Knights & Knaves Alehouse

Just when you thought you'd heard it all...

In our current 1e game a PC fell victim to poor choice with a Deck of Many Things and lost his psyche (imprisoned elsewhere). The rest of the party managed to determine its general location, and that it is being held by a powerful devil. Our current quest is to recover the psyche from the devil's underground temple lair.

While discussing what preparations we might want to make for the foray, the topic of magic resistance came up (we are, of course, expecting to fight a lot of demons/devils) and here's where the question lies.

One player (new to our game, but having played for years BITD) asserted that magic resistance only protected against magic user & illusionist spells (and presumedly magic items that confer such powers), NOT against clerical spells. His position is that magic users use magical spells, but clerics use divine power and magic resistance doesn't protect against divine power. For complete protection (or at least a % chance of immunity) a creature needed spell resistance which was potent against all spells.

This interpretation runs counter to everything I've understood about MR, which is that MR applies to all "magic" be it spell caster spells, magic items, magical effects (really old school DM stuff that isn't listed in the books, but shows up in early modules, especially ones from Judges Guild, ie. "the pool is magical and, if liquid from it is imbibed, it confers +1 to all saving throws for 24 hours.") or anything else even remotely interpreted as magic.

(1) Has anyone else ever heard of this, much less actually played by this rule?

(2) If so, is it 1e canon and where is the rule located?

I've always played it as all spells. I offer this as circumstantial evidence:

(DMG, pg 41, discussing Clerical Spells)

Silence, 15' Radius: If this spell is cast at a magic resistant creature, and
resistance works, silence does NOT encompass the creature. Turning of
the spell, in whale or in part, will negate its effects, save for muting
sound, if it is turned beyond its radius.

In addition, there is a note on the turning table, found on pg 76 of the DMG:

**Evil creatures from lower planes such as minor demons, lesser devils,
mezzodaemons, night hags, from 1-2 in number. (As a rule of thumb,
any creature with armor class of -5 or better, 11 or more hit dice, or 66%
or greater magic resistance will be unaffected.)

It applies to clerical magic.

That stated, it wouldn't bother me if a DM said, "In my game, MR is ineffective against clerical spells."

I hate magic resistance. It really hurts casters. I am really thinking about leaving it out of my games.

Spell resistance is just the 3E term for magic resistance.
Magic resistance works against any sort of magic.

Its magic (the source of the power isn't brought up in the spell description).

I'm a fan of all the spells, this one in particular. Its something not everyone takes or memorizes. And sometimes needed when least expected.

Monster Manual 1st edition says:

MAGIC RESISTANCE indicates the percentage chance of any spell absolutely failing in the monster's presence.

I presume any spell means any spell, be it a magic-user, illusionist, cleric, druid, ranger, paladin, bard, thief, or assassin, but I can see where the confusion might come in because the example given is of a magic-user.

Yes, it is a horrible thing. Get some magic wands and staves.

Additionally, from the DMG:

1. The description for the Clerical spell Snake Charm indicates that it is affected by Magic Resistance.

2. The description of the Robe of Scintillating Colors states that: "each round that [the colors] scintillate and move, any opponent not making its saving throw versus magic (or magic resistance check, then save) will stand transfixed for 2-5 rounds." This implies that Magic Resistance also applies to magical effects, and not just spells. There is similar verbiage in the description for the Scarab of Insanity. Of course one could also interpret this to mean that resistance only applies to those non-spell situations that are specifically cited in the rules.

3. HOWEVER, the glossary entry for Magic Resistance states: "The percentage chance of any spell absolutely failing in the monster’s presence. It is based on the spell being cast by an 11 th level magic-user, and must be adjusted upwards by 5% for each level the caster is below 1 l t h or downwards by 5% for each level the caster is above 11th. Thus a magic resistance of 95% means that a 10th level magic-user has no possibility of affecting the monster with a spell, while a 12th level MU has a 10% chance. Even if a spell does take effect on a magic-resistant creature, the creature is then entitled to normal saving throws."

Just one of those DM rulings I guess...