1) Can someone please explain to me what is the difference between Magic Resistance and Spell Resistance.

2) How exactly does "Armor Check Penalty" work? I picked up a very nifty Tower Shield for my frontliner, but it says "-9 Armor Check Penalty". How bad is that, and what is affected by it?

And no, I don't have a manual.

[ October 02, 2002, 00:12: Message edited by: Modjahed ]

The Armor Check Penalty is applied to skill checks that are affected by it. Hiding in Shadows is what comes to mind in IWD2. In 3E it also applies to things like swimming and climbing.

[ October 02, 2002, 00:23: Message edited by: Blackthorne TA ]

in 3e there's not magic resistance. Basicly magic and spell resistance would be the same thing.

Are there two different things in IWD 2?

Magic Resistance is expressed in values like 1/-. It is resistance to 'magic' damage like that done by magic missiles, horrid wilting, the moonblade, etc. It works exactly like any other form of damage reduction (ie piercing resistance, etc).

Spell Resistance is the equivalent of the old Magic Resistance. It is the target number needed to be overcome by the caster's penetration for that spell to affect the target at all.

The penetration level is basically 1d20+caster level+feat bonuses, IIRC. So, a 13th lvl sorceror throwing a spell against a 13th level monk (23 Spell Resistance), would need to roll a 10 or better for the spell to take affect.

One last thing on spell resistance: it's usually not cumulative. The game will typically take the item (or ability in the case of a monk or deep gnome) that has the highest spell resistance. Occasionally you might find something that adds to the spell resistance (i.e., has a '+' in front of number) but this is rare.

Hide, Move Silently and Pick Pockets are the only skills affected by the Armor Check Penalty in IDW2.

OK, thanks a lot!

I am glad I can keep that tower shield :) !!

Related to Armor Check Penalty and Shields:
In IWD2 if you don't have the Shield Proficiency, you get a penalty to your attack roll if you do carry a shield that has an armor check penalty. You get no penalty if the shield doesn't have a penalty (indicated by -0), even if you don't have the shield proficiency feat!
It's possible the same applies to armor.