Psikerlord#
Explorer
5e cant do low magic; not without removing 85% of the subclasses.
What system would you use for gritty fantasy?
5e cant do low magic; not without removing 85% of the subclasses.
It can. It just requires a bit of work and tweaking. It would not be the most elegant solution. But it certainly "can" do it.
As my original post suggested, if editing 5e would be "too much work" for someone, then use 1 or 2e or Basic/BECM instead. Keep the magic in the "magic classes" [where it belongs] and/or limit their number/exposure.
I imagine most systems can do it if you want to change them; I was more interested in systems optimised for it.
I'd could see a very fun short-term fantasy campaign being run using Call of Cthulhu.
Forget the mythos and the 20s...
The BRP chassis that Cthulhu is built on makes combat quick and lethal, and it's trivial to add a few weapons and shields, from Runequest. The Cthulhu skills might be off in a few places (pilot) but then some could be flavourful... why isn't it ever the village scribe that discovers the awful truth...?
And then you have the threat of SAN loss for seeing the grim realities of melee combat, or supernatural horrors like ghosts or undead or demons...
As for magic - best not to go there.
Forget the mythos and the 20s...
The BRP chassis that Cthulhu is built on makes combat quick and lethal, and it's trivial to add a few weapons and shields, from Runequest. The Cthulhu skills might be off in a few places (pilot) but then some could be flavourful... why isn't it ever the village scribe that discovers the awful truth...?
And then you have the threat of SAN loss for seeing the grim realities of melee combat, or supernatural horrors like ghosts or undead or demons...
As for magic - best not to go there.
Jiggawatts
Adventurer
I cast another stone for both Mythras and DCC RPG, Mythras (which is a BRP based game, same as Call of Cthulhu, originally derived from Runequest) does bronze/iron/dark age games really well and has gritty combat, whereas DCC is a great mishmash between D&D and Lovecraft, where things are weird and spellcasting can have consequences.
Yeah, I agree with you, Bluenose. I don't think 5e D&D can do gritty very well / at all, and taking out bits and pieces to make it "more gritty" makes it less D&D. I share that opinion, sir. 1e/2e would certainly be a better choice over 5e but even they wouldn't be the best choice, not by a long shot.
GURPS is probably you best best for low fantasy. You design it from the ground up, so there's no need to take anything out. It'll only have what you put in. Zweihander, the new WFRP retroclone, is also a good choice. I own it and it's pretty dang nice. Out of the two, I think GURPS would probably be slightly better.
That or Runequest would have been my first suggestion, as well.
As an alternative the new World of Darkness core book could also work for a game where average people are confronted with supernatural beasties.
Hmmm...Scion?
