Is it time for a low-magic setting?

[big dummy]

Originally we had Greyhawk as the primary D&D world, which was pretty high fantasy, high magic I think by anyones definition.

WOTC has released Forgotten Realms, which was a pretty logical extrapolation of the D&D world from the rule books, albiet in a very magic-rich environment. (is there anything in the rules which sets the rate of say, spellcasters to non spellcasters in a given environment?) Now we have Eberron which has taken this a step further, and brought us into a world with magic-as-technology, complete with magical trains and the like.

Seems to me from online polls I have witnessed and conversations I've had both in the real world and in places like this, that both FR and Eberron were pretty popular with at least a majority of D&D players out there. Maybe more like 2/3 to 3/4.

There are still a minority of us however who might like to play in a lower magic, perhaps even lower fantasy, more historical or more 'grown up' feeling, grimmer and grittier world. Conan RPG is not a bad start for OGL, but some folks might like something a little bit less genre specific. A bit broader in context perhaps, low magic and perhaps low fantasy and yet still tied -in to the old school feel of D&D.

Seeing as we have had high, higher, and highest magic campaign settings so far, is it time for WOTC to put out a low magic setting ? For sake of discussion I will call this the "Gutboy Barrelhouse" setting.

 

[Nightfall]

Maybe you should just try for Midnight. Trust me, that's low enough magic for anyone.

 

[big dummy]

Maybe you should just try for Midnight. Trust me, that's low enough magic for anyone.

Its so typical any time you bring up anything about changing D&D in any way, people send you off to other games....

Let me be clear, I don't mean low low LOW magic as in real life, or in some campaigns where a spellcaster is one in a million...

I guess I mean virtually anything lower than Greyhawk or FR. I'd be interested to hear how low is low enough for those people who don't find say FR or Eberron to their taste. I personally like to have some magic in the game, but not so much that it becomes mundane. In fact you might say I like to limit the magic a bit to emphasize it that much more.

My ideal might be lLets say, no continual light light posts in the towns. A few high level Wizards are around, but they are remarkable and famous individuals. Temples in big cities and major religious centers have a few high level clerics but small villages may not have any magic at all.

But this isn't about my ideal, its about whether there is ANY broad appeal for a lowER magic setting for D&D. I'd like to hear what everyone else thinks.

BD

 

[I'm A Banana]

Midnight is d20.

You could also try d20 Modern as a good approximation of D&D with low magic.

The important thing here is to know that there are many companies addressing this need. WotC doesn't really need to, IMHO (any more than they did with Modern, anyway). The work's already been done, and, in many cases, been done excellently.

 

[Nightfall]

Kami,

Thank you! Geez, try to help people out...

Rule 1 about Nightfall: I NEVER send anyone to another game when d20 can be easily worked into any 3.0/3.5 situation.

 

[big dummy]

Kami,

Thank you! Geez, try to help people out...

Rule 1 about Nightfall: I NEVER send anyone to another game when d20 can be easily worked into any 3.0/3.5 situation.

My bad... sorry about that. But I don't mean D20, I mean a major 3.5 campaign setting by a big player, preferably WOTC. The point is to create a kind of triad of options, say low or medium level magic ("Gutboy Barrelhouse"), high magic (FR), and Higher Magic (Eberron)

Actually four settings might be ideal. Low, medium, high and very high.

This way they would each act as kind of major tree trunks from which D20 suppliments and other things could develop. I think this might make it easier for publishers and writers to find a niche they can fit into better, and perhaps it would help end some of the infighting within the D&D community.

J

 

[Nightfall]

Uhm...Midnight was done by Fantasy Flight Games. They might not be Malhavoc Press but they certainly rank as one of mine (and certainly others) favorites.

2) WotC could care jack crap about making new settings. They'll reuse old ones if they decide "Well we need to sell more books!"

 

[big dummy]

Uhm...Midnight was done by Fantasy Flight Games. They might not be Malhavoc Press but they certainly rank as one of mine (and certainly others) favorites.

I'm not trying to belittle fantasy flight in any way. I hope you understand my point per above, I'd be interested in a broader setting with more resources behind it and (perhaps more importnatly) a more fundamental impact on the whole D&D community. As a D20 writer myself I can testify to the fact that some very nice work gets lost in that sea....

2) WotC could care jack crap about making new settings. They'll reuse old ones if they decide "Well we need to sell more books!"

Why did they come out with Eberron then?

I just had a quick look at midnight and it looks very interesting, it is quite genre specific though in rather the same way that Conan RpG is. Deinfately looks like fun though.

DB

 

[GrumpyOldMan]

I voted yes but…

However, having read these posts I should have probably voted No.

It appears that your definition of Low Magic equates with my definition of High Magic.

To me, Low Magic is where there may be as many as one spellcaster per 10 000, but probably less. A place where most citizens have never seen magic, and many don’t believe it exists.

Continual Light streetlamps! Eek!

 

[Nightfall]

They came out with Eberron because FR wasn't selling as well as it used to. Now they have a hot seller and steady (if not often to release) setting that they can use. So far why break with something that works?

Yeah Midnight is pretty good and it has a lot to offer for people that enjoy both low magic AND a true challenge.

Grump,

Yeah well some of us don't want to trip on our feet while walking the streets of Waterdeep.