4E for 'low powered' settings...

[Melkor]

Hi folks,

How do you guys justify the various class/race 'powers' in your own low-powered settings?

For example, if I wanted to play a game set in a slightly fantastic ancient world of Rome and Egypt, how would you describe/justify the various power functions in that setting?

I hope I'm getting my meaning across. Thanks in advance for the replies.

 

[TerraDave]

Depends on the powers...

For the above, if you restricted yourself to humans and martial powers, with magic coming through rituals, and capped play somewhere in the paragon tier, not that much explanation is needed.

You could add diversity by allowing multiclassing into non-supernatural powers. Maybe allow a class like bard, or the strong build of clerics, but be sure to avoid any power that are to flashy. Have some of the more mundane monsters.

You could continue like this, adding fantasy elements.

Now back to your question, you would be going from action adventure, to a sort of world with paranormal type powers, to full blown comic book fantasy ancient world where magic works and the gods are real. Just cause they are.

I ran a game like that for a long time. It stands up to scrutiny about as well as any other fantasy world.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

For a true 'low' power feel, I agree restrict to human, and martial for classes, but allow all the multi class feats, but only 1 power swap feat per person...

a 'low' power wizard could be one that is really a warlord with scorching burst as an encounter power....

 

[Ourph]

Hi folks,

How do you guys justify the various class/race 'powers' in your own low-powered settings?

For example, if I wanted to play a game set in a slightly fantastic ancient world of Rome and Egypt, how would you describe/justify the various power functions in that setting?

I hope I'm getting my meaning across. Thanks in advance for the replies.

What do you mean by "low-powered"? Do you mean a setting where the PCs have to scrabble around in the dirt for every copper piece and are able to be killed with a single blow in combat? If that's the case, I just wouldn't use 4e, I'd use a game that was designed to emulate that kind of combat and setting.

If you mean "low fantasy" where magic is rare and mistrusted and not very well understood, where intelligent non-human creatures are things of myth and legend and most "monsters" are NPC opponents, animals or unique creatures (like the Medusa or Grendel) then I think the advice to restrict choices to human as a race and martial (plus, maybe divine?) power sources for classes is good.

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

Just scrub off the serial numbers (rewrite the flavor text) and you can use almost anything. If you allow for "alchemy" or "natural philosophers" learning to make explosives or mesmerizing light shows or what have you, you can even classify a great many wizard powers as coming from a "scientific" process by rewriting the flavor. Small alchemical bombs instead of scorching bursts, and so on.

Things that Daedalus, Archimedes, and others are reputed to have done gives you a lot of wiggle room for explaining things in such a setting without resorting to straight up magic.

 

[Destil]

Most people just don't have levels in PC classes. The PCs are a cut above, even at 1st level. Just because your warlock can telephone every few seconds doesn't mean most people know that such a thing works, and most wouldn't have the stomach to appease the dread fey who grant the power with souls, anyway.

Likewise your racial powers (I'm looking at YOU Fey Step) are something that have been developed because the heroes are exemplars of their race. Most Eladrin don't have the strength of will to step though the Feywild.

 

[Nifft]

The easy answer is: restrict play to Heroic tier. That's what the "tier" thing is there for.

I'm not really sure what you mean by Greece being low-powered, though. They threw back the centaur hordes, flew around on horses, and kicked the kraken in the nuts.

Cheers, -- N

 

[JoeGKushner]

This is just my opinion...

Skip it.

D&D is not a generic all purpose fantasy game. It's D&D. 3e had a lot of low powered settings that tweaked the rules specifically to fit those genres with critical hits, low magic, ritualistic magic, etc... Those settings aren't likely to reappear in 4e due to the GLS as opposed to the OGL.

Now as far as actually using D&D in traditional low magic settings, that can be done as long as you realize it's still D&D. A Dragonborn Egyptian Empire fighting for the favor of the various dragon headed gods who stand against the evil five headed dragon god? Easily possible. In a 'historical' Egypt? Not so much.

 

[Stalker0]

The Romans had their own version of power tools, there's nothing low powered but that setting!

 

[Inyssius]

Ourph has it. 4e characters as Big Damn Heroes is something of a core tenet of the system, but they can be Big Damn Heroes in a low-magic mythological-history setting with very little difficulty.

I wouldn't bother to restrict anything at all, actually. Go through it on a case-by-case basis. If the players are on board with this they should mostly be able to police themselves, no? And it's always fun trying to reflavor a decidedly non-standard class or ability to make it fit.