Looking for low-magic D&D world for Cthulhu crossover

[JoeGKushner]

Here are my choices in terms of low magic:

Harn
Kalamar
Dragonlords of Melnibone (Pretty bad conversion but it is low magic)
Greyhawk (Very easy to slide this and that and have a horror-fantasy setting)

Now stuff that's not out yet:

Conan: The old stuff really is pulp horror in some aspects.
Grim Tales: Bad Axe Games looks like their going to do a great job of this one.

 

[Nifelhein]

Low magic? Midnight is, in fact, rare magic and it is very well developed, magic is a system using feats, not class ability... might want to check it out, many say they are close, i strongly disagree, but there is the comparison...

 

[Byrons_Ghost]

Well, Chaosium is supposed to have Cthulhu Dark Ages coming out soon, based on the German game. I'm pretty sure it's not D20, but it might be good for source material and inspiration. I think it's set around 1150 AD or so.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Not sure if this is exactly what you want, but Midnight is certainly very dark, and could be made very Cthuluesque.

That might be, but the supernatural entity has already invaded the land, and everyone knows this. What I want is a world where it is still possible to believe that "everything is normal"...

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Well, Chaosium is supposed to have Cthulhu Dark Ages coming out soon, based on the German game. I'm pretty sure it's not D20, but it might be good for source material and inspiration. I think it's set around 1150 AD or so.

I actually have the German version - but if I'm going to use it, I'll use GURPS instead of D&D. I want a low-magic setting, but one that's still recognizably D&D.

Thanks, everyone. I think Kalamar might indeed be closest to what I'm looking for...

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Another Kalamar question:

How prevalent are "normal" clerics and their powers? How obvious are signs of the "standard" deities? Do they regularily send avatars and the like, or do they only act through their priests?

After all, the true powers in the Mythos universe are the Great Old Ones and Outer Gods, and having "normal" D&D deities of comparable powers would detract from the Mythos feeling IMO...

 

[Voadam]

I would recommend any of the Avalanche press historical d20 mini setting books if you want a regular world you can easily swap in Mythos magic. Twilight of Atlantis is my favorite of them, with war in heliopolis coming up as the weakest I have.

Black monks of Glastonbury is a dual stat d20/ars magica module/setting sourcebook which uses semi-hidden but high powered magic in medieval europe.

Kalamar has normal D&D magic fully integrated into it, archmages arent as common as in the Forgotten Realms but they do exist and the modules I have all use spellcasting foes. You could change them to Cthulhu magic users but it would be a lot of work.

I don't think the Klamar gods send avatars regularly, but their clergy are prevalent and politically important.

 

[kengar]

Isn't Scarred Lands supposed to be a lower-magic setting?

 

[Desdichado]

I'm not a real Kalamar expert, but I'd say it's comparable to Greyhawk turned down a few notches towards "realistic." There's no such thing as avatars tromping about the landscape, or other earth-shattering plot hooks like that. The plot hooks are more about the politics of the empires and kingdoms and their relationships with each other. "High level" NPCs are in their low teens at most in terms of level. Magic is D&D magic in terms of mechanics, but is considered to be less prevalent by far than a setting such as Forgotten Realms, for instance.

In short, I think it sounds to be almost exactly what you're looking for in this case. Of course, that all depends on exactly how much you want to "mod" the setting to make it Cthulhu-esque. Do you just want to tack on Cthulhu and Co. and the associated thematic elements, or do you want to completely redo magic to be like Call of Cthulhu?

Actually, either way I think Kalamar makes an excellent choice, but of course, you'll have to redo all the magic user NPCs and the like. It'll also make the modules considerably less useful than they otherwise would be.

 

[Voadam]

Isn't Scarred Lands supposed to be a lower-magic setting?

They originally rejected the idea of market prices for magic items in Relics and Rituals because they did not want magic shops and magic items as commodities to be part of the setting, but they have a lot of high end magic and evetually added in magic item prices for those who wanted to make the items.

There is a whole nation ruled by necromancers and divine magic is a big element of the feel of the world.