D&D 5E Of Hearth and Home: Everyday Magic

[Samloyal23]

It does depend a bit on how pervasive magic is in your world. In my world, magic is very rare and mostly a heavily guarded secret. It is not an "everyday" thing. However, I still find the idea interesting and worth exploring.

Just remember that not everyone who uses it is an adventurer. It will end up being used for things that are not combat or survival related. Clerical domains are not based on the %0.0001 of worshipers that become heroes or villains. They are based on the beliefs of common worshipers. While the spells may be useful on an adventure or quest, the domains are based on the hopes and desires of the masses.

 

[dave2008]

Just remember that not everyone who uses it is an adventurer. It will end up being used for things that are not combat or survival related. Clerical domains are not based on the %0.0001 of worshipers that become heroes or villains. They are based on the beliefs of common worshipers. While the spells may be useful on an adventure or quest, the domains are based on the hopes and desires of the masses.

Sure, in many settings. I am just pointing out in some settings that is not the case. For example, in one of my settings most clerics / priest / paladins have no magic and wizards and the like are extremely rare. The concept of the domains may exist, but the magic doesn't. So a person may have faith in a god of the hearth, but it is just faith, not magic. So there is no real domain of the hearth that grants magic in a D&D sense.

But that is just one of my settings. Others are more D&D traditional and can absolutely use these everyday magics.

 

[Samloyal23]

Sure, in many settings. I am just pointing out in some settings that is not the case. For example, in one of my settings most clerics / priest / paladins have no magic and wizards and the like are extremely rare. The concept of the domains may exist, but the magic doesn't. So a person my have faith in a god of the hearth, but it is just faith, not magic. So there is no real domain of the hearth that grants magic in a D&D sense.

But that is just one of my settings. Others are more D&D traditional and can absolutely use these everyday magics.

Even if there is no magic, what people believe will be based on the needs of society and the worshipers, not the requirements of heroes. So domains should be based on the religious beliefs of the worshipers, not what works in the game. Otherwise, you have a shallow, flat world that lacks authenticity.

 

[dave2008]

Even if there is no magic, what people believe will be based on the needs of society and the worshipers, not the requirements of heroes. So domains should be based on the religious beliefs of the worshipers, not what works in the game. Otherwise, you have a shallow, flat world that lacks authenticity.

Sure, that is what I meant when I said: "So a person may have faith in a god of the hearth, but it is just faith, not magic. So there is no real domain of the hearth that grants magic in a D&D sense."

That being said, a world does not need to have depth to have a great adventure in.

 

[Longspeak]

I've really enjoyed Eva's Hidden Oddities: A Witches Primer.

Some of the magic and feel is dark, but there's also a lot of hedgewizardry in it that seems to fit the mold being sought here.

I went and peeked at this, then bought it, based on this recommendation. Very interesting, well-thought out, different, not just a reskin of Warlock like I've seen elsewhere. Nicely written, arranged, and illustrated.

 

[Samloyal23]

Sure, that is what I meant when I said: "So a person may have faith in a god of the hearth, but it is just faith, not magic. So there is no real domain of the hearth that grants magic in a D&D sense."

That being said, a world does not need to have depth to have a great adventure in.

But if you are going to have a long running campaign, it is going to become boring if there is no depth and authenticity, a single adventure does not a campaign make. Eventually, you want an immersive world that seems real to your players.

 

[dave2008]

But if you are going to have a long running campaign, it is going to become boring if there is no depth and authenticity, a single adventure does not a campaign make. Eventually, you want an immersive world that seems real to your players.

It depends, but IME, no.

One group I DM started with 5e and we have been running the same campaign for just over 5 years and the players are only now 15th level. When I started with this group (my second group) I decided to try a new approach (taking some of Mike Shea's "Lazy DM" advice) and intentionally created a very shallow world. I improvise a lot more and really only plan out and detail what is absolutely needed. If the players don't care about it - I don't care about it. In my 30 years as a DM it has been one of my most successful campaigns. We are having a great time.

What I have found is that all of the detail and world building I put into my worlds typically was really only appreciated by me, and really just ate up my time. When I freed my time to focus more on the players, everyone was the happier for it.

EDIT: To clarify, I am not saying that my experience is universal. A different group my have a completely different experience. I have also had great experiences with highly detailed worlds, I just suspect now that the detail was more for my benefit than my players.