low magic settings/adventures
Do any of you remember Harn? Back when it came out, the creators said something like: "We make it a low magic setting, because it's easier to put in magic than to take it out."
After reading about people's campaigns and beefs and wants, I've come to the conclusion that the opposite is true: it's far easier to strip out magic than to put it in!
Think about it: what are the implications of a world in which magic exists? How does it affect politics, day to day life, trade, and healing? Why would anybody bother with herbs when they can just walk down to the local temple (or be carried there) for a bit of good 'ol healing? In a world where miracles/monsters exist, how would the common people behave and think? Think of the implications of a world where Godzilla and Ultraman exist --- the citizenry would get good at rebuilding after buildings got demolished
How do you design adventures for a world where 20th level barbarians can take out hordes of men? Where wizards can teleport anywhere they can scry, and where high level rogues routinely dodge insane traps?
The long and short of this is that we all know what it's like to live in a low magic world, because in our world, magic doesn't exist, and doesn't work. So what I'd really like to see is a well thought out high magic setting (not a whole world, just a city or a town to get started), and let those who want low magic strip it down instead.
The other problem with low magic is that everybody's definition of low magic seems to be different. For some it means no magic-using PCs, for others it means that cost of magic items is doubled or triple (by DMG standards), so the "low magic market" turns out not to be that big after all, despite the constant kvetching over in the main forum about how magic item creation feats suck, and how spells are broken.