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What is "grim and gritty" and "low magic" anyway?
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<blockquote data-quote="NewJeffCT" data-source="post: 1419981" data-attributes="member: 10784"><p>Well, to me, grim and gritty means that all the combats are tough, very tough. None of this standard 25% of a party’s resources. Grim and gritty combats make the PCs use 99% (and then some) of their available resources to survive. An example would be a Conan-type world campaign I played in a few years ago. At the end, our PCs got involved in a big combat in the temple of an evil priest. As we took down bad guy minions, we started getting taken down ourselves. In the end, we had 4 party members that were unconscious for various reasons (0 or less HP, but stabilized under old 2E rules) and the sole remaining PC ended up with 1 hit point when he landed the killing blow on the BBEG. To top it off, the temple started collapsing around us when the BBEG died and the sole remaining PC had to make some good rolls to drag our unconscious butts out of the building in time! That was surviving by the proverbial skin of our teeth. </p><p></p><p>Another would be in a Kalamar campaign we ran in '98-'99. At the end, we had 9 PCs going up against a demon whose demon-bride was about to give birth to a Dark Child that would bring the world 300 years of Darkness (or something like that...)... in the end, 8 of the PCs had to sacrifice themselves to slow down the demon and allow one PC in to kill the demon-bride before she could give birth...</p><p></p><p>Some DMs run games where the PCs are challenged, but they do not give you that Fear of PC Death feeling. In a grim and gritty campaign, you always have the fear that death is waiting for you around every corner and it is going to take all your skills and wits as a PC just to survive.</p><p></p><p>A low magic game is where most people are first level commoners. The party has one spellcaster at the most and any sort of magic (items, spellcasters, etc) is rare. Raise Dead is extremely rare, if available at all. If you go to a local tavern, the guy behind the bar is probably not a retired 15th level fighter with a +5 magic sword or two lying around waiting to bequeath to the PCs while his cook wife is a half-celestial magic-user who loves to make items for low level PCs. </p><p></p><p>Low magic is where most enemies, especially in the beginning, are human, demi-human or humanoid. Things like demons, devils, vampires or dragons are saved for special campaign turning or climactic moments.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="NewJeffCT, post: 1419981, member: 10784"] Well, to me, grim and gritty means that all the combats are tough, very tough. None of this standard 25% of a party’s resources. Grim and gritty combats make the PCs use 99% (and then some) of their available resources to survive. An example would be a Conan-type world campaign I played in a few years ago. At the end, our PCs got involved in a big combat in the temple of an evil priest. As we took down bad guy minions, we started getting taken down ourselves. In the end, we had 4 party members that were unconscious for various reasons (0 or less HP, but stabilized under old 2E rules) and the sole remaining PC ended up with 1 hit point when he landed the killing blow on the BBEG. To top it off, the temple started collapsing around us when the BBEG died and the sole remaining PC had to make some good rolls to drag our unconscious butts out of the building in time! That was surviving by the proverbial skin of our teeth. Another would be in a Kalamar campaign we ran in '98-'99. At the end, we had 9 PCs going up against a demon whose demon-bride was about to give birth to a Dark Child that would bring the world 300 years of Darkness (or something like that...)... in the end, 8 of the PCs had to sacrifice themselves to slow down the demon and allow one PC in to kill the demon-bride before she could give birth... Some DMs run games where the PCs are challenged, but they do not give you that Fear of PC Death feeling. In a grim and gritty campaign, you always have the fear that death is waiting for you around every corner and it is going to take all your skills and wits as a PC just to survive. A low magic game is where most people are first level commoners. The party has one spellcaster at the most and any sort of magic (items, spellcasters, etc) is rare. Raise Dead is extremely rare, if available at all. If you go to a local tavern, the guy behind the bar is probably not a retired 15th level fighter with a +5 magic sword or two lying around waiting to bequeath to the PCs while his cook wife is a half-celestial magic-user who loves to make items for low level PCs. Low magic is where most enemies, especially in the beginning, are human, demi-human or humanoid. Things like demons, devils, vampires or dragons are saved for special campaign turning or climactic moments. [/QUOTE]
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What is "grim and gritty" and "low magic" anyway?
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