Urriak Uruk
Gaming is fun, and fun is for everyone
Just don't read it. Doesn't hurt anyone by having him write these.
D&D General Greyhawk and "Low Magic" : Why Low Magic is in the Eyes of Beholder
Just don't read it. Doesn't hurt anyone by having him write these.
Aldarc
Legend
Great. I'll go start 4+ Warlord threads.
TwoSix
Dirty, realism-hating munchkin powergamer
And if a Warlord thread dies, I'll shout it back to life.
I think the most obvious would be the world presented in a Song of Ice and Fire. There is certainly magic but it is beyond rare (though it certainly seems to be ramping up). The Maesters, the ones responsible for keeping knowledge know of magic's existence but consider it a near useless study at this point (though some still do, at least the theory).
Good low-magic fantasy is actually pretty hard to find as the magic tends to ramp up pretty fast. The blade itself (Abercombe) starts pretty low-magic but ramps up (though not really to high magic), but still to a lower level than greyhawk.
MNblockhead
A Title Much Cooler Than Anything on the Old Site
Well, no, we don't need them.
But personally, I MUCH prefer members who spawn a number of more focused threads than having to wade through one massive thread with various subgroups carrying on multiple discussions. Its hard to follow and keep up with. It is also easier for me to ignore an entire thread than scroll past screenfulls of posts looking for those discussing what I'm interested in.
I mean, there is nothing wrong with you not liking the threads, but is it that hard to ignore them?
MNblockhead
A Title Much Cooler Than Anything on the Old Site
The Conan books by Robert E. Howard. It best captures sword & sorcery for me. But I feel that were I to run a Conan-style game, I would not allow magic users as PCs.
As for a low-magic campaign where PCs still do magic, I'm thinking Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser.
MNblockhead
A Title Much Cooler Than Anything on the Old Site
Go nuts. As long as you are getting people to participate in the discussions you create, seems like it would be a net positive. If you just start spamming new threads to make a point, well, actually, it wouldn't bother me. Easy enough to ignore them.
Remathilis
Legend
I don't think Greyhawk is low magic, but I think it views magic differently as far as access and commercialization is concerned.
Eberron applied capitalism to magic. Low power magic is readily available for coin, and even the commoners have access to it. Magewrights, Dragonmarked Guilds, Elemental vehicles and such are all readily available to anyone with the gold.
Forgetten Realms has more centralized access, large metropolitan areas have access to magic that rivals Eberron, but your typical towns as roads are far less magical. Magic is the tool of the rich and powerful, from Lord's to secret societies to PC adventurers. The typical farmer, guard or merchant will only rarely see magic in his lifetime, if at all.
Greyhawk treats magic as a trade secret; it's for the elite few who learn it and those they wish to share it with, but it is extremely rare to see it given up for just mundane coin. Those who know magic know thier rivals well (and in the end, they are ALL your rival in some way) and use it to further thier own goals. Commoners know of magic, but only the most important ever see it and it is almost never just "for sale".
This scale would affect a lot of elements in the setting; spellcasting services, magic items for sale, frequency of magical traps and wards, etc. Eberron treats magic as a commodity, Greyhawk as special knowledge to further your agenda.
Eberron applied capitalism to magic. Low power magic is readily available for coin, and even the commoners have access to it. Magewrights, Dragonmarked Guilds, Elemental vehicles and such are all readily available to anyone with the gold.
Forgetten Realms has more centralized access, large metropolitan areas have access to magic that rivals Eberron, but your typical towns as roads are far less magical. Magic is the tool of the rich and powerful, from Lord's to secret societies to PC adventurers. The typical farmer, guard or merchant will only rarely see magic in his lifetime, if at all.
Greyhawk treats magic as a trade secret; it's for the elite few who learn it and those they wish to share it with, but it is extremely rare to see it given up for just mundane coin. Those who know magic know thier rivals well (and in the end, they are ALL your rival in some way) and use it to further thier own goals. Commoners know of magic, but only the most important ever see it and it is almost never just "for sale".
This scale would affect a lot of elements in the setting; spellcasting services, magic items for sale, frequency of magical traps and wards, etc. Eberron treats magic as a commodity, Greyhawk as special knowledge to further your agenda.
Sorcerers Apprentice
Hero
I thought it was "anti-magic" that was in the Eye of the Beholder? What's the game effect of "Low Magic"? Only 1st and 2nd level spells can be cast inside the eye-effect cone?
Blue Orange
Gone to Texas
Rats, Sorcerer's Apprentice beat me to the 'eye of the beholder' joke.
"Mom, what does it mean when you say something is in the eye of the beholder?"
"It means you tell it to run!"
"Mom, what does it mean when you say something is in the eye of the beholder?"
"It means you tell it to run!"
