How does Spell Resistance interact with Elemental Resistances.

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margibso
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Joined: Fri May 06, 2022 2:07 pm

How does Spell Resistance interact with Elemental Resistances.

Post by margibso »

How does spell resistance (Wisdom bonus, SR spell) interact with Elemental Resistance (Frost, Magic, Fire, etc.)? I haven't found an answer to this on the forum. I know that the player starts with 50% in all elemental resistances. Does spell resistance stack with Ele. Resistances? Does +30 Frost resist and +10 Spell resist mean I have +40 frost resist (90 total)? Or is spell resistance a separate check (e.g. 10 spell resist means that any spell has a 10% chance of failure before the elemental check).

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Interkarma
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Joined: Sun Mar 22, 2015 1:51 am

Re: How does Spell Resistance interact with Elemental Resistances.

Post by Interkarma »

Hey there, welcome to the forums. :)

The following are tested in order when a spell lands on an entity like the player.
  1. Spell Absorption - If successful, entity will absorb entire spell and gain spellpoints. Must have enough spellpoints free to absorb entire spell cost or it passes through. This is "all or nothing", entities can't part-absorb a spell. Spell Absorption can be spell-based, class-based, or granted by special advantage or weapon effects. Chance depends on the type of absorption at work.
  2. Spell Reflection - If successful, spell will be transferred back to the caster instead of the intended target. Must have a Spell Reflection effect running and chance to resist is based on power of that effect.
  3. Spell Resistance - If successful, spell will be resisted in full. Must have a Spell Resistance effect running and chance to resist is based on the power of that effect.
  4. Elemental Resistance - Entity can also resist the effect entirely if they have an Elemental Resistance effect running (e.g. Resist Fire, Resist Frost) and pass a chance roll based on power of effect, and the incoming spell's active element must match the resistance element. Note this check is handled in saving throw code, but I've split out here to try and make it clearer.
  5. Saving Throw - This is where the final line of native tolerance (resistance/immunity to elements) goes to work. Unlike the above which are "all or nothing", saving throws can resist "some or all" of a spell's damage or duration based on cumulative native tolerance to Magic, Poison, Fire, Frost, Shock, Disease, Paralysis. Cumulative native tolerance is a combination of race, class, and biography modifiers. Total saving throw value is increased by Willpower / 10 (i.e. Magic Resist) before rolling save.
The main way DFU differs from classic is that DFU calculates cumulative native tolerances (i.e. combination of positive/negative tolerance modifiers from race, class, biography) and fixes a bug where Magic immunity was used for all spells, thus rendering all other immunity options useless.

For best results, stack multiple layers of these defences and you'll be able to shrug off most incoming spells. You'll note that native tolerance (saving throw) is the last line of defence. So even with Critical Weakness to things, you have multiple ways of dealing with incoming spells before they even reach that test.

margibso
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri May 06, 2022 2:07 pm

Re: How does Spell Resistance interact with Elemental Resistances.

Post by margibso »

Thanks!
This really explains a lot. Also, thank you so much for making this! I have been really enjoying DFU.

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