Altering Spells

[vaz]

KISS; keep it simple stupid, is advice given to solving many problems in life and D&D.

I see; Nerull was an exaggeratiom; that didn't help your case at all; hyperbole is poor argument forming. Simply put, a gods uberdeath ray shouldn't really be based off a 7th level spell. If it just said "killed outright" it wouldn't be a death effect.

And if Frodo's "other ring" had Mind Blank 1/day, considering that the One Ring was meant to bind the rings of the greatest kingdom of Man (with a capital M, or Man+) then surely it would have some sort method of breaking down the enemies defenses, against which Mindblank would be expected by Saurons' Intelligence/Spies

[Mortadelas]

And here is the feat:

Brute Force Spell (metamagic)

Prereq: Greater Spell Focus (any)
Benefit: A Brute Force Spell carries all the knowledge you gained by your focused studies but it is not art, it is a vulgar display of power. Mortal magic cannot grant immunity against it, though enemies that are immune to it by nature remain so (you cannot cast a Brute force: Command Undead to command a humanoid but you can use Brute Force:Charm Person on a humanoid spell caster that has polymorphed in a different type of creature or had Mind blank casted on him).If this feat is used on an illusion spell, true seeing cannot see through the Illusion but it does allow a save as if the illusion was interacted with. This feat can only be applied to spells that belong in the school you have Greater spell focus on.
A Brute Force Spell uses up a spell slot one level higher than the spell's actual level.

Like searing spell, it is a +1 MM feat, requires GSF so that only specialist chars can get it, and like sneak attack vs uncanny dodge it is negated by someone who is equally focused in growing immune to effects as the caster is to casting these effects.

[Unbeliever]

I am not in love with the bevy of immunities that emerge in a high level game.  If you wanted to venture into house rule territory, I'd prefer to attack the immunities at their source rather than come up with a work around.  This has been brought up in this thread already, but I'd just put my vote in that camp. 

At any rate, Brute Force Spell strikes me as wonky.  First, it seems overpowered for a +1 adjustment.  I know the comparison is to Searing Spell, but it's relatively easy to get either fire immunity or a ton of fire resistance.  Other immunities are not so common.  And, letting some damage burn through an immunity has less impact than suddenly making a target vulnerable to a whole range of effects, many of which are save-or-suck.

Second, and a bit contrariwise, "not against enemies 'immune to it by nature'" clause seems problematic to me.  This feat then just seems to resolve to:  "screw you Mind Blank and True Seeing!"  Tis a noble goal, but this seems like a weird way to go about it.  And, if I was a player in such a game it'd smell fishy to me.  The undead and what have you keep all their immunities, but the only ones we have ready access to vanish.  This doesn't exactly address the problem of making the Illusionist and the Enchanter viable again; it only does it on one side of the screen.

[vaz]

That's very oddly worded.

I was thinking of something along the lines of the Dread Witches Greater Master of Terror Class Feature;

Greater Master of Terror (Ex): Beginning at 4th level, the increased difficulty of all save DCs against all spells you cast with the fear descriptor increases from +1 to +2. In addition, your fear spells are now so potent that they can even affect individuals normally immune to fear, such as paladins, although the subject still gains a saving throw to resist the spell's effect. Only a target whose HD exceed your caster level by 4 or more is immune to your mastery of terror. For instance, if you are a sorcerer 7/dread witch 4 (overall caster level 10), a paladin of 14th level or higher is immune to your fear spells.

For example;

Vexing Enchantment;
Requirement; Spell Focus, Enchantment
Benefit; When targeting enemies with immunity to Mind Affecting effects with an Enchantment spell with the Mind-Affecting descriptor, you may reduce the duration of the spell by half (rounding down) to cause the spell to bypass that immunity. Instantaneous duration Mind Affect spells change to Permanent Duration against such targets. Against targets who are not immune to Mind Affecting spells, after the spell has ended you may instantly make a Diplomacy Check on those affected as a free action. This check does not require you to converse with the target, or have any sort of interaction; it simply lets you instill the target with an idea that's relevant to that target. E.g, targeting an enemy diplomat with a Vexing  Charm Person will not only allow you to alter their attitude to friendly for the duration of the spell, but to either make the attitude of the diplomat more friendly towards yourself, or alternatively, more aggressive to the person they are working for.  A vexing spell uses up a spell slot two levels higher than the spell's actual level.