Call for assistance - list of MR-granting items
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BG1:
Cloak of Balduran
Potion of Magic Protection
Robe of the Good/Neutral/Evil Archmagi
Scroll of Protection from Magic (I think)
BG2:
Carsomyr +5/+6
Potion of Magic Protection
Robe of the Good/Neutral/Evil Archmagi
Scroll of Protection from Magic (I think)
Amulet of Power
Amulet of 5% Magic Resistance
Kaligun's Amulet of Magic Resistance
Amulet of the Seldarine
Robe of Vecna
Human Flesh +5
Drow Elven Chain +3
Shield of the Lost +2
Ring of Gaxx
The Purifier +4/+5
The Flail of Ages +5
Hindo's Doom +4
The Answerer (kind of. it doesn't grant MR, but it subtracts it from its targets, so you'll probably need to take this into account.)
The Flame of the North +2
Gram the Sword of Grief +5 (improved version)
(Also remember that the Hell trials and the Machine of Lum the Mad can grant MR.)
do you want it to look more "realistic"?
to look more consistent (magical potions)?
be more nuanced?
be more distinct from saving throws (mr and saves often protect a creature from the same thing and effectively cumulate each other)?
with that said, i think that:
- magical energy resistance should be a commonly seen effect - in place of classic mr
- it should have nothing to do with external elemental damage sources (that are for me also effectively physical; i never liked the "magical fire" idea etc)
- percentual resistance to other magical effects and statuses should not exist at all and protection from those should be provided only in the form of saving throws and immunities
- saving throws should progress so that at a certain point they start offering immunities to certain magical attacks
- caster level (or "power level") and saving throws should somehow communicate in a way that renders legendary heroes and powerful creatures such as dragons immune to spells up to a relatively high power level (for example: an average dragon is immune to a lvl 14 mage's finger of death, barely killable with a lvl 20 mage's FoD, but has a hard time saving against a lvl 30 mage's FoD; a wyvern would fare much worse)
- power level should depend not only on caster level but also on attributes: intelligence for arcane, wisdom for divine and maybe charisma for some classes
- with proper lore/intelligence you should be able to tell what the power level of a spell being cast is (in real time) - for example: "lich starts casting finger of death (power: 45)"
- spell level adversely influences power level so that at lvl 1 it only depends on caster level and intelligence but it subsequently decreases by 1 per level (-8 for a level 9 spell) EXCEPT for specialist mages who maintain the same level for all spells of their school
...those would be ideal rules for me if we're talking pure theory
this would for example eliminate arbitrary rules for liches in bg while preserving how they work in practice
From Spell Revisions and Item Revisions, we also have the Helm of Balduran (5%) and the Robe of the Weave (20%).
you're right about wizard slayer's mr and how it makes 0 sense that he should somehow develop it, i've always found that annoying.
if you can reproduce that spell power level thing in your mod i think you'll be able to do wonders with option #4. also, you should combine it with the aspect of #3 in that it does not block any external elemental threats. i don't think those are mutually exclusive in any way
" - why does it act as a chance for complete *avoidance*, where every other "resistance" acts as, y'know, *resistance*?"
Magic resistance is not the only all-or-nothing resistance option. Saving throws against disablers have the exact same effect: you either avoid the whole spell or suffer the full effect. That MR is called "resistance" is just a name. The main reason saving throws aren't called "resistances" themselves is because they refer to a dice roll that saves your character from a nasty effect. Magic resistance need not operate like fire resistance. Saving throws don't work like fire resistance either. Again, it's just a name.
"- why does it only affect harmful and not beneficial magic, if it's a general anti-magic characteristic? (the idea of someone squinting, concentrating, clenching their sphincter and 'lowering' their MR by force of will doesn't fit well with me - you can't do that with any other effect in the whole game.)"
I believe in PnP you can also voluntarily fail a save against a friendly spell, like Resilient Sphere. And you wouldn't have to concentrate on a sphincter or whatever to do it, since there is no stated biological basis for MR. You could easily just say your character can let in a spell with merely a thought. This is magic we're talking about here; we can make some assumptions about how it works.
"- why does MR affect *some* hostile magic, but not *all* hostile magic? (umm, Sunfire is precisely as magical as Fireball, so how does it bypass MR? Not to mention Comet/Dragon's Breath/etc.)"
Sunfire bypasses MR due to a bug. Spells cast on yourself always bypass MR, and Sunfire is targeted on the caster, so the whole spell is accidentally rigged to bypass MR. And the reason why Comet, Dragon's Breath, and Imprisonment bypass MR is because they're epic-level spells. It makes sense that a drow's magic resistance is not going to stop a comet from hitting them.
"- why does drow MR not fade away when they are on the surface, as the lore says it's supposed to?"
Engine limitation. I guess you could lower the MR of drow on the surface, and give Viconia a bonus when you're in the Underdark.
"- it's clearly a special, supernatural ability (it's granted by dpells and magic items, and races that have it innately are magical races)... so how does a fighter kit cultivate it?"
Being a fighter doesn't mean you have no understanding of magic, or any ability to make use of it. Being an electrician doesn't mean your liver won't work. Besides, you can just say the Magic Resistance spell or the Ring of Gaxx works on its own. The fighter doesn't know how to use MR? Well, Helm does, and Helm is giving him that MR.
It would be interesting to see a new implementation of MR. But the way it normally functions does make conceptual sense.
Robe of Vecna (10%)
Carmosyr (50%)
Ring of Gax (10%)
Amulets of Seldarine (10%)
Kaligun's Amulet (10%)
Amulet of Magic Resistance (5%)
Amulet of Power (5%)
The Purifier (20% ->30%)
Flail of Ages +5 (5%)
Human Flesh Armor (20%)
Hell Trials (10%)
Lum the Mad (5%)
Shield of the Lost (5%)
Silver Dragon Armor (15%)
Shield of Fyrus Khal (All allies within 5ft gain +5% magic resistance)
Sword of Balduran (10%)
Enkidu Armor (5%)
Belt of Inertial Barrier (50% resistance to magic damage)
Cloak of Reflection (reflects all magic damage back)
Example character:
(1) Berserker (9) dual to thief for Use Any Item. Grand Master in great weapons.
Carmosyr (50%), Hell Trials (10%), Lum the Mad (5%), Human Flesh Armor (20%), Ring of Gax (10%), Amulet of Magic Resistance (5%) = 100% MR. Backstab with a staff or katana, then switch to Carmosyr.
(2) Viconia
65% MR base. Amulet of Power (5% plus casting speed bonus), Shield Fyrus Khal (5% to herself and all allies within 5ft), Silver Dragon Armor (15%) = 90% MR.
(3) Jan Jansen
Robe of Vecna (10% plus major casting speed bonus), Kaligun's Amulet (10%), Purifier (UAI, 30%), Hindo's Doom (10%, immune to death magic) = 60% + 5% for being next to Viconia=65%
Belt of Inertial Barrier (50% resistance to magic attacks)
(Toss a potion of protection his way if you are worried, to push up him over 100%. Either way, he ignores 60-65% of any enemy magic, and whatever gets through causes half damage)
(4) Dorn
Cloak of Mirroring (Reflects all spell damage back on the target), poison for disabling mages and clerics.
Enkidu Armor (5%), +5% for being next to Viconia=10%.
Viconia can also cast magic resistance on him for 40% MR. I'm not sure if it stacks with the above gear. Maybe if you put the gear on after casting the spell? If so, that would push Dorn up to 50% MR and he reflects all spell damage.
(5) Rasaad (if you don't mind having a good guy in the party)
74% MR base. Amulet of the Seldarine (10%) = 84% +5% for being next to Viconia=89%. Before a mage fight, throw in either Hindo's Doom or the Sword of Balduran for an extra 10% = 99!%
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4-5 man party that is all but immune to magic. Comes with a tank (blackguard) who is a tank/disabler, a high level monk, whom are just insane. Two thieves (for lots of spike traps), one of whom is a backstabber and the other is an archer/mage. One pure cleric for lots of buffs and summons.
This uses just about all of the good magic resistance items. A party like this makes all wizards curl up into little balls and cry themselves to sleep. Especially as Carmosyr dispels on every hit, which means that not only will their spells fail to harm you, but they won't even be able to protect themselves.
This is the party that gives Jon Irenicus nightmares.
Well...now that I think about it. Charname could be a wizard slayer lvl 9 instead of a berserker. That would add 9% MR. He could then give the Ring of Gax to Viconia.
This would make Charname have 99% MR and Viconia 100%.
It would also be better RP. As this is a party of wizard slayers, and his class would fit.
I'd also think that with the rest of their gear, the party would focus on getting some elemental resistances to further cut down on any damage that gets through.
How do you plan on implementing such a dramatic change in how MR works? It sounds like something you'd need to use some very invasive scripts to accomplish.
- in general: armor, shields and weapons should grant energy resistance and smaller, more juju-ey stuff should grant save bonuses; robes feel like a good pick for spell level immunities
- if there's "protection" in the name, the item should should grant a general save bonus
- if there's "resistance" in the name, it should grant energy resistance
- others could grant bonuses to individual saves (such as +5 vs spell)