Cergorach
The Laughing One
johan, bram, pieter, and sebas keep out!
Hi there,
Hopefully everyone is having a great third christmas day ;-)
SOME BACKGROUND
Our party has been gaming in the Forgotten Realms since... forever. We like the fact that there's a whole world to explore, both for the players and the DM. We've been using the standard D&D rules concerning magic since the begining of 3E, last year we decided that we wanted to play in a lower magic campaign, so we made up some rules:
Lower magic:
- All the PCs have to multi class, pick two classes that are not from the same group (figther/thief is possible, fighter/ranger is not). Both classes have to advance equally, pick primary and secondary class.
- No prestige classes.
- Less magical items in hoards.
We also wanted everyone on equal footing for once.
Equal power:
- fixed amount of attribute points, three abilities have to be uneven numbered.
- fixed hitpoints each level (average).
- everyone plays the same race (half-elf).
- everyone comes from the same background (slaves).
The initial plan was that i would DM in a 'new' homebrew world (with the BotR pantheon), but due to time restraints and a sudden collapse of creativity that fell through. One of our fellow gamers then picked up the torch to DM, the new campaign would start in Thay (Red Wizard country), we've been playing there for about six months now (just became a bard2/ranger2). In another six months or so it'll be my turn to DM, it's still a long way off, but i expect to be very bussy in the second half of the comming year, so i want to do as much 'work' before then as possible. I also intend to write up a Neverwinter Nights module that explains some of the overall story arcs.
THE PROBLEM AT HAND
So we decided that we wanted less magical items than is standard in D&D, the simpelest approach was to say that magic items are more expensive to make and to buy, depending on the feat used magic item creation would cost anywhere from x2 to x5 as much as it normally would. This isn't a 'hard' rule we've embraced, we're currently 'feeling' our way around.
The 'problem' is that we've yet to explain how this change of magic rarity came about or comes about. A couple of ideas:
1.) Magic always was this rare, this i just a basic fact of the FR. (I don't really like this option because everyone in our party knows how prevailant magic is in FR, it's an option but i would only want to use it as a last resort.)
2.) The Goddess of Magic is killed (again), the way magic works is changes forever. Killing Mystra has happened before, but it would mean that there would be a new goddess, all the existing info on Mystra would go into the garbage can. Unless of course someone comes along and raises Mystra. (A viable option, but if someone has a better idea for killing a less important god and getting the same result, i'm all ears. I like the idea of using Requim of a God by Monte.)
3.) Something or someone damages the Weave in a big and nasty way, it is repaired, but magic is never the same. (Haven't spend much time thinking this one over, but an 'alien' invasion could do the trick. Using When the Sky Falls and Chaositech, or even DragonStar would be interesting.)
4.) An extraplanar invasion force that raid spheres for Epic magic visits Faerun, and in the process kills every Epic character/creature taking away their soul, takes away every Epic item, and destroys countless lesser items in the process. Magic becomes rare, not because it's more expensive to make, but because it suddenly has become very rare, market of supply (little) and demand (BIG). (One of the good points of this option is that Elminster and the like is gone, there will be a large political hole to fill in just about every part of faerun.)
Anyone got some specific ideas or even more alternatives?
Hi there,
Hopefully everyone is having a great third christmas day ;-)
SOME BACKGROUND
Our party has been gaming in the Forgotten Realms since... forever. We like the fact that there's a whole world to explore, both for the players and the DM. We've been using the standard D&D rules concerning magic since the begining of 3E, last year we decided that we wanted to play in a lower magic campaign, so we made up some rules:
Lower magic:
- All the PCs have to multi class, pick two classes that are not from the same group (figther/thief is possible, fighter/ranger is not). Both classes have to advance equally, pick primary and secondary class.
- No prestige classes.
- Less magical items in hoards.
We also wanted everyone on equal footing for once.
Equal power:
- fixed amount of attribute points, three abilities have to be uneven numbered.
- fixed hitpoints each level (average).
- everyone plays the same race (half-elf).
- everyone comes from the same background (slaves).
The initial plan was that i would DM in a 'new' homebrew world (with the BotR pantheon), but due to time restraints and a sudden collapse of creativity that fell through. One of our fellow gamers then picked up the torch to DM, the new campaign would start in Thay (Red Wizard country), we've been playing there for about six months now (just became a bard2/ranger2). In another six months or so it'll be my turn to DM, it's still a long way off, but i expect to be very bussy in the second half of the comming year, so i want to do as much 'work' before then as possible. I also intend to write up a Neverwinter Nights module that explains some of the overall story arcs.
THE PROBLEM AT HAND
So we decided that we wanted less magical items than is standard in D&D, the simpelest approach was to say that magic items are more expensive to make and to buy, depending on the feat used magic item creation would cost anywhere from x2 to x5 as much as it normally would. This isn't a 'hard' rule we've embraced, we're currently 'feeling' our way around.
The 'problem' is that we've yet to explain how this change of magic rarity came about or comes about. A couple of ideas:
1.) Magic always was this rare, this i just a basic fact of the FR. (I don't really like this option because everyone in our party knows how prevailant magic is in FR, it's an option but i would only want to use it as a last resort.)
2.) The Goddess of Magic is killed (again), the way magic works is changes forever. Killing Mystra has happened before, but it would mean that there would be a new goddess, all the existing info on Mystra would go into the garbage can. Unless of course someone comes along and raises Mystra. (A viable option, but if someone has a better idea for killing a less important god and getting the same result, i'm all ears. I like the idea of using Requim of a God by Monte.)
3.) Something or someone damages the Weave in a big and nasty way, it is repaired, but magic is never the same. (Haven't spend much time thinking this one over, but an 'alien' invasion could do the trick. Using When the Sky Falls and Chaositech, or even DragonStar would be interesting.)
4.) An extraplanar invasion force that raid spheres for Epic magic visits Faerun, and in the process kills every Epic character/creature taking away their soul, takes away every Epic item, and destroys countless lesser items in the process. Magic becomes rare, not because it's more expensive to make, but because it suddenly has become very rare, market of supply (little) and demand (BIG). (One of the good points of this option is that Elminster and the like is gone, there will be a large political hole to fill in just about every part of faerun.)
Anyone got some specific ideas or even more alternatives?
