D&D General how would you recommend I make this feel like a more magical culture?

[CreamCloud0]

Could they of been the ones who properly collected and categorised all the types of spells and magic from across the land into their respective classifications in your world? To identify arcane, primal and divine power source, to be the ones who determined fireball was ‘a 3rd level spell of the evocation school’ instead of just ‘these are the components you need to do it if you’re a capable enough spell-caster’

 

[MarkB]

Do you want them to be well-versed in familiar magic, or should there be a strange other-worldliness to their powers?

Are magic items plentiful in their culture (and thus plentifully available to the PCs when they visit) or is it more about innate personal abilities?

You mentioned scholarly pursuits, so is this purely magic gained through study, as with wizards, or are other forms of magic also commonplace?

 

[Mind of tempest]

Those are inspirations, not copies
Tevinter, Thay and Orzhov are pretty evil indeed. You dont need to use the whole blood magic and slavery stuff. But they are good example on how a society (hierarchy) based around magic knowledge both in the life and afterlife of its people would work, IMO.

Halruaa and the classic monks of Candlekeep might be other inspiration where your knowledge of magic = your place in society.

But of course, ''power corrupts'' and all that could be reflected in some enclaves.

candle keep is a large library, not a city-state hence I am a bit lost on how it is in any way applicable it is like comparing a university to a town?

Could they of been the ones who properly collected and categorised all the types of spells and magic from across the land into their respective classifications in your world? To identify arcane, primal and divine power source, to be the ones who determined fireball was ‘a 3rd level spell of the evocation school’ instead of just ‘these are the components you need to do it if you’re a capable enough spell-caster’

interesting? seems a bit small but usable.

Do you want them to be well-versed in familiar magic, or should there be a strange other-worldliness to their powers?

both, both is good.

Are magic items plentiful in their culture (and thus plentifully available to the PCs when they visit) or is it more about innate personal abilities?

no idea, do you have any?

You mentioned scholarly pursuits, so is this purely magic gained through study, as with wizards, or are other forms of magic also commonplace?

possibly I just have no ideas how to make the others cultural?

 

[Baron Opal II]

How easy or plentiful is magic to them? Think about daily life of the common folk.

Do they have ovens and stoves that burn wood or coal, or is there a basalt or granite stone cut to exact dimensions that they cause to heat with a wave of their hand?

Is there a central well or fountain? Do they use a bucket to get the water, or does the nereid of the well take your earthenware ewer and fill it for you?

Do all the adults have a connection to the Grand Wordsmith, so that when they speak a key phrase, all adults hear the Wordsmith's words until their next breath?

Providing shelter, growing food, sourcing water, and making cloth* were the activities that consumed the majority of peoples time. If they pursued a trade, it allowed them to make money so that they didn't have to do some of those activities. How did they make their day-to-day lives easier? And, are these spells they cast, magically receptive objects that work with cantrips rather than higher level spells, or functionally magic items that are handed down to the household's next generation?

* Which takes an amazing amount of time, I've recently discovered. One reason that you see so many pictures of women and girls spinning thread or weaving is that such activities were what they did mostly when they weren't bringing the harvest in.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

candle keep is a large library, not a city-state hence I am a bit lost on how it is in any way applicable it is like comparing a university to a town?

It is not just ''a large library'' its is pretty much a castle-town with its own particular culture, but if you are not well versed in its lore, it's not that important.
You can only enter by giving a 10 000 gp book to the Keep, Thethoryl (the master of the place) is personally protected by 3 gods of magic, their politics are pretty much centered on the accumulation of knowledge and magic over any notion of good or evil. Divination and prophecies are what orient most of the decision taken for the city. The town is protected by OP abjuration spells acting has a magic shield similar to the old Mythals. The vaults are guarded by at least on undead (ghost dragon) but I think other ghostly non-evil creatures (undeads or illusions) are used also.
And so on, so forth. These are all elements you could use to make your culture ''More magical''.

The sewer of your towns could be filled with alchemical uthyughs or lost Nothic/Allip/Barbalang/Deathlock wraith, or living spells etc

Dawn and Darkness spells could be used by the regents so that each town or even neighborhood has their own cycle of night/day, depending of their needs or preference.

Nobles can have most of their belongings animated or awaken so they could live in an ''intelligent house'' without butlers or servants.

You could have necromantic libraries where the head of famous scholars or artists are kept to be interrogated by Speak with Death.

You could have families worship the famous magister from their line at personal familial shrine, instead of gods.

One thing I'd insist on is that there's no divine or arcane or primal magic to them, its only THE Magic, classification and class restriction are an invention and simplification from humans and the rest.

 

[Mind of tempest]

How easy or plentiful is magic to them? Think about daily life of the common folk.

Do they have ovens and stoves that burn wood or coal, or is there a basalt or granite stone cut to exact dimensions that they cause to heat with a wave of their hand?

Is there a central well or fountain? Do they use a bucket to get the water, or does the nereid of the well take your earthenware ewer and fill it for you?

ah, the questions of infrastructure, tricky but important to get right

Providing shelter, growing food, sourcing water, and making cloth* were the activities that consumed the majority of peoples time. If they pursued a trade, it allowed them to make money so that they didn't have to do some of those activities. How did they make their day-to-day lives easier? And, are these spells they cast, magically receptive objects that work with cantrips rather than higher level spells, or functionally magic items that are handed down to the household's next generation?

* Which takes an amazing amount of time, I've recently discovered. One reason that you see so many pictures of women and girls spinning thread or weaving is that such activities were what they did mostly when they weren't bringing the harvest in.

that does sound important?

Do all the adults have a connection to the Grand Wordsmith, so that when they speak a key phrase, all adults hear the Wordsmith's words until their next breath?

what?

 

[Mind of tempest]

It is not just ''a large library'' its is pretty much a castle-town with its own particular culture, but if you are not well versed in its lore, it's not that important.
You can only enter by giving a 10 000 gp book to the Keep, Thethoryl (the master of the place) is personally protected by 3 gods of magic, their politics are pretty much centered on the accumulation of knowledge and magic over any notion of good or evil. Divination and prophecies are what orient most of the decision taken for the city. The town is protected by OP abjuration spells acting has a magic shield similar to the old Mythals. The vaults are guarded by at least on undead (ghost dragon) but I think other ghostly non-evil creatures (undeads or illusions) are used also.
And so on, so forth. These are all elements you could use to make your culture ''More magical''.

The sewer of your towns could be filled with alchemical uthyughs or lost Nothic/Allip/Barbalang/Deathlock wraith, or living spells etc

Dawn and Darkness spells could be used by the regents so that each town or even neighborhood has their own cycle of night/day, depending of their needs or preference.

Nobles can have most of their belongings animated or awaken so they could live in an ''intelligent house'' without butlers or servants.

You could have necromantic libraries where the head of famous scholars or artists are kept to be interrogated by Speak with Death.

You could have families worship the famous magister from their line at personal familial shrine, instead of gods.

One thing I'd insist on is that there's no divine or arcane or primal magic to them, its only THE Magic, classification and class restriction are an invention and simplification from humans and the rest.

you got a link?

also how would the latter point work?

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

you got a link?

also how would the latter point work?

Mechanic wise? I dont really know.
In lore? Their wizards (if they even have that classification) are able to scribe and understand the underlaying and inner workings of Entangle or Spiritual Guardian, even if for the common human wizard, those are not ''arcane'' magic.

As for Candlekeep, I know Greenwood published a whole gazetteer of it last year on the DMsguild and there's probably some information on the city in Tales of Candlekeep (?), but for easy reference, I'd point to the wikia Candlekeep. It mixes and match sources from many editions, but most of it should be there.

 

[Baron Opal II]

that does sound important?

The process of gathering fibers, spinning thread, weaving cloth, and making clothes took a vast amount of time until the industrial revolution. It is, at least, as time consuming as growing food.

I just mention it as something that nearly everyone had to do, so if there was a magical way to skip a step or make it easier it would free up a tremendous amount of time for the population. Automating the process of lace knitting would be another one.

What?

Yeah, that was a little vague. I was thinking of the town crier having an item that allowed them to message every adult in the village with news. Also a call back to the Imperial Orb in the Jhereg series by Steven Brust.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Mechanic wise? I dont really know.
In lore? Their wizards (if they even have that classification) are able to scribe and understand the underlaying and inner workings of Entangle or Spiritual Guardian, even if for the common human wizard, those are not ''arcane'' magic.

As for Candlekeep, I know Greenwood published a whole gazetteer of it last year on the DMsguild and there's probably some information on the city in Tales of Candlekeep (?), but for easy reference, I'd point to the wikia Candlekeep. It mixes and match sources from many editions, but most of it should be there.

okay, so great knowledge of how magic works, no idea how to make it a part of society in a way that makes sense but I will think about it.

The process of gathering fibers, spinning thread, weaving cloth, and making clothes took a vast amount of time until the industrial revolution. It is, at least, as time consuming as growing food.

I just mention it as something that nearly everyone had to do, so if there was a magical way to skip a step or make it easier it would free up a tremendous amount of time for the population. Automating the process of lace knitting would be another one.


Yeah, that was a little vague. I was thinking of the town crier having an item that allowed them to message every adult in the village with news. Also a call back to the Imperial Orb in the Jhereg series by Steven Brust.

what about something more technologically advanced but with still old by modern standards? when did cloth making start to get easy?

ah so like notifications on your phone, could be done but how?