Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="77IM" data-source="post: 6997741" data-attributes="member: 12377">I just started running a low-magic campaign with zero rules changes. Here's what I did.1) Explained to the players that in this world, magic, spellcasting, demi-humans, and monsters were going to be encountered much less frequently. Magical things are more hidden, mysterious, and subtle. Magic isn't actually rarer than in default D&D; it's just encountered less frequently by ordinary people, who react to it more extremely. Everybody knows there are monsters in the woods, but if you actually see one, you run for your life, even if it's just a single goblin.So anyone playing a spellcaster, or even a demi-human, is going to be treated with a certain amount of curiosity and/or suspicion by most human NPCs. This alone was enough to discourage most of the group from playing full spellcasters. (Paladins and clerics get a pass, since they are "good" magic-users.)2) There's no magic shops, no mage's guild, no place to buy spell-scrolls or component pouches. In the valley where the campaign takes place, there's one wizard in a tower, who does not like to be disturbed. Plus, there are probably some witches and elves and stuff out in the wilderness who might have the reagents you need. Common people are lucky to have access to healing potions. The local temple is run by a 1st-level cleric who can cure wounds in an emergency, and the townsfolk are grateful to have such a pious person in their midst.Basically I removed most magical elements from the everyday lives of the NPCs and made it harder for spellcasting PCs to have a "place" in this world. If you're a wizard or sorcerer or whatever, you're an outsider; no shop sells you the stuff you need, nobody around here can help you with magical research, etc. If you want the magic, you need to go to dungeons to get it.The net result is that the setting has a very different vibe and players approach the topics of spells, monsters, and demi-humans very differently. There isn't any expectation that "big magic" will solve their problems, or be the cause of any problems. It's not the Realms where powerful wizards are everywhere and magical accidents are common enough to frequently shape world history. Instead, magic is on the fringes of society, somewhere in a gray area between history and legend.I don't think you need to nerf spellcasters to achieve any of this. It's not necessary and it unbalances the game. Just because the setting is low-magic that doesn't mean that spellcasting PCs should be made weaker than other PCs. Just let the specialness of being a magic-user get cancelled out by the inconvenience of being a magic-user.</blockquote>

Verification