D&D 5E Magic Resistance

[clutchbone]

I had the gnome's Gnome Cunning in mind, and the abjurer's Spell Resistance, but the yuan-ti's racial trait and monk's Diamond Soul are useful considerations!

While Gnomes do get advantage vs magic with 3/6 saves, they get the less powerful half. They get one "good/common" save (Wisdom), and two uncommon saves. The physical saves (ie Dex & Con) are targeted much more often. Gnome Cunning is still awesome, mind you, but it's something to keep in mind.

If you're looking to balance it with other classes, it's worth nothing that the Monk's Diamond Soul costs resources, and the Abjurer's Spell Resistance is specific to spells only, it doesn't help vs monster-specific magic (banshee's wail, beholder's eye rays, vampire's charm, etc).

Also, Yuan-Ti are a broken mess IMO.

 

[Voi_D_ragon]

Alright, so this thread got me thinking. I'm currently working on a homebrew class, working off of the Warlock chassis, and I would have liked one of the third level archetypes (equivalent to pact boons) to be Witch Hunter-ish. Spell Resistance would be cool to add, but, as someone said, it should only apply to classes that don't get to cast in the first place. So, if I wanted to make this the "Hates all magic and refuses to fight fire with fire" type, how could I work around the fact that the class intrinsecally gets spell slots and refers to a "spellcasting ability"?
I have a few ideas on this:
First off, you lose the ability to cast spells. From now on, you can use your spells slots only to gain some sort of advantage against an enemy that has cast a spell (since SR would be stock standard, maybe you can ignore effects coming from spells up to your spell slot level? Although at high levels ignoring up to 4 lvl 5 spells/Short rest seems way too good. I dunno). Maybe reducing damage taken or giving -more- bonuses to you ST?
Also, the "Eldritch invocations" specific to this subclass would need to be souped up I think, since you lose all the goodness of magic, and being really good against it doesn't equate to being really good -at- it.
Anyway, it would be weird to go from being able to cast spells to not being able to, but it really isn't agreeable with class design to move this to 1st level. I can't really think of any way around this though :/.
Finally, if this is too off topic, I can make a new thread.

 

[clutchbone]

Alright, so this thread got me thinking. I'm currently working on a homebrew class, working off of the Warlock chassis, and I would have liked one of the third level archetypes (equivalent to pact boons) to be Witch Hunter-ish. Spell Resistance would be cool to add, but, as someone said, it should only apply to classes that don't get to cast in the first place. So, if I wanted to make this the "Hates all magic and refuses to fight fire with fire" type, how could I work around the fact that the class intrinsecally gets spell slots and refers to a "spellcasting ability"?
I have a few ideas on this:
First off, you lose the ability to cast spells. From now on, you can use your spells slots only to gain some sort of advantage against an enemy that has cast a spell (since SR would be stock standard, maybe you can ignore effects coming from spells up to your spell slot level? Although at high levels ignoring up to 4 lvl 5 spells/Short rest seems way too good. I dunno). Maybe reducing damage taken or giving -more- bonuses to you ST?
Also, the "Eldritch invocations" specific to this subclass would need to be souped up I think, since you lose all the goodness of magic, and being really good against it doesn't equate to being really good -at- it.
Anyway, it would be weird to go from being able to cast spells to not being able to, but it really isn't agreeable with class design to move this to 1st level. I can't really think of any way around this though :/.
Finally, if this is too off topic, I can make a new thread.

Give them a paladin's smite, call it Arcane Feedback or Resonance or something, change damage type to force, only works against creatures that cast spells (inc. innately and psionically). They don't use magic, but know how to mess up those that do. Puts those supercharged warlock spell slots to use.

Edit: but yeah, you probably should make a new thread.

Edit: mechanically that would also include high elves, tieflings, etc. If this class "refuses to fight fire with fire", then some races are effectively banned from this class. If you just want to target wizards, clerics, etc, make the condition that the target must have spell slots, although from a gameplay view that's very narrow.

 

[mrpopstar]

Alright, so this thread got me thinking. I'm currently working on a homebrew class, working off of the Warlock chassis, and I would have liked one of the third level archetypes (equivalent to pact boons) to be Witch Hunter-ish. Spell Resistance would be cool to add, but, as someone said, it should only apply to classes that don't get to cast in the first place. So, if I wanted to make this the "Hates all magic and refuses to fight fire with fire" type, how could I work around the fact that the class intrinsecally gets spell slots and refers to a "spellcasting ability"?

Why should it only apply to classes that don't get to cast in the first place? [MENTION=93444]shidaku[/MENTION] [MENTION=996]Tony Vargas[/MENTION]

I'm curious as to the reasoning.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Why should it only apply to classes that don't get to cast in the first place? [MENTION=93444]shidaku[/MENTION] [MENTION=996]Tony Vargas[/MENTION]

I'm curious as to the reasoning.

It's a classic fantasy bit, those not using magic, themselves, being resistant to it.

 

[Sunseeker]

Why should it only apply to classes that don't get to cast in the first place? [MENTION=93444]shidaku[/MENTION] [MENTION=996]Tony Vargas[/MENTION]

I'm curious as to the reasoning.

Because the anti-caster is a pretty classic fantasy trope.

But also because having magic and being resistant to it is pretty darn powerful, hence why it's a 14th level feature for casters.

I mean you could roll it as some kind of anti-magic rogue-alchemist type deal, using potions and such to counter magical effects, or you could run it as a class with a reaction to reflect, redirect or dispel magic, like their very existence is the antithesis of magic.

 

[FrogReaver]

At what level would it be appropriate for a class feature to offer advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects?

Depends on what else the class gets. I see a lot of parallels with that ability and the paladins +cha to saving throws ability. So I feel level 6 would be a good place to consider. It also puts it just far enough out of multiclass territory that almost no class will multiclass for that ability alone.

 

[mrpopstar]

It's a classic fantasy bit, those not using magic, themselves, being resistant to it.

Because the anti-caster is a pretty classic fantasy trope.

I see!