Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
Meta - Forums About Forums
Archive-threads
What is "grim and gritty" and "low magic" anyway?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="heimdall" data-source="post: 1423714" data-attributes="member: 12421"><p>I believe Ravenloft would be considered Low Magic. Call of Cthulhu D20 (and Chaosium's version as well) would be considered grim and gritty.</p><p></p><p>My definitions when I use those terms to describe my homebrew world:</p><p></p><p><strong>Low Magic</strong> - The average person rarely, if ever comes into contact with magic. Even the village priest may be pious, but not necessarily blessed with the ability to heal. </p><p></p><p>This makes PCs the true heroes or villians of the world, along with their primary antagonists. Magic is viewed with a bit of distrust, so there are social implications, of course. Magical items are therefore rarer among the common stuff ("Look, honey, a new broom of sweeping for your birthday!") and tend more towards the items that can be used for conflict and war (the stuff an average party wants anyway). Yes, this does put the PCs at a higher point than the average two-bit warlord. But it also puts the main antagonists on a similar level. Which means to the average populace, they are held in awe, good or bad.</p><p></p><p><strong>Grim and Gritty</strong> - You could die at any time. Therefore, be smart about your decisions. Unlike some worlds where priests with the ability to hit you with a true res are a dime a dozen, you had best expect to pay a ton IF you can find such a guy or gal. The same rules apply to the antagonists. They're intelligent. Should the odds turn against them, they'll cut and run in a heartbeat. None of this, "Didn't we kill this guy last month and he's back again?!?" </p><p></p><p>However, the standard brutish orcs, ogres, and the like will still march on in their barbaric ways using meat-wave tactics to overrun civilization. Therefore, you had best have a plan when dealing with 'em because charging in without one will get you killed and rolling a new character.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="heimdall, post: 1423714, member: 12421"] I believe Ravenloft would be considered Low Magic. Call of Cthulhu D20 (and Chaosium's version as well) would be considered grim and gritty. My definitions when I use those terms to describe my homebrew world: [B]Low Magic[/B] - The average person rarely, if ever comes into contact with magic. Even the village priest may be pious, but not necessarily blessed with the ability to heal. This makes PCs the true heroes or villians of the world, along with their primary antagonists. Magic is viewed with a bit of distrust, so there are social implications, of course. Magical items are therefore rarer among the common stuff ("Look, honey, a new broom of sweeping for your birthday!") and tend more towards the items that can be used for conflict and war (the stuff an average party wants anyway). Yes, this does put the PCs at a higher point than the average two-bit warlord. But it also puts the main antagonists on a similar level. Which means to the average populace, they are held in awe, good or bad. [B]Grim and Gritty[/B] - You could die at any time. Therefore, be smart about your decisions. Unlike some worlds where priests with the ability to hit you with a true res are a dime a dozen, you had best expect to pay a ton IF you can find such a guy or gal. The same rules apply to the antagonists. They're intelligent. Should the odds turn against them, they'll cut and run in a heartbeat. None of this, "Didn't we kill this guy last month and he's back again?!?" However, the standard brutish orcs, ogres, and the like will still march on in their barbaric ways using meat-wave tactics to overrun civilization. Therefore, you had best have a plan when dealing with 'em because charging in without one will get you killed and rolling a new character. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Meta - Forums About Forums
Archive-threads
What is "grim and gritty" and "low magic" anyway?
Top