good books for a low-magic campaign?

[Pbartender]

What about Unearthed Arcana? I've looked at it briefly but I wasn't really considering a low-magic campaign at the time (plus Amazon has it for $13.00 right now!!).

UA is a good book with some interesting options, however...

I would recommend against ordering it from Amazon.com. My wife ordered a copy of it for my birthday more than a month ago. It hasn't been shipped yet, and the estimated shipping date has been delayed three times already. She's planning on canceling the order, and picking up a copy at the FLGS.

 

[Krieg]

The aforementioned Grim Tales, Midnight, CoC & Conan are all great suggestions.

You might also want to take a look at the Dark Lore Campaign Primer from Malladin's Gate Press. The magic system is spell slot based but is much lower powered than default D&D.

OGL Horror also has an interesting magic system that is similar in many ways to that in CoC D20.

Now, having said that, I would like to also remove the d20 from the game, and replace it with a d%.

...and why exactly aren't you playing HARP (or Rolemaster, HARN or Runequest for that matter)?

 

[Akrasia]

If you want a "one book" solution, then Conan is the way to go. It has everything you need. Even if you don't want to play in Hyboria, it provides a balanced "low magic" set of rules. You can port in nonhuman races, etc. as you see fit.

Gim Tales looks good, but requires the use of d20 Modern, which may not be a good thing (not much of a fan of d20 Modern myself).

Midnight is excellent, but has a very definite feel. My impression is that its low magic feel is tied much more heavily to the setting than, say, the Conan rules.

 

[der_kluge]

...and why exactly aren't you playing HARP (or Rolemaster, HARN or Runequest for that matter)?

I may yet give HARP or HARN a chance one of these days. I've heard a lot about them, but have never seen them. Assuming they meet all the other criteria, either might be just the system I've been looking for.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Gim Tales looks good, but requires the use of d20 Modern, which may not be a good thing (not much of a fan of d20 Modern myself).

I'm curious if you own Grim Tales and exactly what you mean by "requires" d20 Modern.


Wulf

 

[GlassJaw]

I'm curious if you own Grim Tales and exactly what you mean by "requires" d20 Modern.

I was under the impression that GT just used concepts from d20 Modern but doesn't require it. Is that a correct statement Wulf?

I'm patiently waiting for my copy of GT right now!! By the way, I found out you guys are right in my back yard in North Providence. Are you hiring?

Thanks for all the responses everyone. Here's sort of what I want for my campaign:

- Generic classes
- no caster classes
- limited races (no elves, gnomes, or halflings)
- magic system: Skill-based or Cthulhu, must learn spells one at a time, casting causing nonlethal dmg or temp/perm ability dmg
- no "traditional" magic items
- limited equipment (masterwork and non-steel items are rare)
- Defense bonus
- Vitality/wound points
- action/hero points
- no alignment
- no deities (there may be religion but it's not deity-based)
- Horror/sanity rules (BIG maybe)
- some kind of mark/symbol/tattoo system a la Eberron Dragonmarks

If I can get these with some of the above-mentioned books, I'll be set.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

I was under the impression that GT just used concepts from d20 Modern but doesn't require it. Is that a correct statement Wulf?

If you can handle ability score generation without explicit directions, and you have some source for spells (if you want them) and equipment (if you don't want to design your own), you are all set. Pretty much, if you own d20M, the PHB, Eberron, or any other d20 "setting" you are all set. No one specific such book is required, though I happily recommended all of them.

By the way, I found out you guys are right in my back yard in North Providence. Are you hiring?

Hiring? We're not even paying at the moment.

- Generic classes
check

- no caster classes
check

- limited races (no elves, gnomes, or halflings)
check

- magic system: Skill-based or Cthulhu, must learn spells one at a time, casting causing nonlethal dmg or temp/perm ability dmg
check

- no "traditional" magic items
check

- limited equipment (masterwork and non-steel items are rare)
check

- Defense bonus
check

- Vitality/wound points
nope. But if I may be so bold, hit points + low massive damage threshold works better anyway. See what you think of GT's system.

- action/hero points
check

- no alignment
check

- no deities (there may be religion but it's not deity-based)
check

- Horror/sanity rules (BIG maybe)
check

- some kind of mark/symbol/tattoo system a la Eberron Dragonmarks
No problem-- just use the Eberron feats!

Wulf

 

[Stone Angel]

I think Conan is good way to go. I have the book, but I have yet to run the Campaign.

Ravenloft is not a bad choice either, but a totally different feel than regular D&D.

Also the book called Testament about biblical times may be of intrest. I have heard some good things about it's low magic scene. But no guarantee.

The Seraph of Earth and Stone

 

[Varianor Abroad]

Lots of good suggestions already. Many old GURPS books (Vikings, Celts, Roman Empire, Greeks) have solid source material that you can use that's from a "no magic" world.

I second the idea of checking out Call of Cthulhu d20 and/or the generic classes in Unearthed Arcana. The former is worth buying on its own. The latter I would borrow.

For a really, really neat take on some common magics available to all, that could be the basis for a low-magic campaign if you exorcised the D&D/AU caster system, check out Mystic Secrets: Lore of Word and Rune by Mike Mearls (from Malhavoc Press) next month when the pdf comes out. Sorry I can't say more - NDA - but it's got a lot of neat, useable things that I immediately thought "low magic game, yeah!" when I looked at it.

 

[GlassJaw]

Hiring? We're not even paying at the moment

LOL! I guess I'll keep my day job and keep doing all of this gaming stuff for "free".

Thanks for the reply on my "checklist". Although I probably could have stopped by and bought one directly from you.

By the way, do you guys have any games/campaigns running? I'm finding it a bit difficult to find gamers around here since I moved down from the Boston area and I would love to play with some experienced gamers (nevermind developers!).

I think Conan is good way to go. I have the book, but I have yet to run the Campaign.

I've heard mixed reviews of Conan. I'm definitely intrigued but the $50 price tag is nothing to sneeze at.