Is it time for a low-magic setting?

[glass]

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!"

They reputedly paid $25k each for the second and third settings in the search, so they've presumably got two new settings waiting in the wings. Who knows, maybe one of them is low magic.


glass.

 

[Hairfoot]

Seems to me that "low-magic" isn't about the PCs; it's about the environment.

A wizard can alway fire off a pile of arcane hoo-ha, but in a low-magic setting the villagers want to burn him alive, while in a high-magic one the peasants say "pffft! My grandmother can cast expeditious retreat".

I think FR is overrated in that regard. Because there are so many novels and supplements containing high-level elites, it's easy to perceive that magic is everywhere, illithids are a scourge, and "Elminster" is a household name. In reality (FR reality), the average Daleland peasant is lucky to get a CLW in his whole life, rarely sees true magic, and has as much knowledge of Elminster's arcane power as a Midwesterner does of Rumsfeld's mid-east arms dealings.

 

[Imruphel]

It would have to be pretty special to bump Midnight and Conan from my list of preferred low magic settings.

My short answer though is, no, I have more than enough settings now and more than enough material to last me this lifetime!

 

[Aus_Snow]

Woohoo! I got the first "Maybe. But it will only work if they do XYZ" vote!

Um. Yeah. That's (basically) my take on it.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

No.

3.x rules are not suitable for low magic.

D20 Modern is, however

 

[balrog62]

Voted No...but...

Another possibility for a low/medium magic setting is the Wilderlands setting from Necromancer Games/Judges Guild. It's pretty crunchy with lots of potential to go any direction you want. Originally (when it was released in the 1980's) it had a science and sorcery mix to it, but that's been pushed into the background. Personally, it's my favorite setting because I can add in any homebrew idea and it works or I can mix in the miniscule amounts of stuff I like in FR or Eberron and it fits. I'd place it above Conan or Midnight in terms of magic levels but definitely below FR or Eberron.

 

[delericho]

I, too, believe the 3.5e rules are not really suited for low-magic play.

 

[Hussar]

The D&D ruleset is heavily dependant on magical items to keep the classes in balance. A low-magic campaign using stock D&D rules would have severe balance and gameplay problems. Hence, a low-magic setting would have to signifigantly alter the core rules. Because of that, I don't think its reasonable for WotC to release a D&D setting that is lower magic than the rules implicitly require.

Its probably better for people who want a low-magic campaign to play some other game system. If people still want to play d20, d20 Modern works perfectly well for a low-magic fantasy game with only a few minor tweaks. I've done it, and it works well, and it retains a signifigant amount of D&D feel, as it uses the same monsters, magic items, and spells, for the most part.

Would I buy a low-magic setting if it came out? No. I don't buy campaign setting books. I prefer to just make stuff up.

QFT.

To do a truly low magic setting - one where the party actually reflects this, as in the party doesn't have three or four spell casters in it - would require a major overhaul of the rules.

What's the point of a low magic setting if the party has a wizard, cleric and warlock? While the setting might be low magic, the campaign certainly isn't. To do low magic games, requires the party to have its magic limited. Otherwise, the campaign doesn't look any different from any other campaign. The wizzie is still blasting away with fireball and the cleric is patching up the fighter with cure light wounds.

Oh, and btw, nice snark with the "mature" comment BD. I'm still very, very confused how playing in a low magic setting possibly equates with being mature. But, that's just me.

And, as a final thought, "old school" DnD was every bit as magic loaded as "new school". Pick up any module for 1st edition and tell me that it isn't.

 

[hong]

No, it is not time for a low magic setting. However, it is clearly time for a low magic setting thread.

 

[Nomad4life]

I, too, believe the 3.5e rules are not really suited for low-magic play.

::Nods:: Low magic works OK at the first few levels of play, but then the game kind of breaks down. Armor Class, for example, is problematic- Without magic items to boost it, combat gets to the point where everyone can hit everyone else all the time... Which means that your PCs are badly wounded after the first encounter, with no easy way to heal themselves afterwards in a low-magic world.

Games like True20 (with an AC that scales with level, armor that adds to toughness, and damage saves rather than HP) are better suited for such styles of play.