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I was reading another thread which mentioned some section of the rules calls out Spell Resistance as being similar to AC for Spells. This then lead me to think of implementing this in a more literal fashion.
Spell Resistance becomes AC and CL checks become attack rolls which all spellcasters must make when attempting to affect a target with a spell or spell effect. Consequently, no spells will utilize either touch or ranged touch attacks and instead employ a CL check. A target may allow the spell to affect them and thus the caster does not need to make a CL check (e.g., you may allow the cleric to heal you similar to allowing them to touch with the healing spell now). This would be based on the fluff that all spells are magically guided and not guided by the physical capability of the caster. In addition, I would explicitly include the auto-success on a 20 and auto-failure on a 1 to CL checks against Spell Resistance.
All monsters and players would now have some base formula (which I will not attempt here) for Spell Resistance which they can increase similarly to AC and Spell Resistance would be associated with a base stat (I suggest Cha) similar to AC being associated with Dex.
My initial concern here is how this will work with Save based spells. I would argue that these spells should be exempt from the CL check since they have an associated defense already.
I would also be concerned with how existing bonuses to spell resistance might lead to unforeseen issues as players now have more incentive to stack SR. There might need to be more DM oversight regarding existing bonuses to SR and whether they stack or not.
Finally, the actual formula needs to be able to distinguish between high and low SR characters without leading to unhittable and auto-hit characters(though I could argue this problem does exist with AC currently).
In summary,
- All spells now require CL check and no longer require any other attack (e.g., melee touch attack)
- Possibly allow primarily save based spells to not require CL check (e.g., Fireball would have only save, but Ray of Enfeeblement would have CL check and save)
- All monsters and players gain SR based on a common formula (specific formula not listed)
- SR becomes associated with a base stat (I suggest Cha) similar to AC associated with Dex
- CL checks to overcome SR are explicitly stated to auto-succeed and auto-fail in new rules
- Target may choose to allow caster to hit ignoring the CL check
- Concerned with how to implement formula for SR and unexpected synergistic SR bonuses in current rules
Let me know what you guys think. Feel free to be brutal, but be sure to be constructive (i.e., provide reasons for why the idea is good or bad).
EDIT - Clarified summary and fixed some formatting.