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<blockquote data-quote="Emirikol" data-source="post: 3193737" data-attributes="member: 10638">Behind The Curtain..reasoning For Change Not Revealed To PlayersI've done what you say in my Conan campaign and playtested many versions.&nbsp; My intent was not to remove magic, but to make it feel more like a &quot;sorcery&quot; world instead of a &quot;magic is controlled by anyone&quot; world.I'd like some feedback from you guys on these opinions I've formed.Some advice:1.&nbsp;&nbsp; Don't create a behemoth house rule.&nbsp; KISS keep it simple stupid.&nbsp; The larger your house rule, probably the less necessary it is..this is true of many things.2.&nbsp; Players hate when you take away options (like removing classes..better to just 'disincentivize them..see below).&nbsp; 3.&nbsp; Make sure you make it CLEAR TO THE PLAYERS why you are doing it.&nbsp; It can't be just because you don't like the system.&nbsp; Players don't FALL for that one.&nbsp; Make it &quot;campaign-related&quot; such as &quot;because this is a magic-focused campaign&quot; (i.e. a B.S. term saying that you're low-magic without saying it...magic focused implies that the wizards hold all the power.&nbsp; &quot;Because in our world, all magic is arcane and the gods probably dont exist..if they do exist, they certainly don't grant spells..magic is magic is magic and it's just another element in the world like fire and water..but it's secrets must be discovered to be channelled and are more often than not, revealed to humans by demons and ancient texts..and much less by accident or research.&quot;Now, onto the house rules:*&nbsp; HOUSE RULE:&nbsp; Steel is stronger than magic.&nbsp; Non-magic classes and the wizard or shugenja gain a bonus feat at second level.**&nbsp; CAMPAIGN BACKGROUND:&nbsp; Those who do not spend time learning obscure magic, have time for other things.** BEHIND THE CURTAIN:&nbsp; Encourages the types of classes you want.*&nbsp; HOUSE RULE:&nbsp; All magic is arcane and all magic is subject to arcane spell failure for armor.**&nbsp; CAMPAIGN BACKGROUND:&nbsp; Magic is the secret element.&nbsp; God's do not grant spells and do not meddle..if they even exist.**&nbsp; BEHIND THE CURTAIN:&nbsp; This seriously dis-incentivizes clerics, bards, rangers, paladins.*&nbsp; HOUSE RULE:&nbsp; Non-Magic Ranger and Bard option:&nbsp; Rangers may use the one in Complete Warrior.&nbsp; Non-magical bards gain a bonus feat every 3 levels and add two to their base skill points per level multiplied by intelligence.**&nbsp; CAMPAIGN BACKGROUND:&nbsp; The vast majority of Rangers and Bards do not practice magic.**&nbsp; BEHIND THE CURTAIN:&nbsp; Players who want to play these classes without magic are incentivized, but if they still want to play the magical version (with huge armor penalties) so be it.*&nbsp; HOUSE RULE:&nbsp; Wizards and sorcerers&nbsp; (and shugenja's if you use them) can create their spell-list from ANY list (meaning they can cast all the dang cleric spells they want), HOWEVER they must have a specialist magic field (i.e. illusion, evocation, etc.)**&nbsp; CAMPAIGN BACKGROUND:&nbsp; Wizards hold all the cards.&nbsp; They are not as constrained as false-priests or classes who dabble in magic. ** BEHIND THE CURTAIN: Incentivize focused magic and disincentive clerics and magic dabblers.OTHER OPTIONS TO DISINCENTIVIZE SPELL DABBLERS*&nbsp; HOUSE RULE:&nbsp; Turn undead is available as a scroll**&nbsp; CAMPAIGN BACKGROUND:&nbsp;&nbsp; Wizards discovered how to do this a long time ago.** BEHIND THE CURTAIN: Disincentivize clerics.&nbsp; Incentivize wizards.*&nbsp; HOUSE RULE:&nbsp; Psionics are arcane magic and thus affected by armor.**&nbsp; CAMPAIGN BACKGROUND:&nbsp; Psionics do not just come from the mind.&nbsp; They come from the entire body (afterall, nerves flow to every cell, tissue and organ in the body from the brain don't they!) They too are affected by arcane spellcasting in armor.** BEHIND THE CURTAIN:&nbsp; Get's rid of psions in platemail (a personal pet peeve of mine).jh..</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Emirikol, post: 3193737, member: 10638"] [b]Behind The Curtain..reasoning For Change Not Revealed To Players[/b] I've done what you say in my Conan campaign and playtested many versions. My intent was not to remove magic, but to make it feel more like a "sorcery" world instead of a "magic is controlled by anyone" world. I'd like some feedback from you guys on these opinions I've formed. Some advice: 1. Don't create a behemoth house rule. KISS keep it simple stupid. The larger your house rule, probably the less necessary it is..this is true of many things. 2. Players hate when you take away options (like removing classes..better to just 'disincentivize them..see below). 3. Make sure you make it CLEAR TO THE PLAYERS why you are doing it. It can't be just because you don't like the system. Players don't FALL for that one. Make it "campaign-related" such as "because this is a magic-focused campaign" (i.e. a B.S. term saying that you're low-magic without saying it...magic focused implies that the wizards hold all the power. "Because in our world, all magic is arcane and the gods probably dont exist..if they do exist, they certainly don't grant spells..magic is magic is magic and it's just another element in the world like fire and water..but it's secrets must be discovered to be channelled and are more often than not, revealed to humans by demons and ancient texts..and much less by accident or research." Now, onto the house rules: * HOUSE RULE: Steel is stronger than magic. Non-magic classes and the wizard or shugenja gain a bonus feat at second level. ** CAMPAIGN BACKGROUND: Those who do not spend time learning obscure magic, have time for other things. ** BEHIND THE CURTAIN: Encourages the types of classes you want. * HOUSE RULE: All magic is arcane and all magic is subject to arcane spell failure for armor. ** CAMPAIGN BACKGROUND: Magic is the secret element. God's do not grant spells and do not meddle..if they even exist. ** BEHIND THE CURTAIN: This seriously dis-incentivizes clerics, bards, rangers, paladins. * HOUSE RULE: Non-Magic Ranger and Bard option: Rangers may use the one in Complete Warrior. Non-magical bards gain a bonus feat every 3 levels and add two to their base skill points per level multiplied by intelligence. ** CAMPAIGN BACKGROUND: The vast majority of Rangers and Bards do not practice magic. ** BEHIND THE CURTAIN: Players who want to play these classes without magic are incentivized, but if they still want to play the magical version (with huge armor penalties) so be it. * HOUSE RULE: Wizards and sorcerers (and shugenja's if you use them) can create their spell-list from ANY list (meaning they can cast all the dang cleric spells they want), HOWEVER they must have a specialist magic field (i.e. illusion, evocation, etc.) ** CAMPAIGN BACKGROUND: Wizards hold all the cards. They are not as constrained as false-priests or classes who dabble in magic. ** BEHIND THE CURTAIN: Incentivize focused magic and disincentive clerics and magic dabblers. OTHER OPTIONS TO DISINCENTIVIZE SPELL DABBLERS * HOUSE RULE: Turn undead is available as a scroll ** CAMPAIGN BACKGROUND: Wizards discovered how to do this a long time ago. ** BEHIND THE CURTAIN: Disincentivize clerics. Incentivize wizards. * HOUSE RULE: Psionics are arcane magic and thus affected by armor. ** CAMPAIGN BACKGROUND: Psionics do not just come from the mind. They come from the entire body (afterall, nerves flow to every cell, tissue and organ in the body from the brain don't they!) They too are affected by arcane spellcasting in armor. ** BEHIND THE CURTAIN: Get's rid of psions in platemail (a personal pet peeve of mine). jh .. [/QUOTE]

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