that slaughtered their way through the Shadow Thieves at the behest of a vampire is worth trusting).
With 5e's numbers, a +10 to saves vs. spells means that strong saves will get very good (potentially in the +15-+18 range) but that there's still a 50% chance of failing weak saves.
No Paladins or monks in the party, so they don't have a ton of save boosts that take it to ridiculous levels... and it doesn't impact the difficulty of Concentration checks at all.

 

[billd91]

I kind of like spell resistance as it is, but if you're finding it a drag...

1) Only use it on spells that are save or die/suck/etc rather than damaging spells. And honestly, THIS is where it's probably most important to use it because these are the spells that some creature magically resistant should be resistant to.
2) Give creatures with SR damage resistance vs spells.

Though, honestly, I agree with the posters who think you're better off just adding +4 to the saves as a flat modifier because I think it would be more cumbersome to have to remember which spells are handled one way vs the other than to just roll with advantage on all of them.

 

[James Gasik]

I kind of like spell resistance as it is, but if you're finding it a drag...

1) Only use it on spells that are save or die/suck/etc rather than damaging spells. And honestly, THIS is where it's probably most important to use it because these are the spells that some creature magically resistant should be resistant to.
2) Give creatures with SR damage resistance vs spells.

Though, honestly, I agree with the posters who think you're better off just adding +4 to the saves as a flat modifier because I think it would be more cumbersome to have to remember which spells are handled one way vs the other than to just roll with advantage on all of them.

A flat save bonus would be easier yes, but again, it's not just rolling tons of dice that is the problem but the fact that I do have four casters in my group and every enemy with magic resistance is going to reduce them to tossing cantrips and making battles last forever lol. It's a bit unfair, but my options are-

1- avoid using enemies with magic resistance (there's a lot!).

2- remove magic resistance from the enemy and find some other way to keep them challenging.

3- alter magic resistance to make it less punishing (working on it).

4- offer them ways to get around magic resistance, which basically turns into 1 and 2.

 

[James Gasik]

Out of curiosity: how does rolling with disadvantage slow down play noticeably?

4/5 of my players are spellcasters. On a given turn, at least three of them are casting spells. I ran a combat with these CR 1/8 Fey that had magic resistance. The Druid cast entangle on four targets, 8 die rolls. The very next turn, the Warlock cast Burning Hands on another four targets, 8 more rolls.

I immediately thought to myself "oh man, this is going to be a problem for the whole campaign, isn't it?".

 

[billd91]

A flat save bonus would be easier yes, but again, it's not just rolling tons of dice that is the problem but the fact that I do have four casters in my group and every enemy with magic resistance is going to reduce them to tossing cantrips and making battles last forever lol. It's a bit unfair, but my options are-

1- avoid using enemies with magic resistance (there's a lot!).

2- remove magic resistance from the enemy and find some other way to keep them challenging.

3- alter magic resistance to make it less punishing (working on it).

4- offer them ways to get around magic resistance, which basically turns into 1 and 2.

If you ask me, since you've got 4 casters in the party, you should be worrying about them bombarding everything with save or suck spells to end encounters or debuff them into oblivion more than worrying about them tossing cantrips that have to roll to hit. Having them batter against a little spell resistance isn't unfair - THAT'S what it's for. They'll more than make up for such "unfairness" when they're banishing everything in sight or shutting down enemy spellcasters with counterspell.