D&D 5E Primeval Thule for 5th edition: Wizards I hope you are taking notes.

[Greg Benage]

There are clearly some compromises between "S&S" and "D&D" in the setting design. My preference would have been for them to excise more of the D&D stuff to emphasize the S&S stuff. Still, I understand why they made the decisions they did, and I can get where I want to be by cutting the caster classes and giving some of the narratives the ability to use caster items. Many of the "sorcerers" (e.g. Thoth-Amon, Thutothmes and the Black Ring) in the literature seemed dependent on ancient magical items for their power anyway.

And as far as enemies go, sorcerers in the Hyborian Age were rare, but Conan still seemed to cross paths with most of them -- even the ones that had been dead for a few thousand years.

 

[Corpsetaker]

Am I back on the WotC forums? Wow. Maybe you guys should move the petty arguments back there?

All it takes is one bad apple to spoil the bunch.

Also, he believe that I am somehow all alone in this and that my one contribution means nothing. Well my one may not but when there are many others who share that same feeling then it does make an impact.

 

[Wik]

Primeval Thule seems pretty cool - kinda want to get my hands on it, and see if I can mix it into my already fairly sword and sorcery-inspired 5e game. I wonder how well it'd mesh with some of the old-school D&D stuff, such as "Dwellers of the Forbidden City", "Hidden Shrine of Tamoanchan", and old-school inspired modules like the DCC "Emerald Cobra" module.

 

[Hussar]

It is next to useless to declare magic as "rare" if all the action focus is on a party filled with casters and they encounter many spell using enemies in quite a few very magical places. For magic to feel rare in a world then it can't be that ubiquitous in actual play. This is a similar problem to worlds where races other than human are "rare" but there isn't a single human in the party.

The point of something being rare is that it is seldom encountered. If rare stuff literally fills every session of play how rare is it really?

Again, the madness rules can be used here. Any warlock spell would automatically cause madness checks. A fair chunk of cleric and wizard and sorcerer spells would too.

It makes magic users pretty darn rare in the game if they cause the party to make madness saves every session.

 

[DEFCON 1]

All it takes is one bad apple to spoil the bunch.

Also, he believe that I am somehow all alone in this and that my one contribution means nothing. Well my one may not but when there are many others who share that same feeling then it does make an impact.

And in two years when Primeval Thule is the only campaign setting people play and all of WotC's offerings have dried up because no one played them, then you can know that you were right.

 

[Psikerlord#]

It is next to useless to declare magic as "rare" if all the action focus is on a party filled with casters and they encounter many spell using enemies in quite a few very magical places. For magic to feel rare in a world then it can't be that ubiquitous in actual play. This is a similar problem to worlds where races other than human are "rare" but there isn't a single human in the party.

The point of something being rare is that it is seldom encountered. If rare stuff literally fills every session of play how rare is it really?

I dont think this is true. The party can be the exception and the rest of the world the norm. The world at large will still very much have the rare magic feel.

On the other hand, I think a thule party would "fit" the world best with a single full caster only. Or perhaps no full casters, maybe 0-2 half casters. In any event the party balance is up to the table, as always, bearing in mind the game world.

 

[Hussar]

I dont think this is true. The party can be the exception and the rest of the world the norm. The world at large will still very much have the rare magic feel.

On the other hand, I think a thule party would "fit" the world best with a single full caster only. Or perhaps no full casters, maybe 0-2 half casters. In any event the party balance is up to the table, as always, bearing in mind the game world.

TBH, it might even be best just to get a "gentlemen's agreement" before chargen and get everyone on board. You could play Thule as a pretty straight up standard D&D setting without too much difficulty but, I think that would be missing a lot. Get the player's buy in before hand and maybe just get everyone to agree to not play full casters, even though there are full casters in the world. Same as you might have, I dunno, tieflings out there in the world, but, preferably not part of the party.

 

[ExploderWizard]

I dont think this is true. The party can be the exception and the rest of the world the norm. The world at large will still very much have the rare magic feel.

On the other hand, I think a thule party would "fit" the world best with a single full caster only. Or perhaps no full casters, maybe 0-2 half casters. In any event the party balance is up to the table, as always, bearing in mind the game world.

If I were designing a campaign setting for 5E and I wanted a more S&S feel then altering the way magic works would be at the top of the list. ALL spells would have a minimum of 1 minute ritual casting times making them unsuitable for most combat. You would see fewer casters in parties as a consequence.

 

[Agamon]

Anyway, I also backed Pirmeval Thule and have downloaded the PDF version. However, I'll wait until my hardcopy arrives before attempting to read it. I love electronic versions for use at the table, but don't care for them during extended reading sessions.

Interesting. I'm the opposite. When I'm reading, I prefer pdfs, as I most often read from page 1 through to end on my tablet. At the table, I can thumb through a book a lot faster than find a page on pdf, especially pdfs that are poorly bookmarked (as this one is, unfortunately). But even with bookmarks, I'm faster finding things in a well organized book. Then again, I also try to keep page flipping to a minimum at the table, too.

Also, my beautiful leather bound hardcover needs to be shown off at the table. No one wants to look at my dated tablet.

 

[Agamon]

TBH, it might even be best just to get a "gentlemen's agreement" before chargen and get everyone on board. You could play Thule as a pretty straight up standard D&D setting without too much difficulty but, I think that would be missing a lot. Get the player's buy in before hand and maybe just get everyone to agree to not play full casters, even though there are full casters in the world. Same as you might have, I dunno, tieflings out there in the world, but, preferably not part of the party.

It's also possible that, in a world this ugly, the PCs probably aren't all sunshine and lollipops. Sure, playing the type of sorcerer that Conan inevitably defeated at the end of his books is pushing it, but being a party of ne'er-do-well types fits the setting.

There's also the "well meaning, ends justifies the means" types that want power to help others, but the player should understand that this often doesn't end well.

I'm thinking of somehow integrating the corruption tables from DCC RPG. That, plus the madness checks, will help curb full casters. And those that want to give it a go should have fun with it.