Magic Immunity

[thereaper]

Is there any way for a player to get it short of being an epic golem or demilich?

When I say "magic immunity", I refer specifically to the kind that demiliches, colossi, and epic golems have (the kind that protects against all magic, not just stuff that allows spell resistance).

[TroubleBrewing]

Not that I've seen.

[Randomguy]

There's an epic spell that does that. It's called epic spell reflection, it takes about a month to cast, it requires a ritual of 6 other casters sacrificing lvl 8 slots and it doesn't work on area spells. And you take 20d6 backlash damage when you cast it. And it has a 7500 xp cost. On the bright side, it reflects all spells back on the caster, rather than just making you immune to them. On the down side, you can only buff yourself, since beneficial spells are also reflected.
*Technically, you can still be healed and hurt by cantrips, since it only defends against spells from lvl 1-9.

You could probably develop a weaker version that lets healing spells through and only grants immunity, rather than reflects them.

Oh, and it can still be dispelled by disjunction and suppressed by antimagic field.

[thereaper]

Well, after a little more research, I found that the savage species progression for the Flesh Golem gives magic immunity. Unfortunately, it comes with 1 Cha that can't be increased, and the chance of going berserk.

Oh, well. Back to searching.

[Aquillion]

Well, the obvious answer is to use Shapechange or any similar power that grants Ex special qualities, and turn into something that has it.

[Hirax]

Become a half-golem (MM2). No need to be epic. I recommend clay because it also gets you immunity to piercing and slashing damage.

[HunterOfJello]

Wasn't Magic Immunity in the form of "Immunity to spells up to level X" removed in the 3.5e update?

I never saw it explicitly stated, but creatures like the Rakasha had their spell immunity replaced by SR in the MM1 update.

[Hirax]

Magic immunity was basically changed to unbeatable SR. So it's not nearly as good as it was, but it's still not something to sneeze at.

[thereaper]

Become a half-golem (MM2). No need to be epic. I recommend clay because it also gets you immunity to piercing and slashing damage.

I think we may have a winner.

Which only opens up more questions:

1) Is it better to fail the will save and become a construct, or take the +4 Con? Is there any way to bring back a construct that has been killed?

2) There is no listed LA on any of the half-golems, but there are CRs. Is there some relationship between them (to make the calculation of an appropriate LA easier)?

3) What the heck does Damage Reduction 15/+1 or 25/+2 mean?

[Hirax]

I think we may have a winner.

Which only opens up more questions:

1) Is it better to fail the will save and become a construct, or take the +4 Con? Is there any way to bring back a construct that has been killed?

2) There is no listed LA on any of the half-golems, but there are CRs. Is there some relationship between them (to make the calculation of an appropriate LA easier)?

3) What the heck does Damage Reduction 15/+1 or 25/+2 mean?


1. There is no right answer. Construct traits have nifty immunities, but also introduce new risks.

2. CR and LA have no relation. LA- means not suitable for player characters, however the entry has rules for how to become them, so if you get the requisite materials and someone to craft the half-golem parts, only Rule 0 can stop you.

3. DR/+1, DR/+2 were updated in 3.5 to simply be DR/magic. In 3.0 it meant only a weapon with a +1, 2, 3, 4, etc. enhancement could bypass the DR. DR/epic means that a weapon needs a +6 or better enhancement.

[Gotterdammerung]

I think we may have a winner.

Which only opens up more questions:

1) Is it better to fail the will save and become a construct, or take the +4 Con? Is there any way to bring back a construct that has been killed?

2) There is no listed LA on any of the half-golems, but there are CRs. Is there some relationship between them (to make the calculation of an appropriate LA easier)?

3) What the heck does Damage Reduction 15/+1 or 25/+2 mean?


There is no LA for it. It was basically an early form of grafting. And when the results went badly you became a half golem. For me it is better to pass all the will saves and put on all of the parts. You can easily beat this save by taking a feat to add your con to your will saves instead of your wisdom. That way as the golem parts raise your con it is raising your save for the next part. DR/+X refers to the enhancement on the weapon. basically if they have less than +2 enhancement magic weapon then they have to do over 25 dmg to hurt you. There is a cheap cheap necklace out of one of the faerun underdark books that gives you an anti magic field. It will counter your poison breath but it makes your DR very useful. Especially when comboed with monk/ fist of the forest/ and deepwarden for con instead of dex for ac , and wis + con again for ac. Basically very high ac in spite of being in antimagic and most melee's won't have high enough acc to hit you with their magic stripped.

[Optimator]

I think there is a cleric spell (level 8?) that is castable on Warforged only but gives you golem immunity. Actually, that might be the name of the spell.

Edit: Just checked, it's the SR version.

[thereaper]

Actually, turns out the Half-Golem template is the SR type too, once you do the 3.0 to 3.5 conversion. The only magic immunities I can find that survives the conversion are the ones that certain epic monsters have (which pretty much means that to get it, you need one of the following: a Saruhk, polymorph shenanigans, be a ghost that gets bound into a flesh colossus, or be a demilich).

Too bad. I had a great build concept for a character that was actually immune to magic.

[Tvtyrant]

Shadowcasters can counter spells as an immediate action, and with flooding should usually win. So there is that.

[supermonkeyjoe]

Higher level Masters of many forms can wildshape into a will'o'wisp, that has immunity to magic (minus magic missile and maze for some reason)

[GodGoblin]

There is a Human like race in Tome of Magic that has SR scaling with level, Its not exactly what you are looking for but if you are forced to go the Super high SR route it may prove to be a good base for Half Golem.

[Aquillion]

There is a Human like race in Tome of Magic that has SR scaling with level, Its not exactly what you are looking for but if you are forced to go the Super high SR route it may prove to be a good base for Half Golem.SR from multiple sources does not stack.

Yes, I know it sucks.

[Jeraa]

Wasn't Magic Immunity in the form of "Immunity to spells up to level X" removed in the 3.5e update?

I never saw it explicitly stated, but creatures like the Rakasha had their spell immunity replaced by SR in the MM1 update.

Not totally. The epic creatures that had Magic Immunity didn't change in the update document - they are still immune to all magic, SR allowed or not. If it wasn't an epic creature, it got changed to only applying to spells that allow spell resistance.

[herrhauptmann]

There is a Human like race in Tome of Magic that has SR scaling with level, Its not exactly what you are looking for but if you are forced to go the Super high SR route it may prove to be a good base for Half Golem.

The Karsites?
SOmeone elsewhere mentioned making a Quorbred (secrets of sarlona) Karsite. Near full immunity to Psionics and Magic. On the downside, you can't cast (or manifest) anything. Also, I think it's a total LA of +4.
Seemed like it would make a great mage hunter.

[Person_Man]

Most DMs won't allow Half-Golem or similar spell immunity shenanigans.

So my practical suggestion is that you just aim for sky high Spell Resistance and spell disruption.

Spellward Shirt soulmeld gives you 5 + (4 * essentia invested) Spell Resistance. Your essentia capacity is based on a needlessly complex combination of Incarnate levels, hit die, +1 from a magic item, +1 from a feat, and basically maxed out at 8. So that's a maximum of SR 37 at level 18. Also grants you complete immunity to 4 specific spells of your choice if bound to your Heart chakra. Magic of Incarnum.

Daazzix's Vest: Increases existing Spell Resistance by 5. 25,000 gp, DMG II pg 267.

Slave to Evil: Gives you evil aura. As you gain hit dice, benefits improve. Stronger aura can improve Spell Resistance against Divine spells by 5, and can prevent Divine spell casting within certain radius. Requires Chosen of Evil feat. Elder Evils pg 14.

Divine Defiance: Burn a turn/rebuke undead use to counter a spell as an Immediate Action. You must still have Dispel Magic or the same spell available, but it's a fairly easy way to prevent 1 spell per round. Fiendish Codex II.

So, pre-Epic, that gives you SR 42, 47 vs. divine, with divine casters having to make an extra check in order to cast while within the radius of your aura, and everyone else having to deal with your Counter Spell. So you are functionally immune to most magic. If you also optimize your Touch AC (to deal with 90% of no SR magic) then you should be set.

[mootoall]

There is a cheap cheap necklace out of one of the faerun underdark books that gives you an anti magic field. It will counter your poison breath but it makes your DR very useful.

IIRC, being in an AMF also negates your DR/Magic. I may be misremembering though.

[Gotterdammerung]

IIRC, being in an AMF also negates your DR/Magic. I may be misremembering though.


Nope, pretty sure it is an extra ordinary special quality.

[Jeraa]

If whatever would overcome the DR is negated by an antimagic fueld, then so it the damage reduction.

From the 3.5 FAQ:


Damage reduction is extraordinary unless the weapon property that bypasses the damage reduction is “magic” (as in damage reduction #/magic) or one of the four alignment qualities (chaotic, evil, good, or lawful), in which case it is supernatural. Damage reduction that is bypassed by any other weapon quality that a manufactured weapon could not have without being magical also would be a supernatural special quality.
When a creature’s damage reduction entry has two or more elements, some extraordinary and some supernatural, only the supernatural elements go away inside an antimagic field.

If a weapon must be magical to overcome the DR, then that DR goes away in an antimagic zone. So material based DR and attack type (piercing/bludgeoning/slashing) are the only ones that function in an antimagic field. All others go away.

[Gotterdammerung]

If whatever would overcome the DR is negated by an antimagic fueld, then so it the damage reduction.

From the 3.5 FAQ:



If a weapon must be magical to overcome the DR, then that DR goes away in an antimagic zone. So material based DR and attack type (piercing/bludgeoning/slashing) are the only ones that function in an antimagic field. All others go away.

FAQ's are for hippies and people who like to say "That's not fair!" a lot.

[PlzBreakMyCmpAn]

half golem -> NPC for your DM to send against your parties casters


So, pre-Epic, that gives you SR 42, 47 vs. divine, with divine casters having to make an extra check in order to cast while within the radius of your aura, and everyone else having to deal with your Counter Spell. So you are functionally immune to most magic. If you also optimize your Touch AC (to deal with 90% of no SR magic) then you should be set.Too bad a circle mage with some beads still owns you even without conjurations. Still, not a bad SR value (close to the highest I've seen)

I'm fine with the faq and in no way endorse smelly hipp