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What is "grim and gritty" and "low magic" anyway?
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<blockquote data-quote="Bendris Noulg" data-source="post: 1420706" data-attributes="member: 6398"><p>Well, there's a difference between more powers and more powerful powers. My own group tends to focus on ability and versatility (multiclassing actually occurs a lot), prefering combative prowess mixed in with good skills. By restricting a game to lower levels, you limit the potential growth of the PCs. So it's not really a question of the number of abilities/powers available, but the continuous upscaling of these abilities that detract from the flavor(s) lower magic helps generate.</p><p> </p><p>House Rule Alert:</p><p> </p><p>Cleave, Prereqs: Strength 15, BAB +3, Power Attack</p><p> </p><p>Great Cleave, Prereqs: Strength 17, BAB +6, Power Attack, Cleave</p><p> </p><p>A Channeler at this time (6th Level) can cast <em>fireball </em>at 5th Level (8 Spell Points, Major Fatigue), 6th Level (9 Spell Points, Severe Fatigue), or higher (+1 Spell Point per level, Mortal Fatigue with chance of death).</p><p> </p><p>Alternately, he can cast <em>magic missile</em> at 1st Level (2 Spell Points, no Fatigue), 3rd Level (4 Spell Points, Light Fatigue), 5th Level (6 Spell Points, Major Fatigue), or higher (+1 Spell Point per level, Mortal Fatigue with chance of death).</p><p> </p><p>(Spell Points: 1 per Spell Level + 1 per Casting Level, with Minimum Casting Level = Class Level that Spell Level becomes available, so a <em>fireball</em> costs 3 + 5 points minimum, +1 per additional Casting Level. As an FYI, I went this route to keep Spell Resistance from becoming overpowered against Arcane Casters.)</p><p> </p><p>However, I think some clarification regarding my own gaming (at the moment) might be in order:</p><p> </p><p>I currently GM over 3 games. One game has a Channeler (5th Level), while the other games are casterless (although one PC is a Psychic per the Fading Suns psi system). So I have one PC in one game that I have no issues with running; I can easily continue this game well into the higher levels knowing that this PC is an exception in a world nearly devoid of spellcasters (except for a few key cultures, and most of them focus on divine magic). However, beside it, I have two games where spellcasting <em>almost</em> never comes into play. The PCs all chose not to be spellcasters (and there is player overlap between these groups), and thus only one villainous spellcaster has made an appearance throughout the last five years.</p><p> </p><p>This, again, turns back to the statement made earlier that low magic is different things to different people. Heck, the campaign that I've only set up the basic structures for is looking more and more like it will be <em>completely</em> devoid of magic in the classical sense (that is, everything will be driven by the Fading Suns psi system without exception, although I'm trying very hard to find a way to keep Divine Magic). As a result, how the game is adjusted is going to change depending on who you ask and how they define "low magic". If someone says, "I want a low magic game that [list of qualities wanted for campaign world]", I have a basis from which to suggest various changes and adjustments. However, when someone says, "I want a low magic game" and leaves it at that, all I can really say is, "go for it."</p><p> </p><p>But this also works in reverse; When I say, "I run a low magic, grim-n-gritty game", you don't know Aedon from Toril, and thus you automatically visualize your worst experience with a LMGnG game and will likely post accordingly.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Bendris Noulg, post: 1420706, member: 6398"] Well, there's a difference between more powers and more powerful powers. My own group tends to focus on ability and versatility (multiclassing actually occurs a lot), prefering combative prowess mixed in with good skills. By restricting a game to lower levels, you limit the potential growth of the PCs. So it's not really a question of the number of abilities/powers available, but the continuous upscaling of these abilities that detract from the flavor(s) lower magic helps generate. House Rule Alert: Cleave, Prereqs: Strength 15, BAB +3, Power Attack Great Cleave, Prereqs: Strength 17, BAB +6, Power Attack, Cleave A Channeler at this time (6th Level) can cast [i]fireball [/i]at 5th Level (8 Spell Points, Major Fatigue), 6th Level (9 Spell Points, Severe Fatigue), or higher (+1 Spell Point per level, Mortal Fatigue with chance of death). Alternately, he can cast [i]magic missile[/i] at 1st Level (2 Spell Points, no Fatigue), 3rd Level (4 Spell Points, Light Fatigue), 5th Level (6 Spell Points, Major Fatigue), or higher (+1 Spell Point per level, Mortal Fatigue with chance of death). (Spell Points: 1 per Spell Level + 1 per Casting Level, with Minimum Casting Level = Class Level that Spell Level becomes available, so a [i]fireball[/i] costs 3 + 5 points minimum, +1 per additional Casting Level. As an FYI, I went this route to keep Spell Resistance from becoming overpowered against Arcane Casters.) However, I think some clarification regarding my own gaming (at the moment) might be in order: I currently GM over 3 games. One game has a Channeler (5th Level), while the other games are casterless (although one PC is a Psychic per the Fading Suns psi system). So I have one PC in one game that I have no issues with running; I can easily continue this game well into the higher levels knowing that this PC is an exception in a world nearly devoid of spellcasters (except for a few key cultures, and most of them focus on divine magic). However, beside it, I have two games where spellcasting [i]almost[/i] never comes into play. The PCs all chose not to be spellcasters (and there is player overlap between these groups), and thus only one villainous spellcaster has made an appearance throughout the last five years. This, again, turns back to the statement made earlier that low magic is different things to different people. Heck, the campaign that I've only set up the basic structures for is looking more and more like it will be [i]completely[/i] devoid of magic in the classical sense (that is, everything will be driven by the Fading Suns psi system without exception, although I'm trying very hard to find a way to keep Divine Magic). As a result, how the game is adjusted is going to change depending on who you ask and how they define "low magic". If someone says, "I want a low magic game that [list of qualities wanted for campaign world]", I have a basis from which to suggest various changes and adjustments. However, when someone says, "I want a low magic game" and leaves it at that, all I can really say is, "go for it." But this also works in reverse; When I say, "I run a low magic, grim-n-gritty game", you don't know Aedon from Toril, and thus you automatically visualize your worst experience with a LMGnG game and will likely post accordingly. [/QUOTE]
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