Rare magic and godlike sorcerers — settings?

NerfedWizard said:

I get that you want magicians to be rare so that magic is still *magical*

- does that mean you want *magic* to be rare too?

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Per the thread title, yes, I want magic to be rare, too. Again, look at Middle Earth and Mithgar for examples. Magical races are typically legends in the time of the series protagonists, as are magic weapons and the like.

If you have few magicians, but each of them can tap vast, almost infinite power without real constraints, the world will be flooded with magic...

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Not necessarily true, it will only be flooded with magic if they choose to flood it with magic. Again, Middle Earth serves as a good example of a setting where wizards are essentially gods, but magic itself isn't pervasive. It's out there, but until the War of the Ring, the common folk don't really have much interaction with it (if they have interaction with it at all).

Do you want the common folk to be aware of magic as a fact, or to have heard of it through legends but have no real knowledge of its existence?

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As a rule, I'd like kind of a happy medium. Take the Hobbits of the Shire, for example. Prior to the events of The Hobbit, they know of epic magic only through tales, though they have seen Gandalf utilize more mundane (i.e., inconsequential) magic for amusement at festivals. So it's not really a matter of not being exposed to magic at all versus swimming it it, so much as it is not being exposed to epic magic.

Do you want ALL sorcerers to be enormously powerful, or do you just want the potential for enormously powerful sorcerers (PCs and NPCs)?

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Both. I want both.

And when you say, in effect, "not an alternate Earth" - where do you draw the line?

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I mean not ostensibly set in our Europe or on our Earth. Analogues are fine, actual alternate realities that depict our own Earth are right out. So, for example, Middle Earth or Greyhawk are in (and, yes, I know that Middle Earth is heavily hinted at being a past version of our Earth, but this is never explicitly stated to my knowledge). Mythic Europe and the World of Darkness, both of which are explicitly stated to be 'secret' versions of our own Earth, are out.

Check out the Birthright setting. To cast powerful spells (non-illusion non-divination spells 3rd level and above), a person has to be of a bloodline touched by the gods. Arcane magic is quite rare, but can still be quite powerful. Mages can rule kingdoms and blast apart rivals castles. +1 swords are cherished heirlooms of noble families.

The setting was made for 2nd ed D&D but fans have kept it alive for 3e and 4e.
Check out Birthright.net

Thieves World
The Dying Earth
The Belgariad
The Hyperborean age, although there was a mid-tier of mystics, hypnotists, cultists, and the like
Greek mythology

The setting you describe pretty much is Middle Earth - why not run a game set in the 4th Age of Middle Earth (about which not so much is widely known, if I understand correctly), but use the mechanics from a game like Ars Magica or Mage.

NerfedWizard said:

The setting you describe pretty much is Middle Earth - why not run a game set in the 4th Age of Middle Earth (about which not so much is widely known, if I understand correctly), but use the mechanics from a game like Ars Magica or Mage.

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The only reason that I specifically seek to avoid Middle Earth is because I hate rabid canon adherents, and Middle Earth draws them like manure draws flies. I'd rather spend my time running a game than researching 50+ years of Tolkien myth down to handwritten correspondence in order to sate the radical leanings of the few nuts I'm certain to run into

You could tell them up front you're using the system & setting, but you're running an Alternative Middle Earth.

Y'know, with 7' tall hobbits or something.

Dannyalcatraz said:

You could tell them up front you're using the system & setting, but you're running an Alternative Middle Earth.

Y'know, with 7' tall hobbits or something.

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I suspect that would go over just about as well as me telling you that I'm running Champions, but using the alternate rules of GURPS

But seriously...

7' Hobbits aside...

I'd play in an Alt Middle Earth.* Its an interesting world, and it would be an interesting place in which to tell new tales, especially tales which couldn't be told within the confines of the original.

What if the Gollum had returned to the Shire with the One Ring, and built up his evil empire within it...until he somehow re-awakened and "summoned" Sauron?

What if Sauron had truly been destroyed...but his essence had been absorbed by some of the mages of the era, who then became progressively more evil?

What if Sauron had managed to subvert the Elves instead, using promises of a return to prominence?

Etc.

* Of course, you could always play Midnight 2Ed.

The first game that jumps to mind is Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying. I've only seen the 1st Ed. made oh so long ago. Magic is powerful (eventually) and there are clear PC paths to achieve it, but it is rare and dangerous. I have no clue what future versions of the game did. Not the best system imo, but the theme sounds close to what you are looking for.

Another idea would be to contact Barsoom on these boards and ask him what he uses. I have no clue what system he is using for the world he runs, but it is a world based on Edgar Rice Burrough's books where magic is rare, but those who control it are extremely powerful. I've been using the event cards from his first story hour for about two years and the players love it.

You can reach him via his story hour, the latest of which is linked below.
http://www.enworld.org/forum/story-...e-revolution-bloody-revenge-upd-dec-10-a.html

Heya:

Exalted

is exactly the world you want.


It's an animist setting, so the common people will have certainly seen magic since everything you do will have some sort of god to it. Most of them will be too small to be important, but every village is going to do something to placate the god of the local wheat fields.

But sorcery itself? That's extremely extremely rare, and it exists in three degrees of puisiant power.

Terrestrial - The 'common' magic of the setting. Typically used by dragon blooded demi-gods when commanding their elite legions. Let's you do things like conjure a cloud of obsidian winged butterflies to flay your foes alive.

Celestial - Rarer magic. Used by the Assassins of Heaven or the Consorts of the Moon. Tentacles made of lava, chariots to traverse continents, and that sort of thing.

Solar - Rarest. Things like genesis effects.

That last bit of magic was used only by the Solar Exalted - a type of demi-god not seen on the earth for two ages, until the PCs became enfused with their reincarnated souls.

It's a fun game, great setting, and has a pretty well vetted system.

You could also run it with 4th Ed with a little creativity.