Simplifying Spell Resistance in RuneQuest 2e

As part two of “The Macy Conventions”, I want to look at Spell Resistance.

Spell resistance is another thing that’s needlessly complicated in RuneQuest 2e, or at least expressed in a needlessly complicated way. The rule is that to cast a spell on a resisting target, you need to roll 50%, plus 5% for every point your POW is higher than theirs, -5% for every point lower. 96-00 always fails. They even gave you a handy chart to cross index the POWs and see what you need to roll

That strikes me as an ugly way to achieve this result. My house rule is:

Spell Resistance

1. Roll d20 and add (Your POW – 10)
2. If result exceeds (not equals) target’s POW, spell succeeds
3. If result is less than or equal to target’s POW, spell fails
4. A 1 always fails.

That’s mathematically identical, but seems to me much easier at the table. Most people are very fast at subtracting 10 from a number, even when it results in a negative number, compared to subtracting arbitrary numbers between 1 and 21 and then adding 50.

POW Gain Rolls

If you qualify for a POW gain roll after an adventure (cast a spell that could fail other than the auto fail on a 1 in a stressful situation during an adventure), roll strictly higher than your current POW on a d20 and you can increase your POW according to the regular rule (10% chance of +3 POW, 30% chance of +2, otherwise +1).

This is mathematically equivalent to the original subtract POW from racial max, multiply by 5 and roll less than the result on %.