D&D 5E Magic Resistance: What was Old is New

That still makes those spells inherently more powerful than others of their level, though. I'm saying that the MR bonus should be included. MR just always grants a save so those effects can be ignored under the rule.

If you look at 1e, MR didn't get worse when Power Word Kill targeted a creature with it. You got the same roll that you did against any other 9th level spell.
That is true. It is an easy correction. I will see if anyone else has some insights and then get it updated.
 

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This part confuses me. Wouldn't the Arcane Lock be a spell that is affecting the environment? The spell is directly affecting the door, not the drow.
I am inclined to allow MR work against arcane lock, wall of force, etc. That is why I added anything that impedes the MR creature as something that is affected by MR. I left it a little vague (which I oddly prefer in rules) so groups can decided how they want to use it.
 

The save might be just the MR + d20 vs. the spellcasting DC. This reflects the inherent difficulty in avoiding such spells, but with MR it is, in fact, possible.
That is an idea too. As @Maxperson pointed out, historically magic resistance wasn't any less effective against magic missile, power word kill, or similar spells. So I was thinking of just making it the typical MR save (save throw + modifier + MR). Is that to much in your opinion?
 

I am inclined to allow MR work against arcane lock, wall of force, etc. That is why I added anything that impedes the MR creature as something that is affected by MR. I left it a little vague (which I oddly prefer in rules) so groups can decided how they want to use it.
Wall of Force I can see because the creature is forcing it's way through the magic. Arcane Lock seems more along the lines of the environmental change that was talked about, altering the lock/door. Anyway, it's not such a big deal that I would spend more energy arguing it. DMs will make a ruling and move on. :)
 

Spell Resistance
This has already been change. It is a set bonus to your Saving Throw or AC (if a spell attack). The save succeeds or the attack misses, the spell has no effect on the monster.

I would have to look that up. I skipped 3e and I am not familiar with spell resistance (don't remember it if it was a part of 1e - we never played with that is for sure).
was a set number. Roll equal to or higher on a d20 + caster level or target unaffected.
So like 1e MR where caster level also affected effectiveness.
 

Spell Resistance

was a set number. Roll equal to or higher on a d20 + caster level or target unaffected.
So like 1e MR where caster level also affected effectiveness.
OK, that is just like magic resistance in 1e and where I started as well. Ultimately I've decided (I think) it is cleaner and easier to just make it a modified save or attack roll. But now that I am think about it again, this option may indeed be better. I will think about it some more.
 

That is an idea too. As @Maxperson pointed out, historically magic resistance wasn't any less effective against magic missile, power word kill, or similar spells. So I was thinking of just making it the typical MR save (save throw + modifier + MR). Is that to much in your opinion?
While that is how it worked historically, the systems have changed. In 5E, those spells were not meant to have much (if any) defense against them, so I probably wouldn't add a modifier to the save (after all there is no save currently, so you'd have to judge for each one what to use for the ability).

Consider the simplest option: magic missile. Unless you have the shield spell or a magic item, in general you are just going to take the damage and suck it up. At the highest levels, the normal maximum save DC is probably 19. In your example with a creature with MR +4, a 15 or better (30% chance) would be immune to a particular casting of magic missile against such a powerful spell caster. Against a weaker one with a lower spell save DC, the odds improve nicely to 65% vs DC 12 (the lowest DC in all likelihood). Even with a lower MR of just +1, such a creature has roughly a 50/50 chance to be immune to such a spell without adding ability modifiers to the saving throw.

Frankly, I have always found it easier to play test the baseline feature and if it is too weak, buff it, than it is to struggle with an overpowered feature and figure out just how much to pull back to balance it.
 

Frankly, I have always found it easier to play test the baseline feature and if it is too weak, buff it, than it is to struggle with an overpowered feature and figure out just how much to pull back to balance it.
I think that makes some sense. It definitely makes sense on the PC side, but I was only really think about the monster side. Could PCs get magic resistance in 1e?
 

Could PCs get magic resistance in 1e?
IIRC only the Robe of the Archmage:

1734815108358.png


Artifacts and Relics could have it as Prime Power as well, but limited to 1/day.
1734815794810.png
 
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I'd probably just run it the same as 1e but using a d20 + caster level to equal or beat the target number as you had originally, seems that has less fluffing about to take into account spells that have no attack or saving throw.
 

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