How to make enchantment spells more potent?

[SangoProduction]

By more potent, I mean, able to break through that annoying "Immune to Mind Affecting" condition that many enemies have, like the undead and constructs (or hell, just spells).

[Zanos]

As a DM:
Don't? Enchantment spell effects are among the most potent in the game, almost invariably being SoL and having the benefit of sometimes adding someone to your team. One good enchantment spell can make a 4v4 a 5v3. The fact that becoming immune to them is trivial is a feature, not a bug.

CharOp:
There aren't many or any ways in 3.5 to render a creature vulnerable to these effects practically. There are spells like Greater Humanoid Essence that can screw with a creatures type, but they aren't practical to use in combat. This is different in Pathfinder, where many class features and feats allow you to affect otherwise immune creatures. But immunity meant immunity in 3.5 most of the time. If there immune via a spell, the best you can really do is attempt to dispel it. The only thing I can really think of is that a Dread Witch can overcome immunity to fear, but most fear effects are actually necromancy.

[Doctor Despair]

Music of the Gods lets all the bardic music abilities bypass immunities, which if you buff charisma high enough means you can fascinate/suggest/whatever even gods.

Getting a divine rank by one means or another yields access to divine salient abilities that let you bypass immunities like that as well -- I know Divine Bard mirrors Music of the Gods (I played a bard in an epic level campaign, if you couldn't tell :p)


For many enemies, changing their type can force them to drop the immunity (iirc polymorphing can do this?)

[Venger]

CharOp:
There aren't many or any ways in 3.5 to render a creature vulnerable to these effects practically. There are spells like Greater Humanoid Essence that can screw with a creatures type, but they aren't practical to use in combat. This is different in Pathfinder, where many class features and feats allow you to affect otherwise immune creatures. But immunity meant immunity in 3.5 most of the time. If there immune via a spell, the best you can really do is attempt to dispel it. The only thing I can really think of is that a Dread Witch can overcome immunity to fear, but most fear effects are actually necromancy.
There's always song of the dead.

Music of the Gods lets all the bardic music abilities bypass immunities, which if you buff charisma high enough means you can fascinate/suggest/whatever even gods.

Getting a divine rank by one means or another yields access to divine salient abilities that let you bypass immunities like that as well -- I know Divine Bard mirrors Music of the Gods (I played a bard in an epic level campaign, if you couldn't tell :p)


For many enemies, changing their type can force them to drop the immunity (iirc polymorphing can do this?)

Yes, polymorphing would do it, but it's not really a good use of resources. you'd likely be better off polymorphing yourself.

[Malroth]

It's nowhere close to RAW or even RAI but for all effects I've always ruled that each source of "immunity" meant the target's choice of one of the following

Gain SR equal to 5+ your HD vs the effects
Adds A Fort save to negate if no save exists
+10 to existing Save
+10 To existing SR vs the effect
Duration is reduced to 1 minute
Damage is reduced by 30

and multiple sources of Immunity stack so someone with 3 sources of Immunity could gain +30 to their saves vs the effect but it still allowed these types of spells to be useful after lv 1

[Kelb_Panthera]

Two words: target selection.

Get a few charmed minions to help you deal with the things you can't enchant and have a backup plan for when that's not viable.

Punching through type-based immunity is -extremely- difficult and what methods do exist are usually limited in what kind of enchantments can actually be used. It's generally a waste of resources to try.

[Zanos]

There's always song of the dead.
Forgot about that one. Pretty useful, although the typing restrictions still make it hard to use. A lot of enchantment spells are type restricted, and you could pick up some necromancy that does similar things.


Two words: target selection.

Get a few charmed minions to help you deal with the things you can't enchant and have a backup plan for when that's not viable.

Punching through type-based immunity is -extremely- difficult and what methods do exist are usually limited in what kind of enchantments can actually be used. It's generally a waste of resources to try.
This is the correct answer. Enchanters kill things they can't enchant by making other people do it.