D20/OGL games geared to low magic, what's out there?

[HarryFlashman]

Actually Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow setting is also another area I had in mind. Washington Irving played uponthe Puritan settler's fears of the forested area around their towns from wich evil was said to come. The Jersey Devil, the Salem witches, and other stories reflect this overwhelming fear of the wooded area around their homes.
I have always been fascinated with this idea ( I would assume came through to the Purtians via certain Gnostic groups that viewed the physical realm as "evil") and I look forward into putting it into a game.

Midnight has been on my booklist since it came out but alas, I am without funds, darn these slow economic recoveries, but I hope to get it as soon as possible. Ashrem's review on this site makes the book even more appealing to my DM proclivities.

Well, i now have three games to look at......and d oes nayone know if these games would be more or less compatible with Ken Hood's Grim-n-Gritty HP/AC rules?

 

[Krieg]

Well, i now have three games to look at......and d oes nayone know if these games would be more or less compatible with Ken Hood's Grim-n-Gritty HP/AC rules?

I don't really see any reason that it would be any harder to convert Midnight and/or DarkLore than it would be to do so to vanilla D&D. All of the D20 conventions are still pretty standard despite the variant magic rules.

I haven't looked at the Ken's system in a long time, and the specifics have gotten a tad fuzzy so take this with a grain of salt.

 

[Krieg]

Oops, I just remembered that Midnight also has rules for magic "charms" which tie in nicely with the stories revolving around "cunning folk".

If you haven't read them I highly recomend the Alvin Maker books by Orson Scott Card. While not quite as dark as your setting, they are an nice source for a ideas in a "magical" frontier North America. Corn Dollies, Cunning Men, Sign Hexes etc etc

 

[HarryFlashman]

Well lacking any specific knowledge of the Grim-n-Gritty system do these games take alternate views of combat that give a greater nod towards realism that standard Dungeons and Dragons?

Do any of them use wound points/vitality systems? Do they treat armour as damage absorption? Do they change the way Sneak Attack works? How do Criticals work?

By they way, thank you for your help, each of you, and I am sorry to keep dragging this out with more questions but, hey, I am tight with my money.

 

[Krieg]

They are both vanilla D20 in terms of combat. HPs, AC & BAB. DarkLore DOES include a defense bonus, but that is about the only change.

 

[HarryFlashman]

Krieg, thank you very much. That answers the Grim-n-Gritty question then.

One more question to whomever chooses to answer.
Conan. Should I purchase it prior to any of the either three as it was intended to fit a low -magic lowfantasy type game? Or wil the other three books add enough to make them worth my while?

As it stands I am planning on buying Midnight and Darklore (flavour purposes) soon and holding off on the other two unless someone makes a good case.

 

[Krieg]

One more question to whomever chooses to answer.
Conan. Should I purchase it prior to any of the either three as it was intended to fit a low -magic lowfantasy type game? Or wil the other three books add enough to make them worth my while?

Well from the looks of things Conan will be arriving Monday, so I'll let you know after I take a look at it.

From the sounds of things the combat rules in Conan D20 have taken a far greater departure from the SRD than Midnight/Darklore so it may take a bit more work to get it to fit with GnG.

 

[tetsujin28]

I'd look into the old Masque of the Red Death rules, which are based off of those in Ravenloft. I believe S&S Studios was going to put out a new edition.

 

[Krieg]

FWIW Chaosium just released Cthulhu Dark Ages.

Essentially it is Call of Cthulhu in the year 1000AD.

It's a BRP (Chaosium's house system) product, but converting it to Call of Cthulhu D20 shouldn't be that hard.

Once my copy arrives I'll give more info if you'd like.

 

[Myris]

Khan's Press just release ElfClash:Realm of Lanai Player's Guide. It's gotten rid of a lot of the magic for the classes (like the Paladin and the Bard) and gave them more logical abilities. It also has two new magic systems in lieu of the more traditional D&D style. It might be worth checking out (you can get it on RPGNow for 10 bucks). It might help you out a bit