The Inquisition

[AbeTheGnome]

I would really like to run a campaign based in a setting that has strong traditions against magic. A place where wizards are burned at the stake, where they are accused of consorting with demons (maybe they really do consort with demons), a place where wizards' guilds are very secretive, and anyone caught selling magical components is arrested. Divine magic would be OK, but the dogma of the church would be strictly anti-arcane. I'm looking for the Spanish Inquisition! Does anyone know of a setting with a nation/kingdom that resembles this, or even a stand-alone setting?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Green Ronin's Medieval Player's Handbook might be what you're looking for. Despite its name, it's really a campaign setting for the magical middle ages.

 

[Dr Simon]

Officially, the Church of Vaarta abhors magic and its practitioners as witches and heathens. Thus it is written in the Book of Iantash.

However, the Ulvoski (meaning "Painted Men") are a branch of the church composed of magic-wielders. Made official by the Accords of Murmask, the Ulvoski Order are said to derive their powers from Markam himself.
Dark Sun has the Sorcerer Kings jealously guarding their magical superiority by having their Templars root out other magicians, especially Preservers who have joined to form the Veiled Alliance. www.athas.org has 3.x edition stuff, I think.

Or...

It's only sketchy, but you might want to look at the Khazarate of Vaarta:

http://www.splendour.freeservers.com/vaartamain.html

Set up a pop-up blocker though - Freeservers kept increasing the number of adverts in an effort to extort money out of me. Additional information for Vaarta relevant to your enquiry that was newer than the site (references will be more clear if you read the Vaarta pages first) :

"The Ulvoski are hated and feared by peasant, noble and clergy alike. Clad in hooded black robes, black gloves with even their faces painted black, the Ulvoski are designated as Church inquisitors, their remit to seek out heathen magicians and either convert them or destroy them. Male magicians who submit are indoctrinated into the Ulvoski through hard and painful trials of spirit and flesh. Those who refuse are given the Five Wounds of Markam to purify them, and then killed. Women who use magic are always killed in this fashion as witches.

Over time, the powers of the Ulvoski have grown so that they no longer seek out just magicians, but heretics of any kind. The leader of the Ulvoski Order, Borstin, is at odds with the current Patriarch in a bitter yet secretive power struggle. Borstin would like nothing more than to see the Ulvoski running the entire Church. He flaunts his extreme asceticism and piety in the face of the luxury of the Medinavic clergy, yet secretly he has searched through forbidden books and undertaken dark rituals. In his pride he hopes to conquer Kebel with his power - an aim that can only end in disaster one way or another. "

The irony here is that the Ulvoski, in order to better root out magicians and heretics, are themselves magicians...

 

[cwhs01]

The Midnight campaign setting sounds as if it could be what you're after. It is a little dystopic and bleak in theme (think middle earth if sauron had won), but has an inquisition type setup where magic is banned and wizards/sorcerors are prosecuted.
Midnight is very cool, but also very dark fantasy.

 

[Yair]

Aside from the aforementioned Medieval Player's Handbook, Midnight comes to mind. It's a very dark setting, where arcanists (and indeed "fey" races) are hunted down by the One True Church. Very dark. For a campaign in a city, it could have much of the same elements you want - though perhaps not so much demons, and the taste would be more of oppression.

Along a similar vein, Dark Legacies is another dark setting where inquisition is common and demons features prominently and are associated with arcane magic. Note that there is no divine spellcasting (although priests do have supernatural powers), and that the world is a post-apocalyptic one.

What kind of game are you wanting to play? If you want to play witch-hunters, you might want to at least consider Dogs in the Vineyard, which focuses on that although in the West rather than Spain - but isn't D&D. You might also want to get inspiration from books such as Dark Ages: Inquisitor, which seem to be on-point. If you want to play on the wizard's side, you might want to consider playing the non-D&D game Ars Magica, or at least peruse the 3rd edition of the game that was replete with demonic influence, especially Tribunals of Hermes: Iberia. Iberia might give you a nice look at how a secret society of wizards is set in medieval Spain might look like (though a bit too early for your tastes I think) and has plenty of demons in it; ArM is a good game to play persecuted wizards within a hidden order*, but the wizards aren't demon-worshippers - and of course the game isn't D&D.

* Come to think of it, that would be a great game. I'd lower the wizard's power level by simply making the Arts into Abilities, play the effects of the Gift as the core book presents them, have the Order be well-hidden and fairly small and loose, and make heavy use of the Infernal and Divine realms (and books)... yes, this could be a very interesting saga.

 

[atomn]

The 7th Sea settin resembles 17th century Europe and the Inquisition in Castille (aka Spain) fits the bill for what you described. I like the d10 version of the game but I believe there is a d20 version also.

 

[Mighty Halfling]

[Monty Python]You know what's great about the Spanish Inquistion? Nobody expects it.[/Monty Python]

 

[The Lost Muse]

The Empire of Tarsis (home of Monte Cooks Ptolus) had an inquisition against arcane magic users in the past; however, Ptolus was one place it was safe for said casters to take refuge.

 

[amethal]

I would really like to run a campaign based in a setting that has strong traditions against magic. A place where wizards are burned at the stake, where they are accused of consorting with demons (maybe they really do consort with demons), a place where wizards' guilds are very secretive, and anyone caught selling magical components is arrested. Divine magic would be OK, but the dogma of the church would be strictly anti-arcane. I'm looking for the Spanish Inquisition! Does anyone know of a setting with a nation/kingdom that resembles this, or even a stand-alone setting?

Its nothing like the Spanish Inquisition, but the empire in the War of the Burning Sky is trying to eliminate all magic users apart from those working for the state.

 

[Xer0]

[Monty Python]You know what's great about the Spanish Inquistion? Nobody expects it.[/Monty Python]

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!!