Calling All DM's - a spell question from my PnP days

[Semis]

I have to agree with "The DM is always right." It's his (or her) game, you're in his world, his word is final. Any decent DM wouldn't abuse this power. But if he felt that your nigh-magic immune barbarian was throwing game balance off, he's entitled to attempt to even the score. There are better ways than just saying "I'm the DM, so this spell works"... I believe 'Pierce Shield' is an 8th level spell that lowers %MR - that should work. If there are still problems with "It's the artifact's MR, not mine!" then target the artifact itself (and then come up with an explanation on how the enemy wiz knew to do that). Besides - lowering your MR by %20 - %30 for a few rounds isn't the end of the world, is it? Barbarians have fast movement for the occasional strategic retreat if things get bad [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Vohl]

As a 15 year DM, I can honestly say that a DM is not always right. And a player has the right to argue, as a DM has the right to respond. Artifacts are very powerful items, and I rarely use them, and if I do, I live with the choice. If I were Cerek's DM, LMR would not have worked, as the (non-standard) artifact is the stronger. That being said, the bottom-line is the DM, and its up to him/her as whether or not LMR is successful.

[ 03-29-2002, 04:05 PM: Message edited by: Vohl ]

[Luvian]

Magic resistance does not interfere with helpfull spell. The only place it does that is in The Black Island game, and they are doing it for balance reason. In Pen and Paper it is not like that.

[Vohl]

I edited last post, (concerning magic resistance vs beneficial magic) as that strays from the main topic. Its something I added (as a DM) about 6-7 years ago.

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Thanks to everyone that has replied. I sincerely appreciate all the input. I'll respond myself to as many of the Replies as I can.

First, a little more background on the origin of the massive Magic Resistance. It was designed by a DM friend of mine for his monsters to challenge a 30th level party and was NEVER intended to actually be put into play. However, if a DM can think it up, sooner or later, a player will figure out a way to get it. I had faced these Magic Resistant monsters myself and knew just how tough they were.

In the dungeon where I received the Magic Resistance, we had completed the dungeon and - as our reward - the DM granted each character 1 Wish. Another DM in our group had created an artifact that would allow a PC to face different creatures (or characters) in single combat. If the character defeated the creature, he would gain any ONE skill or ability of that creature as his own. However, if the character lost, he became trapped in the artifact and was removed from the gameworld.
Normally, you can't choose your opponent, but since I had a Wish going for me, I got to pick my foe...so I chose the Super Resistant monster created by my friend....and just BARELY beat him.

Legolas - Your point is EXACTLY the same one I was trying to make. I didn't care WHAT the spell was, the Magic Resistance SPECIFICALLY stated that I was immune to anything below 7th level...so this 6th level spell should've had ZERO chance of affecting me.

Stile & Helspanth - I agree that the DM has the FINAL say so, but I also agree with Luvian that - if the player has a legitimate argument - the DM should hear him out. And it wasn't 2 completely different systems. It was 1st Edition and 2nd Edition AD&D....and 2nd Edition didn't make any major changes (ike 3rd Edition did).
Another factor was that, even though the DM and I were friends, we often argued in games and real life both. He argued with me till he was blue in the face MANY times when I was the DM, but he didn't want anybody questioning him when he was "behind the screen".

Lavindathar Thanks for the support. I appreciate it. And thanks for Posting in my thread.

Semis Welcome to Ironworks...and thanks for Posting. I admit that the MR could seriously affect game balance. The guy who originally thought it up had a fit when I wanted to run it in one of his games. ABSOLUTELY NOT - TOO POWERFUL!!! OK, fair enough. My MR doesn't work at all in his game. But the other guy did allow it, until it messed up his plans. There was NO mention of it being weakened or adversely affected before then. He then just arbitrarily said that, since THIS 6th level spell specifically targeted MR, my immunity didn't apply to it. As you said, the reduction would've have been temporary, and not that big a deal (although Cerek would almost NEVER run from battle.)
And since the ability was gained from a defeated foe, it was ALWAYS with me and always turned on. There would have been NO way to target the artifact itself.

Vohl - I agree with you concerning DM's. That is how I ran MY games, so that is how I expected others to run theirs. USUALLY, if you could present a reasonable argument, any DM in our group would at least consider the fact the player was right and they were wrong. Unfortunately, this guy wasn't like that...He was ALWAYS right...regardless of circumstances.

[ 03-29-2002, 04:36 PM: Message edited by: Cerek the Barbaric ]