D&D 5E The Decrease in Desire for Magic in D&D

[overgeeked]

It's caused by getting older. I mean, Harry Potter was aimed at young adults for a reason.

I’d disagree. I’ve always played D&D as low-powered, low-magic since I was a kid. I’ve played that way for almost 40 years now. To me, that’s just D&D. High-powered, high-magic is fine. It’s just not D&D to me. Harry Potter is neat but it’s not D&D.

 

[Lanefan]

But not Harry Potter. Love HP and I am finishing reading Prisoner of Azkaban (not my favorite one) for the 4th time (as I go through the series again). I have watched the movies even more.

Harry Potter is a good example here in a few ways. Yes the magic is IMO mostly too fast-paced for D&D, but in the heat of combat they still have to aim their spells and can (and often do) miss; and D&D could do with a lot more of this. There also seems to be no real limit on how many spells a caster can do - or try - in a day, which while balanced when everyone works that way isn't at all balanced in a level-based system that's also trying to make and keep martials playable.

But Potter is not a good blueprint to follow for setting design in one very big other way: it's papered over in the books/movies but when looked at the least bit closely the power gap between muggles and even the most hopeless witches-wizards is simply far too great to be sustainable in a realistic setting.

 

[Mistwell]

I like the idea of a low magic campaign, like a LOTR campaign, and I would play in such a campaign.

But not as a permanent thing. Ultimately I love magic in D&D, I am drawn to playing wizards, bards, druids, and clerics. I like that the setting is so meaningfully different from the real world, because of magic.

 

[tetrasodium]

The same applies to everything you're saying re: grittier except "easier death" in media generally. Easier death is I think a canard people get from thinking about earlier editions of D&D. It doesn't achieve any of the same goals as the rest of the stuff, it just makes people re-roll characters a lot, which tends to reduce immersion, mildly inconvenience groups and annoy people more than making them feel much.

The point of death being so much closer to breathing down the necks of PCs rather than being changed up in a locked cage in the back room of another locked building with a lock on the building isn't so much the actual PCs getting killed. I've had more 5e PCs fall to monsters than 2e/3.x/pf PCs but in almost every case the 5e PC was suicidally played or just straight up executed with the player shocked it was even on the table. In 2e/3.x/pf though the PCs knew that life was fragile & acted with a sense of self preservation.

 

[cbwjm]

I usually don't count those, as most play stopped around that level anyway; and even if it continued, the casting powers of those high level characters (Rangers, Paladins) was miniscule compared to what else they could do.

I know a lot of people don't count them, but they still always had spellcasting which is why they've evolved into the half-casters we have now, they just slowly gained more spellpower, developing from their earlier incarnations.

 

[Krachek]

So a way to satisfy magic feeling, may be to emphasis on describing spell effects,
describing the use of material, somatic, verbal component, and making magic using less mechanical.

Magic feeling is in some way allergic to rule, methodical and repetitive application.

 

[DND_Reborn]

I like that the setting is so meaningfully different from the real world, because of magic.

See this is a pivotal issue for me.

When I played before (I stopped when I was 35 for a while), my games were magical in many ways. I had magical locations, powerful magical items, as well as high-level casters (all this was in AD&D 1E/2E), magic-based storylines, etc.

But, for some reason, now--playing 5E--I seem to want games which are "low magic", less magic items, weaker casters, more mundane. It isn't just about the PCs, classes, spells, magic items--it is about the setting as well.

Why do I desire a less magical setting/game in 5E when I was very happy having a high magic (near Monty Haul (?) sometimes) setting/game in B/X and AD&D for over 25 years?

 

[UngainlyTitan]

@DND_Reborn I have gone the opposite direction. I used to prefer low magic settings but now I love 5e. D&D magic is not exactly what I would but I am happy with it and happy with high magic fantasy.

 

[J.Quondam]

Why do I desire a less magical setting/game in 5E when I was very happy having a high magic (near Monty Haul (?) sometimes) setting/game in B/X and AD&D for over 25 years?

Does there have to be a reason? Tastes change over time.
Personally, I've gone the other direction, preferring low-magic settings, and even humans-only settings. But of late, i've found myself more interested in gonzo. I don't think there's any particular reason, except maybe to just scratch an itch that hasn't been scratched much.

 

[Tonguez]

In the past Magic was Magical but these days its so ubiquitous that its become a mundane tool - especially with stupid spells that are just skill replacements (hunters mark)

I also think that as rl tech allows us to do more stuff our minds get less impressed by magic - sending a message or creating an illusion are basic tasks now.

but yeah personally, Im currently more interested in Historic fiction than I am in Fantasy genre, although supernatural and fantastic elements are appreciated