Little Changes with Big Flavor

[Rune]

Disposable magic items. I call them Peasant Charms. Say your fighter saves the miller's daughter and she weaves a necklace of flowers for him as a thank you. Maybe it will negate the next critical hit that is made against him and then it crumbles to dust? Maybe it will give him +1 to his saves until the flowers wither.
The token, whatever it may be (a favorite brooch, a lock of hair, a handkerchief) is imbued with power, unintentionally, because of the emotion put into it. This is a nice way of rewarding the group's heroes, without having to worry that a new magic item will disrupt balance. Eventually the flowers die, the lock of hair loses it's luster, and the brooch quits shining so brightly and the bonus goes away. The PC might never even realize that the item held power...

...And Rune steals another one! *YOINK*

 

[Gavin]

Make history less certain.

*Make character races all have the same lifespan. No more ancient mentors who remember the beginning of time. This makes a truly ancient monster like a dragon or a liche seem...ancient.

*Reduce the amount of written history. Have most history handed down in stories, epic poems, songs. Make symbolic stories, parables, morality tales that hint at history but don't come right out and say it. Of course, over the years that history becomes stylized and ritualized and turned into myth and legend.

*Revisionist history: "Of course those people were evil. That's why we crushed them and took their rich, fertile, evil lands"

*Have mis-quoted, mistranslated, misunderstood, or just made up stories that have become accepted as "history". And then show them the error of that belief.

The past is often poorly understood in real life. Why should a place that doesn't even have radiocarbon dating be any better.

Well, yeah, they have magic. So make magic-using archaelogists. Make discovering history as much a part of the story as discovering treasure.

Final thought: Indiana Gnome-Illusionist.

 

[kenjib]

Some ideas on magic items - some from other people but I don't recall who:

1. Remove the limitation that all magic weapons and armor have at least a +1 bonus. Also remove the limitation that bonuses are always applied to both to-hit and damage. You could have, for example, a flaming sword (with no other bonuses), a +3 to hit sword that invokes true strike once per day as a free action, or a +2 damage keen sword. Damage resistance is penetrated by total bonus equivalent rather than just bonus value alone.

2. Give most magic items significant drawbacks and curses. For example, that +2 damage keen sword must see battle once per day or it grows heavier and heavier. The cloak of etherealness is a beacon for strange extra-dimensional predators. Whenever true strike is invoked using the +3 to hit/true strike sword, the user becomes fatigued after striking. Every time the staff of power is used the user must make a will saving throw DC5 +1 cumulative for each additional use. Failure results in a permanent loss of one hit point. The ring of protection +5 only works for one week after it is soaked in the fresh blood of an innocent stranger killed in cold blood.

3. Have items gain magical abilities through their usage and history rather than through enchantment. Example: Hulgar the mighty made a heroic last stand in the mountain passes against the invading orc horde. He died holding them back just long enough for his beloved and their unborn child to escape pursuit. Now when the user of this sword is reduced to 0 or fewer hit points, so long as he makes at least one attack with the sword per round he gains the following bonuses: he remains conscious, he does not suffer damage from blood loss, combat reflexes, +5 to armor class, +5 to hit, and +5 to all saving throws. If the wielder stops attacking and is still below 0 hit points he falls unconscious and continues with the standard blood loss rules. If the wielder falls to -10 or fewer hit points he dies immediately.

4. Don't use any magic items from the DMG. Instead create all original items. Alternatively, swap the item and the effect. For example, have a crown of invisibility and a cloak of intellect.

5. Require that the creation of an item (not including scrolls, potions, and wands) requires an item research journal. This works just like a spell book. The method for enchanting each item is considered to be a unique spell. The spell level of the spell is derived from item's caster level via caster level/2 rounding up. All casters must use such a journal to create magic items, even if they don't normally keep spell books. The cost of researching or scribing the item creation notes are as per the rules for wizards scribing spells. Treatises on item creation are hoarded jealously by covetous spellcasters and can be handed out in lieu of actual items.

6. Use the levelled magic item variant from Dragon.

7. Learning about an item's history unlocks new powers. Using the Hulgar's sword from #3 above, the sword is a normal sword until the user discovers this part of the sword's history. Later, the user also discovers that this sword was carried by the famous cavalry captain Tinatel at the legendary siege of Caladan. This discovery unlocks an additional power of the sword - +2 to ride checks, attack rolls, and damage when fighting from horseback. There can be even more secrets in the weapon's history just waiting to be unlocked.

P.S. Regarding armor and climate - didn't the conquistadors wear brigandine because heavier armor would have been too hot and cumbersome for steamy jungle trekks?

On another note - for another campaign idea put the characters into an alien environment and center the campaign around trying to get back to the normal world: Stranded in an alien world, shrunk down to the size of ants with no idea how to get back to normal size, trapped via a cave-in in a giant subterranean world that the surface world never knew existed (ala Journey to the Center of the Earth), sent forward in time to an alien future (Time Machine) or back to a primitive past, stranded on a deserted island, etc. You might have to tweak or remove some spells to make some of these work. One powerful side effect of most of these scenarios is that there is no longer any civilization - no shops, no treasure, no economy, no magic items, no replacement equipment that the player's can't craft on their own - nothing! If you want to introduce a bit more access to resources you could always introduce a Sleestak (Land of the Lost) type race - natives that are very alien to the characters way of thinking - or a native race that is irrevocably hostile toward the characters so that they must obtain equipment and supplies through scavenging and stealing.

 

[Dark Jezter]

Conan the Barbarian for Third Edition D&D is one of the best D20 dedicated sites I've ever seen, and any D&D player who is also a fan of Robert E Howard must see this site.

Aside from having stats for Conan and people he meets over the course of his adventurous life, the site also has rules for making a campaign set in the Hyborian Age. Some of the changes include:

• Humans are the only playable race.
• Bards, Clerics, and Paladins are eliminated as playable classes. Druids are very rare, but acceptable.
• Rangers can no longer cast spells. To compensate for this, they get a bonus feat every 5 levels.
• Spellcasting for wizards and sorcerors has been completely overhauled. If an arcane spellcaster wants to memorize a spell, they must enter a comatose state where they send their consciousness outside normal time/space to learn dark secrets that man was not meant to know. If they fail, they run the risk of going insane or even bringinging back an evil outsider with them.
• After casting a spell, a spellcaster is fatigued for an hour.
• In many countries, magic is outlawed and reviled. If a player openly identifies themselves as a mage, they could be hunted and killed as a witch.
• Some more that I will not list now.

Some of these changes are very interesting, and suitable for a Hyborian Age campaign.

 

[Bran Blackbyrd]

...And Rune steals another one! *YOINK*

Yeah, that's probably one of my best, I'm glad you like it!

They work like a charm (no pun intended) in low-magic campaigns because they don't ruin the illusion that magic is rare. They can be "created" by people who supposedly have no magic abilities, and they expire quickly which actually reinforces how special they are, and how hard magic is to truly capture.

In my campaign magic is everywhere, but it isn't being used. Magic users were hunted to virtual extinction and the fact that magic exists has been repressed, so the air practically crackles with unused power. The Peasant Charms are an example of how one powerful emotion, one defining moment, can capture that energy and put it to use, if only for a moment. Intent shapes power.

This is a nice companion to boosting the effectiveness of Healing and Herbalism. This has a pretty decent suspension of disbelief too. You'd be surprised how many people never question that the village wise woman's homemade treebark tonic heals as many HP as a Cure Light Wounds potion, just because she rolled a great skill check. They just say, "Oh ok, I guess she brews a great homemade cure-all."

Note: Oy, I can't type anything correctly anymore.

 

[mmadsen]

Magic, monsters, and demihumans are all thought to be fairytales. It isn't until the PCs get out in the world and begin to explore that they find out these things are real.

A common, but good, idea. Really though, whose players have ever believed that they were playing in a magic-free world? It's hard enough to surprise them with Cthulhu-esque horror when you set it up as a modern spy game; who's going to believe you're playing D&D without magic?

Magic exists but there is a secret society that suppresses knowledge of magic and it's use, by any means necessary. Any PC that can wield magic must do so carefully, lest she attract notice.

Why are they suppressing magic? (That's a story in itself.)

World resembles the colonial age, but without gunpowder or any other highly advanced technology.

How does it resemble the colonial age if the technology of that era doesn't exist? Tricorner hats? Tea and tobacco? Can they transport cash crops without advanced sailing ships and navigation?

Disposable magic items. I call them Peasant Charms. Say your fighter saves the miller's daughter and she weaves a necklace of flowers for him as a thank you. Maybe it will negate the next critical hit that is made against him and then it crumbles to dust? Maybe it will give him +1 to his saves until the flowers wither.

The token, whatever it may be (a favorite brooch, a lock of hair, a handkerchief) is imbued with power, unintentionally, because of the emotion put into it. This is a nice way of rewarding the group's heroes, without having to worry that a new magic item will disrupt balance. Eventually the flowers die, the lock of hair loses it's luster, and the brooch quits shining so brightly and the bonus goes away. The PC might never even realize that the item held power...

Sweet. I'm with Rune; consider that idea stolen.

It reminds me of another "little change" that I forgot to mention:

• Replace scrolls with talismans (from Oriental Adventures).
• Remove one-shot scrolls. Scrolls are no different from pages out of a spellbook. You can learn a spell from them, but they don't store any magic energy allowing you to cast from them.
• Allow casters to cast directly out of a spellbook (or from a scroll) -- slowly, with a chance of error.
• Remove charge-em-up wands, rods, and staves.
• Have "preparing" a spell mean storing it in a wand/rod/staff or talisman instead of "hanging" it in memory. Taking a Wizard's staff away or breaking it means disarming him of his prepared spells (or most of them).

Bad guys don't always fight to the death, they don't always spot the PCs first (and vice versa), and they don't always show up with a name tag marked "villain".

One oddity of RPGs in general is that monsters and animals casually fight to the death. I guess part of that is a result of another RPG oddity: monsters tend to get assaulted out of nowhere while in a tiny locked room.

Resurrection? What's that?

That's one of the great things about Pendragon: the campaign is supposed to last for decades, with just one adventure per year (in the summer, when the weather's good), and your character raises a family. You expect to die, if only of old age, so passing the mantle to your son comes naturally. Who needs resurrection? It's all in the family.

Plantlife! Just adding new flora to a world changes the atmosphere. IMC there is a type of tree whose sap is so volitile that it will burst into flames at the slightest provocation. Not only that, but dryads never inhabit these trees. Setting one alight may release the fire elemental or mephit that resides within... It doesn't take a genius to realize that if one catches fire the whole forest will be gone in no time. The seeds require intense heat to germinate properly, and the trees grow quickly.
I hope the PCs keep an eye on the sparks from that campfire...

Good point. People do tend to overlook flora. And there's more to exotic plantlife than carniverous plants.

Familiars first come to the magic-user in the form of animal totems, in dreams and visions. After a rapport with the animal spirit is made, a familiar of that type joins the PC.

That's a nice bit of flavor.

Animating a corpse does/doesn't disrupt the soul of the person the corpse belonged to? Maybe necromancy isn't evil. Maybe the undead are simply animated by elemental spirits or other energies. Perhaps the undead are used as cheap labor, or for dangerous tasks. Maybe it is tradition for certain clans or villages to make their historian a lich so that he or she will be around forever, recording and relating the family/local history.

"Friendly" undead are certainly unusual. Nice twist.

Monster names change from region to region. Maybe in Northport goblins are called Hokems, but in the Fort Relentless region they are known as Dusk-Swine. Who knows!

One of the strength of Kalamar, from what I've heard, is that the gods have different names in different cultures. Perfectly naturaly, yet no one had done it before.

In a campaign where magic/religion is non-existant or very rare the effectiveness of Heal and Herbalism skills can be increased. By how much is up to you.

I strongly endorse non-miracle healing.

 

[mmadsen]

These are great ideas. Less is more!

That's certainly the idea behind the "monster palette" thread -- and behind many of the ideas here too. There are so many D&D supplements with so many options, but they don't all fit in one campaign. Less is more!

Here's another take on magic items. Heroes will only have one or two their whole careers. Hand them out early and at full power. That's all they will ever get, but it's their ticket to glory.

Great idea, jdfrenzel! A lot of people who want a "low magic" campaign decide to be stingy with magic treasure. In my opinion, they confuse ubiquity of magic and power of magic. If you want magic to retain it's mystery, certainly you don't want it everywhere -- but you do want it to seem magical when it does show up! One +5 sword is fine; it's rare and powerful. Five +1 swords isn't fine; they're everywhere and no big whup.

 

[Bran Blackbyrd]

A common, but good, idea. Really though, whose players have ever believed that they were playing in a magic-free world? It's hard enough to surprise them with Cthulhu-esque horror when you set it up as a modern spy game; who's going to believe you're playing D&D without magic?

Well, in my case, the group has been informed ahead of time about a lot of the background (and which parts the PCs do and do not know). It isn't so much about tricking them into thinking there isn't any magic, or making them believe, as much as it's about flavor. It also provides them with advance warnings regarding not using showy spells near populated areas...
The group will only have one arcane magic user, for the first few levels anyway, and I'm trying to come up with a way to nerf his abilities at first level that isn't totally annoying. The player knows where I'm going with this and says he's okay with whatever I come up with. It's a lame DM trick, but it's only for a little while, and will help drive the setting home a little.

Why are they suppressing magic? (That's a story in itself.)

Yes, it's a long story and I didn't want to take up space in this thread with it. It's also sort of a rough draft. The campaign this is being used in hasn't started yet. (Chatroom-goers can probably quote that last sentence by heart)

The Cliff's Notes version: Magic users became too powerful and oppressive and they were destroyed. Through clever propaganda and the elimination of records, most people no longer remember magic ever existed. Those that would have died of old age long ago. There are groups whose sole purpose is to make sure magic isn't rediscovered, lest history repeat itself.

How does it resemble the colonial age if the technology of that era doesn't exist? Tricorner hats? Tea and tobacco? Can they transport cash crops without advanced sailing ships and navigation?

Let's just say I chose my words poorly. Lack of sleep and all...
There's no gunpowder. Navigation by stars is possible, but no one's building telescopes to view other planets (maybe one guy at the most). Shipbuilding is up to speed, but except for a few islands and a small continent or two, nothing has been discovered outside the main continent (in no small part due to the fact I haven't created them yet). Most people have decent shelter, you find anyone but the poorest people living in huts, unless their region is in turmoil. Clothing can be anything from medieval in style, to colonial.
As far as government goes, most regions are ruled by kings who collect taxes, a handful are run by a strong council of elders. Karsa's monarchy failed and the entire kingdom has dissolved into anarchy. There it more closely resembles a medieval setting, with people living in huts and hovels. The fact that the weather there is like Seattle only colder and with more precipitation doesn't help matters...
Actually, the Wheel of Time's technology level is probably right in line with this except, once again, no fireworks or gunpowder.

Sweet. I'm with Rune; consider that idea stolen.

One of my cockeyed notions that is actually worth something. I may have to pat myself on the back for this one.

Good point. People do tend to overlook flora. And there's more to exotic plantlife than carniverous plants.

Oh, there are some of those too. Adding plenty of plants with medicinal/magical uses is another thing that works well with the Heal and Herbalism skills.

That's a nice bit of flavor.

I know I sure like it.

One of the strength of Kalamar, from what I've heard, is that the gods have different names in different cultures. Perfectly naturaly, yet no one had done it before.

Changing the way things are named or viewed from region to region is another nice way to enhance the illusion that you are in a living, breathing world.

I strongly endorse non-miracle healing.

It's a rather large boon when there are no (well known) gods and worshipping a religion is forbidden (mainly for the same reason magic is forbidden).

Sorry this was so long, hopefully I kept the mistakes at a minimum. I am officially off this tangent, but if I come up with any more good ideas (pfft) I'll post them.

 

[Voneth]

a few of these a try:

• Have all the players run characters of the same race and class: a troop of mercenaries, a band of outlaws, an order of knights, whatever. Not every party has to be the fellowship of the ring.
• Have the characters either be a family or have families (or start families).
• Eliminate monsters. Or keep them in the background awhile. Fighting human enemies should be plenty exciting, and when the evil sorcerer finally summons his demonic allies, it means something.
• Stick to just a handful of monsters. Choose either goblins or kobolds or orcs as your cannon fodder, and rely on class levels or different equipment to differentiate them.
• Base your goblins and elves on folklore, not modern fantasy. Have them rely on magical deception (not studded leather and a morningstar) to get the job done.
• Have the monsters be something that can be dealt with by wits, such as with riddles or tricks. In folklore, magic is often just knowing the strengths and weaknesses of various beasts, knowing what they like and dislike, knowing how to talk to them, etc. The key to killing the dragon isn't having a stronger sword arm; it's knowing that the dragon has a soft underbelly, and if you dig a ditch, he'll crawl over you and expose it.
• Don't forget animals. Talking animals are a staple of fairy tales and fantasy, and some animals are natural predators of monsters the heroes might face (e.g. mongoose or weasel vs. basilisk or poisonous snake, giant owl vs. dire rats or were-rats, tiny mouse vs. elephant, etc.)
• Have an enemy. Despite all the dark overlords in fantasy fiction, few of them last past an adventure or two in D&D.
• Implement priests as Sorcerers or Wizards (with the Cleric spell list) so that they're wise men, not warriors. Same with Druids. Make Turn Undead a 1st-level Cleric spell, and have Druids cast Polymorph Self to shapeshift.
  
• Have the heroes be the only spellcasters in the world -- or the only good spellcasters in the world, hiding their powers from their evil enemies.
• Make all magic easy to "track" with Detect Magic, so covert spellcasters won't want to cast indiscriminately. Make flashy evocations (e.g. Fireball) particularly easy to track.
• Have magic items be gifts from powerful allies, not loot from enemies (who have an odd penchant for leaving magic cloaks in the closet).
• Have magic items' powers reveal themselves to the characters gradually, based on their actions and what they learn about them. Rather than having a Fighter find a +2 sword and ditch his "worthless" +1 sword, he can discover new powers in his original sword with the help of the wizard (or ancient elf, or crotchety dwarf, or talking animal) he rescued.
• Provide treasure with a place in the world: armor once worn by the current king in his youth, works of art by a now-mad mage, historical documents, etc.

For a whole 'nuther kettle of fish, realize that your fantasy world doesn't have to resemble the late Middle Ages. You can try:

• Renaissance Europe -- gunpowder, pikemen, halberdiers, lots of breastplates, but few full suits of armor
• Age of Steam -- everyone loves intricate brass clockwork
• Modern -- D&D doesn't seem to handle this too well, but you can try it

It's nice to know there are other out there who are willing to see the strength that make d20 a good comprimise system between those who won't leave the DND security blanket and those of us who want something different.

Some ideas of mine:

• Use unique PC classes to create interesting monster NPC. I've create a whole honorable Mongolia clan of Orcs using Oriental Adventure classes. A samurai class Orc leads them as his sword grows in power. The Shenja are a great "generic" class to replace dedicated spell casters.
  
• there are now some interesting takes on d20 powers in Fading Suns, Deadlands, Codes Mysterium.
  
• Give races a strong new theme. Give elves a DR 2 from Cold attacks and a +2 damage from fire attacks and you have Winter Elves with icy weapons
  
• Start off the Party at something than 1st power level -- opps I mean character level. The key to starting a game at 4th, 8th, or 10th level is to craft a background and a world around that level. Higher level characters need to have more obligations, worries and aspirations. A high-powered team that is just set down in the middle of a world is like cotton candy. It taste great for a second and then it's gone.

*

 

[Painfully]

I've got one idea that doesn't seem to be mentioned yet. In the magic category:

Have wizards (and possibly sorcerers) learn their spells from their familiars. The familiars contain the intelligent consciousness of an outsider spirit that was sent back in animal form as a kind of punishment, and sometimes they find it more beneficial to teach their secrets to those who they deem worthy and of like mind (or who can be easily manipulated). These outsider spirits sometimes can recognize each other and might be making it their agenda to seek revenge on another of their own kind.

So, in effect, the familiars are training their wizards to fight their battles for them. An obvious scenario being to seek out a rival or enemy familiar and to kill him and his "servant" wizard.

Makes it very tough if your wizard loses their familiar though. Perhaps a resurrection spell alone wouldn't be enough--might need an additional spell to bring them back.

*edit*
Actually, I think reincarnation into a different animal form would be quite fun, as your familiar would speak out with compliments and complaints about the differences in forms, and nag about why they didn't choose a better one.