Down Goes the Cult Leader

The party continued its exploration of the first level of Purple Mountain.  They defeated the inhabitants of the rubbish room, but didn't investigate the trash or the shaft.  They made a circuit of the octagonal corridor to get their bearings and then decided to head through the double doors.  Beyond, they traded blows and spells with the guardians of the lower level, while the cult leader lobbed spells on them from the upper level of the room.  Magic resistance saved them more than a few times.  After a long and drawn out fight, only the leader was left.  Realizing the gig was up, he discorporated into a scattering mass of worms and was gone...for now.

One of my house rules is a variant on magic resistance, a new concept in 7e T&T.  Having played 5e since way back, I gave 7e a try when it came out, but after playing with it for several years I realized I still didn't like it so we went back to a 5e base.  The better bits of 7e - Talents and the new types, for instance - were incorporated, but what to do with magic resistance?  I was torn.  I like magic to be chaotic and uncertain at times, but I also liked the point and shoot style of 5e spells.  What I finally decided on was a system based off of 5e: spells automatically work, unless the subject makes a conscious effort to resist the effects.  In this case they make a SR on WIZ at the spell's level.  Fail and the spell works as normal.  Succeed and the spell might be resisted.  The last bit, why it might be resisted, is that the effort to resist the spell burns WIZ just like casting a spell whether the resisting is successful or futile.  The subject has to spend WIZ just as if they were the caster of said spell, with appropriate reductions based on level, focus, and type.  Without sufficient WIZ, resisting fails and the spell works as normal.