D&D 3E/3.5 3.5e/PF/OGL Low-Magic Campaign Resources and Ideas

[Alzrius]

Since there's a lot of showcasing of the creativity of third-party d20 System companies in this thread, I'd like to introduce a (hopefully minor) tangent, in that I'm hoping someone knows of a supplement with the rather idiosyncratic content that I'm looking for.

Specifically, I'm trying to find rules for magical equipment that's both invisible and intangible, but which still confers its powers on the wearer. (For those who've seen it, think of the worn armor used by the main character in Solo Leveling.)

While this is obviously rather awkward for things like armor or shields (let alone weapons), I'm thinking of the various types of bonuses that you get from items that typically go in body slots, such as things which raise your saving throws, boost your ability scores, increase your speed, etc. The idea is that you have these things on you, but their more like spiritual enhancements that physical materials. (To that end, things like glamered armor don't quite make the cut, as they're still there even if they're disguised.)

Ideally, this would be some sort of enchantment which (for a price increase) can be applied to (almost) any sort of magical gear, rather than some specific items which just happen to have such an effect built in. That way, this could be applied to different pieces of magical equipment appropriate to any character's level-appropriate GP value.

Does anyone know of a d20 System supplement that does this?

 

[_Michael_]

I want to say I just read something like that in the Enchiridion of Treasures and Objects d'Art, but I'm probably wrong. I swear I just saw that in something, though...arrgh! Now it's going to drive me nuts!

 

[Edgar Ironpelt]

Random Thoughts:
Contrary to the usual advice, I'd say to NOT make magic items super-expensive. If they're available at all, they're available cheap (compared to the standard rules) - but mostly they're not available at all.

In econo-speak, the supply of magic and magic items needs to be "inelastic" - throwing around more and more gold pieces will get you little or nothing in the way of additional magic stuff.

Abandon the idea of anyone - NPC or PC - actually making magic items, beyond the very low-level stuff. One place the rare magic items might come from is time: To get (e.g.) a +2 sword, craft a masterwork sword, and hang it up on a wall for several centuries.The sword becomes +1 and then +2 over the course of those centuries, and the process cannot be rushed.

Healing in D&D is very strongly tied to (clerical) magic. Either you'll need to do a major overhaul of the hit-point recovery system, or else you'll need to embrace a game that isn't just low-magic but positively grim and gritty - in a way that LOTR isn't. So if you want a Lord of the Rings vibe, you should look hard at the first option.

Speaking of Lord of the Rings, very minor magic items were actually pretty darn common. It was the standard-to-big stuff that was incredibly rare.

Another possibility is to find ways to have "magic items that aren't magic," eliding the difference between masterwork & masterwork-plus items on one hand, and items that ping to detect magic on the other.

You'll likely also want to limit or flat-out ban higher level spells. If you do, and possibly even if you don't, I'd suggest making protective magic spells lower-level. Standard D&D has a pattern of "protection against magical effect X" spells being higher level than the "magical effect X" spells they're intended to protect against. This causes trouble (IMHO) even in standard-magic games, and more trouble in low-magic games.

 

[_Michael_]

Very good advice. I actually like the idea of using more masterwork than magical to grant bonuses. I figured the item creation costs would be more paying for trips to far off locations to find incredibly old texts or rare ingredients. But yeah, I agree with the small stuff being more common. Weapons and armor would probably be the most common, with rings, staves and wonderous items being the most rare as that takes more skill and artistry.

Healing I was going to take a look at, too, and probably make it a bit more gritty because I don't want magic being a crutch. The Ultimate Game Designer's Companion has a great chapter on grim and gritty rules to make combat much more lethal, as well as sections on removing armor's AC bonus and using a Defense Value and Damage Reduction instead.

Some of the higher level spells are likely to get tossed, too, if for no other reason than much of the lore of the previous age was lost. Wish spells, for instance, would be almost unheard of, and anyone who manages to pull one off would likely attract immediate attention because of how incredibly rare such things would be. The protection spells vs what they protect against point is also well-taken.

The Enchiridion of Treasures and Objects d'Art has a section on ensorceled objects vs magical items, which I think is going to merit a closer look. It's specifically for creating much lower-powered stuff that isn't quite as potent as magic.

Thank you for your comment! This is all good stuff I'm taking notes on!

 

[Alzrius]

On the subject of minor magic items, definitely check out Rogue Genius Games's Loot 4 Less series of PDFs. There's a lot of low-level magic items there, including rules for magic arms and armor with a +1/2 bonus, allowing for very cheap magical materials.

 

[Alzrius]

Also, you can have NPCs whose magic is that they can use an NPC boon on the PCs. Most of those aren't magical in nature, but a few are.

(There's also a 101 NPC Boons product from Rite Publishing, but those are more about actual favors than the aforementioned NPC-specific mechanic.)

 

[xoth.publishing]

Healing in D&D is very strongly tied to (clerical) magic. Either you'll need to do a major overhaul of the hit-point recovery system, or else you'll need to embrace a game that isn't just low-magic but positively grim and gritty - in a way that LOTR isn't. So if you want a Lord of the Rings vibe, you should look hard at the first option.

I know this is a thread for 3E/PF, but I'd like to point out that healing without clerics is handled well in 5E (and also 4E, I guess) by allowing each character to restore lost hit points by expending "Hit Dice". This actually means that 5E is well suited to a low-magic sword and sorcery game where fighters and rogues can go on adventures without fantasy-style clerics, because each character has a way to recover hit points (just take a short rest). This mechanic could obviously be backported to 3E if desired.

 

[Edgar Ironpelt]

Healing I was going to take a look at, too, and probably make it a bit more gritty because I don't want magic being a crutch. The Ultimate Game Designer's Companion has a great chapter on grim and gritty rules to make combat much more lethal, as well as sections on removing armor's AC bonus and using a Defense Value and Damage Reduction instead.

I'd just as soon that magic healing wasn't such a big crutch either. The problem is that it's a crutch that gets used because most game rules make combat and injury so grim and gritty that there's a strong perceived need for that crutch. Limping along without that crutch is seen as being even worse.

As one of the early rebels against Old School play, back when Old School was still new, I'm always looking for house rules to make combat less grim and lethal (and so to avoid that heavy dependence on healing magic), but what I see as good ideas along those lines many others see as making combat wussy and boring.

If you believe grim & gritty rules to make combat more lethal would be a good thing for your proposed low-magic game, then all I can say against it is "I wouldn't like it" and "I believe it would cut against that 'Lord of the Rings' vibe you mentioned."

 

[_Michael_]

There's a difference between cinematic combat and combat with more lethality. Combat was plenty lethal in Lord of the Rings, but it was also very cinematic. Making it so players have to be more careful in combat is not a bad thing. Removing healing from wizards and relegating it to clerics and alchemists and witch doctors and the like just means the power dynamics shift a bit without having to rely upon purely magical means of healing. Potions that speed healing versus outright healing, for instance. Also, using armor more for damage reduction than AC bonus would also help because it would make characters more survivable against hits with large damage. One more reason I love that Ultimate Game Designer's Companion because it gives rules for all of that--cinematic combat, making combat more lethal, using alchemy as healing, changing armor to give it DRs, etc.

There's a balance to be struck, for sure, and you and others are helping me find it, so that was excellent feedback on your part.

 

[Alzrius]

I want to say I just read something like that in the Enchiridion of Treasures and Objects d'Art, but I'm probably wrong. I swear I just saw that in something, though...arrgh! Now it's going to drive me nuts!

I've been reviewing that, but I'm not seeing it (though that doesn't mean I couldn't have overlooked it). Is there something I should take another look at?