D&D 5E How much magic do you have in your game?

[jgsugden]

Errr...if someone has to spend a lifetime just getting to 5th level mage, what level of magic is going into making these things? (and if it's that low, can PCs do it also and make some coin on the side?)

Or does God-touched extend to NPCs?

(To note the obvious, the rules have been tweaked through the years - below is how they are represented in 5E because the rules as written proved to be very compatible with my approach).

God-touched does extend to notable NPCs. The world has 12 times the surface area of the Earth, and a 'Dyson Sphere' type Underdark Surface that is nearly as large (with much less water on the 'surface'). The population of humanoids is well over 80 billion. On that world, there are about a million God-touched, currently (and some God-touched living on other planes or planets, now). Most beings spend their entire life without ever meeting a God-touched. Most people on the world do not understand the concept of God-touched. They refer to those that excel beyond reason as prodigies or something similar.

Some God-touched are master crafters, and tend to be the source of more powerful magical items (although on rare occasion, a legendary event can result in magic infusing an item via supernatural magics - this is where relics originate, but the process can spawn things as basic as a common item). God-touched are 1 in 80,000 overall, but more concentrated in certain populations (mostly human - where they can be a handful living in a massive city of 100,000 people). Some of these are crafters that create some of the most notable items.

Beyond God-touched, most crafters are of the much longer lived races - especially giants, elves and dwarves.

Non God-touched Humans that craft magic items start to learn magic at a young age (8) and craft their first magical items around age 40. Once they master the skills required, they make a very good living making common and uncommon magic items. That wizard may spend 30 years making one uncommon item and 3 common items each month... over 300 uncommon items and 1000 common items in their lifetime.

However, the (Non God-touched) dwarven smiths.... they may spend a hundred years making common and uncommon items at an even greater rate (due to greater focus) before achieving the masterful capability of crafting rare items - and then spend centuries making 1 or 2 rare items a year. Elves only craft a small number of uncommon and common items, but they do hone their skills and create rare and even very rare items (which can take decades to craft a single one).

Magic items are also very durable. So, once made, they tend to stick around for a loooooooong time. Many are family heirlooms passed down from parent to child for many generations before someone sells it, or it is stolen. While Arcane magic and wizards have only existed for 2800 years, divine and nature magic (druidic magic) has been around for over 4000 years.

Having a common magic item is the sign of an upper middle class family. Having multiple common or even an uncommon item is expected of an upper class family. The truly wealthy will have magic items in the possession of every family member, and perhaps a signature rare - or even very rare - heirloom. The legendary items are generally one of a kind and there are less than 300 in the entire world. Artifacts and relics are insanely rare, and few manage to be held by someone in the open for long before they are lost.

I'll also note that dusts, potions, oils, and scrolls have separate processes for creation and can be far more common. Some are even (super)naturally occurring that are harvested.

 

[Democratus]

At 3rd you can animate the dead, bring the recently dead back to life, hurl elemental forces, fly, cancel other spells, bend time, turn into a cloud of vapor, summon creatures from beyond, and bestow and remove curses.

This is the level where casters become the iconic wielders of mystical powers.

 

[Shiroiken]

Hard to say, because you also have to consider the difference of region. A peasant farmer in the sticks is unlikely to see ANY magic over their life, while a peasant laborer in a big city probably sees a lot of magic available to the setting. In my Greyhawk, most people have seen cantrips and 1st level magic, usually by hedge mages and priests. Those in large urban environment (such as the Free City) have probably seen more, but unlikely to have much of anything level 3 or higher.

 

[Helldritch]

From what I can see in the poll, most answers are around 3rd to 5th level spells. That was to be expected.
I suspect that those that went for higher levels currently have a high level campaign and that is great! Most campaigns end at or around level 11-12 and seeing people actually going higher lightened my heart as I love to DM high level campaigns. So many surprises from both the players and the monsters and the design decisions required into making them is no small feat, believe me. It is not easy.

But for most people, 3rd level spells are the place where casters (even divine ones) can really get deadly. A simple fire ball hits an area of 50 squares of 5'x5'. That is 50 medium sized opponents. This is quite terrifying if you think about it. Even the lightning bolt has a chance of killing up to 20 opponents (ok, they all must be in a single file...) but since the lightning bolt no longuer bounce back, it can be easier to use than a fire ball. (I wish they had kept the 10 feet wide variety for half the range in 5th edition. Maybe I should introduce it back...).

 

[Stormonu]

eep...I just realized that 4th level spells kick in at 7th level, and 5th level kick in at 9th (the old "name" levels from 1E/2E). Still, I stick with my choice of 4th level spells - though 5th makes a lot of sense as well.

 

[Laurefindel]

I went back and forth and change my mind about fifteen times.

I was about to say 3rd level because that's when spellcasters really "come into their own". But it's also where most classes come into their own, and martial characters are still keeping up with casters (more or less).

I ultimately settled on 6th level; that's where most of the crazy naughty word that threatens your world to spiral down in the tippyverse really start (although you get a taste of it with some 5th-level spells too). It corresponds with the entry to tier 3 play. That's also where the divide between martials and casters start to become most apparent.

Magic has been powerful since cantrips (some can replace a life-long profession!), but 6th level spells is where your local villain isn't just a local villain anymore, they are a undead-army raising, fiend-summoning, long-range teleporting, mass hypnotizing, genie-binding, plane-crossing, flesh-petrifying, disintegrating villain with automated magical contingency plans. So 6th level it is for me.

 

[Weiley31]

So much magic that every time a session starts, a Lich pops out of the nearest door and yells out "Where's my witches at!?" before going back through said door and never being seen again.

 

[Krachek]

My personal rule of thumb.

Spell level 3. Professional. Signature : Fireball, Remove curse, speak with dead
Spell level 5. Elite. signature : Raise dead, Teleportation circle, scrying
Spell level 7. Legendary or Famous. Signature: Teleport, Plane shift, Resurrection

Signature is used in term of a common knowledge gage of power level.
When you heard about those guy who walk through planes, it should ring a bell.

 

[Guest User]

IMG's any reasonable sized town and you can track down spells of levels 1-5 (Raise dead etc). Higher level magic of T3+ is much rarer.

The prevalence of magic is very campaign dependent. Keith Baker calls Eberron a "Wide Magic" world. On the continent of Khorvaire, Magic equivalent to 1-3 level spells is common. Magic Equivalent to 4-5 level spells is more rare and much more difficult to arrange. Magic higher than 5th level spells is very difficult to find.

Now on the continent of Aerenal, magic equivalent to 1-5 spells is prevalent.

Obviously Earth mythology has quite a bit of variance, but Raise Dead effects for mortals are quite rare, in general. Reincarnation is much more prevalent globally, (though mythological reincarnation typically differs from the 5e effect).

 

[doctorbadwolf]

What should ever be "common" about magic? I am sure they don't mean it the same way I am implying, but hopefully you get the idea.

Common just means that seeing it isn't a huge deal. A common magic item is somewhere in the rarity range of a home refrigerator in the 40's in some worlds, more like the 1910's in others. Far from ubiquitous, but not shocking to see.

Uncommon just means it's not a big deal to give it to a low level character. Trying to tie it necessarily to anything meaningful to the rest of the world is folly, IMO.

As for spell levels, I'd say 4th.

Firstly, a magic item that just casts a 3rd level spell once a day is, per the DMG magic item crafting guidelines, an uncommon item.

Second, the spells that sort of define magic in dnd are mostly 3rd or lower, IME.

My preference is for the world to be fairly magical. If you go into the forest, you can find some talking animals, fairies, etc. It's not uncommon for a family to have a few domovoi who clean their home and help with chores in exchange for milk and honey. There is folk magic that isn't especially helpful to PCs that is pretty common, powered by social ritual and the sort of spirit of a community, well lived in homes have Thresholds that make it hard for magical creatures and spirits to enter or project power into the home. That sort of stuff.