Low magic in D&D can be a bit tricky, as D&D is designed to be more high magic. Though I will say, I currently play a level 7 paladin with no magic items and he's still very dangerous. There are very few magic items in our party and everyone works just fine. So don't worry so much about how the party will do without them initially.
If you want to gradually reveal magic to the party and give them gradual access to it, there are a few things you can do. You may need to be a little flexible as the DM. If you have a battlemaster fighter who gets exposed to magic in the later levels, you may want to consider letting him trade in the battlemaster for the eldrich knight. Things like that. Don't be afraid to be a little fluid with the rules and let the players explore the new magical options to them without much hassle. So players love multi-classing and would be fine splitting fighter and cleric or paladin levels. Other players may hate multi-classing and want to go full single class but not get cheated out of some of the new stuff. So perhaps that fighter starts to develop paladin abilities and he just trades out fighter levels for paladin with out much fuss. He's still a front line warrior, he just occasionally uses magic when he didn't before. There isn't a ton of difference, especially if the player always played their fighter a certain way, like as a knight or something.
Treasure and rewards could actually be a lot of fun. Since you're holding back magic items initially, give them treasure that helps them in different areas of the game. Giving them a supply cache when they've been lost and starving in the woods would be appreciated. Give them other rewards like political favors, small pieces of land, and contacts that can help them in tight spots. If you want them to find something physical for treasure, give them masterwork gear that can be enchanted later when they get access to magic. They key to doing fun physical treasure is to give it a cool story in the game world. Don't just give them a masterwork longsword. Give them the "Goblin Scythe", hammered from a plow in to a blade so that Sir Sebastian could defend his village from a 100 goblins (which he totally did, according to local legend). They players will find the sword cool, feel connected to the world and want to improve it so they can keep it. Be descriptive and the players will eat it up.
Having a low magic world gives you opportunity to explore some different aspects of the game. Focus more on survival and natural hazards, social interaction, using different skills to succeed, and other things. The slow reveal of magic will feel mysterious and cool. It's all in how you sell it. Since magic is so rare, is it considered taboo or evil? Is magic something to be feared for the consequences or is it something to learn about from a civilization lost? Sometimes focusing on something more "mundane" or non magical, like intrigue or survival, will make the magical seem more special.
If you want to gradually reveal magic to the party and give them gradual access to it, there are a few things you can do. You may need to be a little flexible as the DM. If you have a battlemaster fighter who gets exposed to magic in the later levels, you may want to consider letting him trade in the battlemaster for the eldrich knight. Things like that. Don't be afraid to be a little fluid with the rules and let the players explore the new magical options to them without much hassle. So players love multi-classing and would be fine splitting fighter and cleric or paladin levels. Other players may hate multi-classing and want to go full single class but not get cheated out of some of the new stuff. So perhaps that fighter starts to develop paladin abilities and he just trades out fighter levels for paladin with out much fuss. He's still a front line warrior, he just occasionally uses magic when he didn't before. There isn't a ton of difference, especially if the player always played their fighter a certain way, like as a knight or something.
Treasure and rewards could actually be a lot of fun. Since you're holding back magic items initially, give them treasure that helps them in different areas of the game. Giving them a supply cache when they've been lost and starving in the woods would be appreciated. Give them other rewards like political favors, small pieces of land, and contacts that can help them in tight spots. If you want them to find something physical for treasure, give them masterwork gear that can be enchanted later when they get access to magic. They key to doing fun physical treasure is to give it a cool story in the game world. Don't just give them a masterwork longsword. Give them the "Goblin Scythe", hammered from a plow in to a blade so that Sir Sebastian could defend his village from a 100 goblins (which he totally did, according to local legend). They players will find the sword cool, feel connected to the world and want to improve it so they can keep it. Be descriptive and the players will eat it up.
Having a low magic world gives you opportunity to explore some different aspects of the game. Focus more on survival and natural hazards, social interaction, using different skills to succeed, and other things. The slow reveal of magic will feel mysterious and cool. It's all in how you sell it. Since magic is so rare, is it considered taboo or evil? Is magic something to be feared for the consequences or is it something to learn about from a civilization lost? Sometimes focusing on something more "mundane" or non magical, like intrigue or survival, will make the magical seem more special.
