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Any advice on running a low-magic-item campaign?
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<blockquote data-quote="(Psi)SeveredHead" data-source="post: 2922397" data-attributes="member: 1165"><p>What VirgilCaine said.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>What fraction of magic item value will you allow?</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Their saving throw values will be low. When you're expected to have a +3 Cloak of Resistance at x level, being bitten by a poisonous creature is deadlier than normal. Same thing goes for resisting spells, being petrified by gaze attacks, and anything else involving saving throws.</p><p></p><p>Their AC scores won't just be low, they will <em>suck</em>. BAB scales with character level, but unless you're a monk AC doesn't scale, except through Dex increases that not all characters will take, as it doesn't always support your character concept. As a countermeasure (a bad one, IMO, but it's still relatively balanced) DnD 3rd Edition has a very large number of magic items that can boost your AC. You can generally only boost your attack bonus (using a magic item) through a magic weapon and maybe a stat-boosting item. You can boost your AC through Dex-boosting items, amulets of natural armor, rings of protection, magic armor, and magic shields. (I'm leaving out some items, like luckstones, as they're rare and give multiple benefits, so they're not really cost-effective.)</p><p></p><p>PCs will get slaughtered because monsters that can hardly miss will now Power Attack for huge amounts and still land effective blows. NPC combatants will chop through them without missing. But on the plus side, reducing the amount of magic items PCs get will reduce the effective CR differential between PCs and NPCs of the same level. I don't think this advantage is worth it, not even from the PoV of having fun (always hitting, always being hit).</p><p></p><p>Clerics will become more important and will have to devote more spells to healing and removing status ailments. Dispel Magic will become much more common as a broad-brush counter to status effects.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>See above.</p><p></p><p>Note that a monster's threat is a combination of factors: hp, AC, saves, attack bonuses, special abilities, even Int scores. Some, such as hp and AC, will be slightly more effective (PCs will do slightly less damage and will hit slightly less often). Some, like attack bonuses, will be hugely affected (they'll hardly ever miss), and some (like save DCs) will be moderately affected. You'll have to modify each monster on its own - I don't just mean the CR, but ad-hoc modifiers to save DCs, attack bonuses, and the like.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I thought you said you knew how to control access to magic items, but it seems you do not. Do not use anything resembling the treasure values.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I've been in such campaigns in 3e. After a few levels, players stop having as much fun and DM workload increases dramatically. There's no single formula for modifying CRs as described above, and as for treasure, just give out whatever you think is reasonable. Not knowing what to spend $ on is a perennial problem in many settings that don't use magic items or other $=power-up systems.</p><p></p><p>I suggest A Game of Thrones, d20 Modern (yes, it can be used in a medieval setting, despite the name), Grim Tales, Conan, Iron Heroes, Midnight, or any other low magic d20 fantasy system out there. I do not suggest DnD, unless you feel confident enough in your abilities to (in effect) create your own d20 game system.</p><p></p><p>Iron Heroes is probably the easiest one to use, if you want to be able to still run DnD adventures and still use DnD monsters.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="(Psi)SeveredHead, post: 2922397, member: 1165"] What VirgilCaine said. What fraction of magic item value will you allow? Their saving throw values will be low. When you're expected to have a +3 Cloak of Resistance at x level, being bitten by a poisonous creature is deadlier than normal. Same thing goes for resisting spells, being petrified by gaze attacks, and anything else involving saving throws. Their AC scores won't just be low, they will [i]suck[/i]. BAB scales with character level, but unless you're a monk AC doesn't scale, except through Dex increases that not all characters will take, as it doesn't always support your character concept. As a countermeasure (a bad one, IMO, but it's still relatively balanced) DnD 3rd Edition has a very large number of magic items that can boost your AC. You can generally only boost your attack bonus (using a magic item) through a magic weapon and maybe a stat-boosting item. You can boost your AC through Dex-boosting items, amulets of natural armor, rings of protection, magic armor, and magic shields. (I'm leaving out some items, like luckstones, as they're rare and give multiple benefits, so they're not really cost-effective.) PCs will get slaughtered because monsters that can hardly miss will now Power Attack for huge amounts and still land effective blows. NPC combatants will chop through them without missing. But on the plus side, reducing the amount of magic items PCs get will reduce the effective CR differential between PCs and NPCs of the same level. I don't think this advantage is worth it, not even from the PoV of having fun (always hitting, always being hit). Clerics will become more important and will have to devote more spells to healing and removing status ailments. Dispel Magic will become much more common as a broad-brush counter to status effects. See above. Note that a monster's threat is a combination of factors: hp, AC, saves, attack bonuses, special abilities, even Int scores. Some, such as hp and AC, will be slightly more effective (PCs will do slightly less damage and will hit slightly less often). Some, like attack bonuses, will be hugely affected (they'll hardly ever miss), and some (like save DCs) will be moderately affected. You'll have to modify each monster on its own - I don't just mean the CR, but ad-hoc modifiers to save DCs, attack bonuses, and the like. I thought you said you knew how to control access to magic items, but it seems you do not. Do not use anything resembling the treasure values. I've been in such campaigns in 3e. After a few levels, players stop having as much fun and DM workload increases dramatically. There's no single formula for modifying CRs as described above, and as for treasure, just give out whatever you think is reasonable. Not knowing what to spend $ on is a perennial problem in many settings that don't use magic items or other $=power-up systems. I suggest A Game of Thrones, d20 Modern (yes, it can be used in a medieval setting, despite the name), Grim Tales, Conan, Iron Heroes, Midnight, or any other low magic d20 fantasy system out there. I do not suggest DnD, unless you feel confident enough in your abilities to (in effect) create your own d20 game system. Iron Heroes is probably the easiest one to use, if you want to be able to still run DnD adventures and still use DnD monsters. [/QUOTE]
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