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Hi everyone,
One of my players recently rerolled new character and as always, tends to focus a bit on something specific, sometimes even gamebreaking at least from my eyes.
Currently out of all buffs that party has, none are so problematic against solo casters as SR of 35 which lasts ~15 minutes. I can see party walking around completely untouchable by this single spell. Even Dispel Magic can't remove it due to high caster level. Runelord himself (we are playing RoTR) who is level 20, will have to face around SR ~38-40. How is he supposed to beat that?
In the end, I can probably figure something out, but it just wastes whole bunch of time while I find something out, so in the meanwhile I would love advice or two.
This is high level play (currently lv14) and just assume that player isn't cheating or such, so such comments are unnecessary.
Thanks infront for respones,
Malag
Anti-magic fields can suppress SR and Mage's Disjunction can dispel the effect that is creating it. Neither allow Spell Resistance.
Out of curiosity, what means is the party using to achieve this?
Where is the SR coming from and how is it as high as it is? The cleric spell Spell Resistance only grants CL+12, is single target, and lasts 1 min/lvl. Now I admit I don't know all of the books inside and out, is there a feat or something that lets the caster boost that number?
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He is getting +2 on caster level from traits, +2 from feats and +4 currently from an item (Prayer Beads) which bumbs caster level by 4 for 10 minutes. So in total that's 14+8= +22 on caster level.
Seems like, each time I grant party a chance to buy what they want, it grant's me more headaches in the future. They bought beads for a wrong price tho as I found out recently.
Malag
Most (not all) sources of CL increases don't improve it past character level. I'd double check.
He is getting +2 on caster level from traits, +2 from feats and +4 currently from an item (Prayer Beads) which bumbs caster level by 4 for 10 minutes. So in total that's 14+8= +22 on caster level.
Seems like, each time I grant party a chance to buy what they want, it grant's me more headaches in the future. They bought beads for a wrong price tho as I found out recently.
Malag
Which feats? Which traits?
The powers of the prayer beads are only usable 1/day. Using the info you provided, that gives your cleric a 22 minute window to cast Spell Resistance however many times he needs to cover each party member which, at level 14, gives them an SR of 36 for 22 minutes. Just out of curiosity, is he buffing the whole party or just himself? How many party members are there? A 14th level cleric gets 3 spells per day, 4 if Wis>20, 5 if Wis>28. Is he really blowing all of his level 5 slots to give the party SR for 20 minutes a day?
You can also use spells against them that don't allow spell resistance.
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He is getting +2 on caster level from traits, +2 from feats and +4 currently from an item (Prayer Beads) which bumbs caster level by 4 for 10 minutes. So in total that's 14+8= +22 on caster level.
Seems like, each time I grant party a chance to buy what they want, it grant's me more headaches in the future. They bought beads for a wrong price tho as I found out recently.
Malag
Which feats? Which traits?
The powers of the prayer beads are only usable 1/day. Using the info you provided, that gives your cleric a 22 minute window to cast Spell Resistance however many times he needs to cover each party member which, at level 14, gives them an SR of 36 for 22 minutes. Just out of curiosity, is he buffing the whole party or just himself? How many party members are there? A 14th level cleric gets 3 spells per day, 4 if Wis>20, 5 if Wis>28. Is he really blowing all of his level 5 slots to give the party SR for 20 minutes a day?
^This
Also, against any high powered opposing caster, SR can be circumvented with a lot of conjuration/summoning and battlefield control and delaying tactics.
Also, while under the effects of SR, that means no beneficial buffs or heals or what not from allies without spending an action to lower the SR for a round.
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@Simon
His Charisma is around 28 I believe with headband +6, so yeah, he wastes most slots on the SR. He is abjuration focused and has some abjuration feats. I don't know exact feats & traits, but like I said before, player usually does it right. He had advantage of starting at 14th level, so traits which grant him caster level increase for single spell would be more easier to use. Out of feats, I know that he has Varisian Tatoo.
He typically buffs 3/4 party members, the forth member is semi-paladin so his Saves skyrocket with buffs.
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Also, remember that SR is a double edged sword. It takes a Standard Action to lower SR for beneficial spells to be cast. If the fighter gets hit with a massive thrown boulder and need to be healed, the cleric will have to beat that SR unless the fighter wastes his action to lower SR for that turn, leaving him vulnerable to harmful spells that turn too.
Is he buffing before or after casting spell resistance? Because if it's after, he has to roll for SR against it. Most buffs dont go through SR.
As a side note, there is only ONE trait that can give a +2 caster level, AND it doesnt allow you to go past you HD. So I am suspicious of this.
Let us not forget that when a player has SR it counts against spells cast by his allies, and requires a standard action to lower for one round. Hit them hard enough and they'll find that SR is more trouble than it's worth.
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He could have;
Varisian Tattoo: +1 CL
Spell Specialization :+2 CL
Orange Prism Ioun Stone: +1 CL
Prayer Beads: +4 CL for 10 Minutes/day
Gifted Adept Trait: +1 CL to one spell(magic)
Inspired by Greatness Trait:+1 CL to one spell (campaign)
Those are just the basic ones I can think of, there are probably more that could be finagled at this level, especially if there is any stretch room.
Granted, many of those bonuses require a specific spell and it is very dubious that anyone would build their character legitimately around casting Spell Resistance.
One of the downsides to building at a high level is that you don't necessarily have to build a character that could have gotten there.
In any case, I'm not sure that having a ridiculous high SR for 20 minutes a day is all that game breaking. Keep in mind what the others have said about it (affecting helpful as well as harmful spells) and maybe do a little more time management once it goes on. 20 minutes can go by a lot faster than you think when you're dungeon delving.
Send someone who's not a caster after them.
Knock one unconscious.
Watch their faces go from smug to dismayed as they realize they now need to make a DC 40 CL check to heal the injured comrade.
As for Kharzoug(?), have him use Conjuration spells, that works.
Actually, hell. He's a 20th level caster.
Mage's Disjunction that right off of 'em.
40 ft. radius burst, no save, no Spell Resistance, knocks all their buffs and other active magical effects right off of them.
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@Imbicatus
I believe that party learned that a bit when encountering CR +3 dragon. Fighter was wounded and had to waste some actions to lower SR and heal himself. It should occur more often later also.
@williamoak
They aren't that dumb. They land SR as a last buff. This is easily done while buffing outside of dungeon. The caster levels at this high level shouldn't be hard to rack up.
@Fomsie
That around sums it. When he gave me sheet on one chance, I remember I saw familiar feats. Nothing 3rd party since that's not allowed.
@Simon
I guess it's ridiculous SR while they are venturing these short dungeons from which dungeon denizens can't really do much. They are fairly limited in resources and movement, but it should go different route later in game.
In a way, I am slightly paranoid and just preparing for worst case.
Malag
Well, I would reccomend pits. They can probably all fly, but you can easily trap them with a combo of pit+wall (of force, iron, stone). THe caster's reflex saves are probably low as well, so it might be easier to trap.
Despite that, plenty of non-SR spells that can ruin their day.
Cloudkill comes to mind.
Honestly? The enemy fiends out the PCs have this once per day superbuff, the BBEG runs into them (not alone) finds he can't penetrate their SR and then he teleports away. To return a few hours later. With more friends.
Their Spell Resistance has worn off by then. Just make sure the BBEG gets some of their blood or something else so he can use it to scry on them.