Suppress Energy Resistance

[Caeldwyn]

I am looking for advise for a group of spells that I would like to introduce into my camapain. At what level would you place the following spells.
Thank you for your help.

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Suppress Energy Resistance
School ?
Level ?

CASTING
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, DF

EFFECT
Range close
Target one creature
Duration 1 round/level
Saving Throw Fortitude negates; Spell Resistance yes

DESCRIPTION

The target of this spell looses its energy resistance against one of five energy types you select: acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic.

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Suppress Energy Resistance, greater
School ?
Level ?

DESCRIPTION

This spell functions like Suppress Energy Resistance, except it also effects energy immunity.

[Ryze Kuja]

Suppress Energy Resistance seems too situational to use it effectively, I mean, why even bother with that when you can just prepare Dispel and be ready for anything? Anywho-- I would call it Energy Vulnerability or Energy Susceptibility, whatever you want, and have it cancel/dispel any Energy Resistance on the target, but if the target doesn't have an Energy Resistance active for that type, then they gain Vulnerability for 1round/lvl, and have all damage from that element type increases by 10 points, at 7th level increases to 20 points, and to a maximum of 30 points at 11th level. Now you can use it all the time, and it's super useful even if you're not expecting someone to have Energy Resistance.

Energy Vulnerability should be equal level to Resist Energy, so probably make it a 2nd lvl spell. Greater Energy Vulnerability (probably 4th level spell) should become a 30ft Cone, and now also cancel/dispel Energy Immunity, and if the target doesn't have Energy Immunity active for that type, then they gain Vulnerability for 1round/lvl, and have all damage from that element type increased by 10 points, at 9th level increases to 20 points, and to a maximum of 30 points at 13th level.

[Laegrim]

I'd probably just copy the levels/classes from Resist Energy and Protection from Energy respectively for the lesser and greater versions of this spell.

Diminish Resistance complicates things, at least if you don't feel like totally obviating an existing spell. Frankly though, while these are all pretty situational - in most cases you'd be better served spending time and spell slots on an alternate means of attack - Diminish Resistance is particularly useless. I'd be alright replacing it with Suppress Energy Resistance.

As for school, these seem like a good fit in Transmutation.

[*Thelith]

Is your intent to remove resistance from things that naturally have resistance? That's how I read what you wrote...

Some are reading it to cancel energy resistance spells... While it would ALSO do that, I assume you mean to remove permanent resistances/immunities temporarily.

I think, level wise for the spells Laegrim is about right, match the resistance spels levels, and probably the school as well.

Might bump the greater version a level higher though, removing an immunity is fairly powerful...

[Pizza Lord]

I was going to suggest it be 'reduce the selected energy resistance by 1/caster level', but I see in Laegrim's post that he linked diminish resistance and that does basically the same thing (though at increments of 5).

So you need to look at similar spells or what yours can do. Diminish resistance is pretty much exactly the same, and its a 2nd-level spell.

Yours completely removes all resistance (usually they cap at 20), so this is pretty potent, since normally it would take a caster of 18th level to achieve this. So yours needs to be a higher level.

I think we can all agree that making it a 9th-level spell (which is what most 18th-level caster would have access to) is probably not appropriate, since it clearly doesn't match the power level of those spells. I would guess that it's probably a high 3rd-level spell or low 4th-level spell, since your version has a shorter range than diminish resistance. I would likely set it at 4th, since making it 3rd-level would make your version a much better choice over the 2nd level version, and 3rd-level slots are not too hard to come by (at the levels where diminish resistance would start to compete with yours. So it would be 4th, which would make it a strategic choice of having to decide whether to use a precious 4th-level slot at levels 7 to 12 and completely remove resistance or take the 2nd-level spell and only reduce it by 10 (which could turn out to be all you really need in most cases).

As for greater suppress energy resistance, I don't like it as you have it written. First, energy immunity is a whole other can of worms. The potential for abuse is just huge.
Fighting a red dragon in its volcano lair?
Cast one spell and if it fails, massive lava damage.
Visiting the efreeti lord of the City of Brass on the Elemental Plane of Fire?
Cast one spell and it gets cooked by its own home world.

I don't like it, especially since the name is misleading.

At best, since your normal version already removes resistance, the greater version should just allow you to affect more creatures, like 1 per caster level or 1 per 2 caster levels (probably 1/level) and be 2 levels higher (6th-level).