How to run a low magic fantasy game?

[Mokona]

Inspired by these poll results I'm looking for advice. My games are lower magic than standard Dungeons & Dragons but I usually use D&D v.3.5 until recently. Now I'm trying a sword and sorcery game using D20 Urban Arcana (and the D20 Modern system generally).

What is the best system for running a "low magic fantasy" game (think Song of Ice and Fire)?

Please explain the benefits and drawbacks, if you would, of your recommendation.

 

[Stormborn]

It all depends on what you are looking for really.

Iron Heroes will allow you to play a game that is every bit as powerful as standard DnD, but without the reliance on magic items and spells. The book has a lot of errata and a terrible spellcaster, but you can fix those easilly enough.

Or if you want to replicate A Game of Thrones you could always buy the Game of Thrones RPG which has excelent systems to replicate the complex social structure and interactions found in the books. Big book, somewhat expensive, and is just different enough it would take you some time to learn.

Grim Tales is also a great tool kit book for creating just about anything you want, but I would certainly say it is oriented toward low magic games. I have it, but have never used it so can't really speak to the drawbacks other than to say that it seems like the DM needs to be carefully in establishing and communicating campaign distinctives up front with the players. But thats more or less true always.

When I ran a low magic game it was homebrew. I just banned spell casting classes, gave spellless alt.versions of the halfcasters like the Ranger, allowed for faster healing outside of combat, and included some technological devices (like steampunk tools, alchemical potions, guns, and grenades of various types) and it went quite well. Homebrew is a lot of work, and occasionally requires adjusting on the fly. But it can be fun.

Personally, D20 Modern sounds like a great idea for a low magic fantasy game to me. Especially given that I just wrote a magick system (several actually) for Victorian era games, found in Imperial Age Magick. Some players might have trouble with the paradigm shift of thinking in fantasy terms with a modern book and you are going to need to put some extra effort into it to get what you want but it is perfectly doable.

 

[TerraDave]

If you are familiar with D20 modern, then you may want to check out Grimm Tales. There is also Green Ronin's True 20, which is a little "rules lighter" and seems to have developed a following.

 

[Kafkonia]

Inspired by these poll results I'm looking for advice. My games are lower magic than standard Dungeons & Dragons but I usually use D&D v.3.5 until recently. Now I'm trying a sword and sorcery game using D20 Urban Arcana (and the D20 Modern system generally).

What is the best system for running a "low magic fantasy" game (think Song of Ice and Fire)?

Please explain the benefits and drawbacks, if you would, of your recommendation.

I would suggest looking elsewhere than D20, although to be fair I haven't used D20 Modern so I can't really comment on it.

Your best bet might be a system like GURPS, which is exceptional for lower-powered games in general. Or if the BRP system's got a fantasy setting right now, that might be fun. Nothing discourages magic use like going insane.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Grim Tales by Bad Axe Games, as others have mentioned (and only one 'M' -- there is a Grimm (two 'M's) game that is something else entirely.

Use Grim Tales with the Armor as Damage Conversion rule is pretty close to perfect for the low-magic d20 game, IMO. It keeps things kinda deadly, but by converting a lot of the damage to non-lethal, you end up with unconscious players rather than dead players more often than not. It reduces the need for lots of healing magic.

And for spellcasting, the beauty and elegance of GT is amazing. Just by tweaking a couple parameters you can run "low power and difficult magic", "low power but common magic", "high power but difficult" and pretty much every other combination you can think of. The only caveat is that the DM really should control spell access -- pick the spells you want to be available in your campaign, and dole them out to the casters as needed. If you try to let them use all the spells in the Compendium, you're (a) not really low-magic, and (b) going to find things that are just horribly abuseable in that context.

 

[Herobizkit]

By default, d20 Modern/Arcana is conceivably a low magic setting (compared to standard 3.x) because practically all spell casters are prestige classes and are capped at level 10. If I recall correctly, the highest level spell anyone can cast is 5th, and that's assuming they go all 10 levels in spellcaster.

Now, that said, as long as you don't introduce a plethora of the "magitech" gadgets (ie. enchanted items as modern-day items) you can still keep the magic scaled down.

Do not introduce any D&D monsters tougher than Aberrations. This means that Demons, Dragons, Devils, and most Undead and Fey are Right Out. Aberrations are still cool for the "weird" factor but don't generally have any special resistances that can't be overcome without magic (remembering that Modern/Arcana is kind of 3.25 and keeps the 3.0 "overcoming damage resistance" mechanic); cold iron and silver will still work.

 

[S'mon]

I would recommend using either C&C or maybe the (free, downloadable) Basic Fantasy RPG, but remove the full-progression spellcaster classes. C&C is ideal for this, with tons of class netbooks containing PC classes with all kinds of spell progressions.

C&C is also playable with _no_ spellcasting classes - C&C Paladins, Rangers, Bards et al are non-spellcasting, you just lose Wizards, Clerics, Druids & Illusionists. For a combat heavy C&C game you might want to either provide a magic-healing macguffin, or increase healing rates (say 1 hp/level/day, x2 with full rest) to compensate.

If you are addicted to heavy d20 crunch and find those too light; Iron Heroes, Grim Tales and the OGL Conan game all offer low-magic high-crunch alternatives.

 

[Agent Oracle]

1) Eliminate all magical or magic-y classes (druic, cleric, bard, ranger, paladin, sorcerer, wizard, monk) and magic-y races (elf, gnome, dwarf, half-elf, half-orc, halfling)Yes, that DOES leave just the fighter, rogue, barbarian, and human. That race and those classes are the hallmarks of low-magic. After all, we're drawing inspiration from the Gray Mouser here, not Legolas!

2) Eliminate all magical enemies. No dragons, no invisible stalkers, no liches, no zombies or skeletons... hell, i don't even want to see a BLINK DOG in this setting.

3) stick to low levels. somewhere around level 9, the low-magic setting breaks down completely.

4) make what magical objects are acquired (a) powerful in an abstract way and (b) devoid of simple explanations of what they do. That Gem the NPC BBEG has? When he uses it, it can blast things, levitate things, and make this weird glow of evil. What does it actually do mechanically? Doesn't matter. It's Maaaaaaggiiic.

5) End the campaign shortly after the BBEG is beaten and his magical artifact is aquired. Preferably with the heroes riding off into the sunset with the loving princess in their respective arms.

 

[Herobizkit]

1) Eliminate all magical or magic-y classes (druic, cleric, bard, ranger, paladin, sorcerer, wizard, monk) and magic-y races (elf, gnome, dwarf, half-elf, half-orc, halfling)Yes, that DOES leave just the fighter, rogue, barbarian, and human. That race and those classes are the hallmarks of low-magic. After all, we're drawing inspiration from the Gray Mouser here, not Legolas!

[nitpick] Isn't the Grey Mouser also a wizard, or at least have some magical training? [/nitpick]

 

[Jondor_Battlehammer]

Get rid of evocation, abjuration, conjuration, and all other spells above 5th level. With most of the really flashy stuff gone, d20 could work.