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Low magic player characters in D&D 5e
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<blockquote data-quote="redrick" data-source="post: 6544366" data-attributes="member: 6777696"><p>Thanks for all the thoughts here.</p><p></p><p>I imagine, at this point, that the question is of interest to people with a different campaign concept than I have, but I'll say a little bit more about what I had in mind. Magic-wise, the world is maybe a little like a slightly less magical Dying Earth? (Which I know is a weird comparison, because almost all of those stories are about spellcasters.) This means that magic <strong>existed</strong> in the world, and, in fact, still exists, but most humans and demi-humans no longer know the secrets of controlling it. A few wizards have dedicated themselves to unearthing these long-lost rituals and spells, but they have only scratched the surface of what magic was once possible. (ie all still < 10th level.) Magic isn't so much corrupting, a la Conan, but still possibly quite dangerous.</p><p></p><p>Also, the campaign is meant to be somewhat high-mortality. So, when I say player characters <strong>can</strong> become exception, I also mean that player characters can die before they reach a level where anybody is going to care about them.</p><p></p><p>So, the idea of requiring all casters to scribe spells in a spell-book before learning them fits. Possibly reduce the number of spells a starting player character can have in her spellbook. Spell scrolls would be unavailable to purchase in normal settings, but there would be a few places in the setting where a character might be able to buy or steal low-level spells. Spells could also be discovered due to experimentation and research (or devotional activities on the part of divine clerics), with a high material cost and also the possibility of something going wrong. And maybe hold cantrips to the same standard?</p><p></p><p>Banning or restricting certain classes is ok. Sorcerer seems harder to fit into this system. Druids might have their magic tied to place a little more. A druid can't do much magic in the city, but get her out in a faery wood and she becomes a force to behold.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The main idea here is that the party <strong>starts</strong> low-magic. In this scenario, I wouldn't mind if 5 players showed up with 5 wizard characters. They would all have about as much magical power as Luke in a New Hope. I can't imagine they'd all last very long. And honestly, as for "low-swords" setting, I enjoy minimal starting equipment as well! PCs don't get that 15 gp sword until they take it from the hands of a dead foe.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="redrick, post: 6544366, member: 6777696"] Thanks for all the thoughts here. I imagine, at this point, that the question is of interest to people with a different campaign concept than I have, but I'll say a little bit more about what I had in mind. Magic-wise, the world is maybe a little like a slightly less magical Dying Earth? (Which I know is a weird comparison, because almost all of those stories are about spellcasters.) This means that magic [B]existed[/B] in the world, and, in fact, still exists, but most humans and demi-humans no longer know the secrets of controlling it. A few wizards have dedicated themselves to unearthing these long-lost rituals and spells, but they have only scratched the surface of what magic was once possible. (ie all still < 10th level.) Magic isn't so much corrupting, a la Conan, but still possibly quite dangerous. Also, the campaign is meant to be somewhat high-mortality. So, when I say player characters [B]can[/B] become exception, I also mean that player characters can die before they reach a level where anybody is going to care about them. So, the idea of requiring all casters to scribe spells in a spell-book before learning them fits. Possibly reduce the number of spells a starting player character can have in her spellbook. Spell scrolls would be unavailable to purchase in normal settings, but there would be a few places in the setting where a character might be able to buy or steal low-level spells. Spells could also be discovered due to experimentation and research (or devotional activities on the part of divine clerics), with a high material cost and also the possibility of something going wrong. And maybe hold cantrips to the same standard? Banning or restricting certain classes is ok. Sorcerer seems harder to fit into this system. Druids might have their magic tied to place a little more. A druid can't do much magic in the city, but get her out in a faery wood and she becomes a force to behold. The main idea here is that the party [B]starts[/B] low-magic. In this scenario, I wouldn't mind if 5 players showed up with 5 wizard characters. They would all have about as much magical power as Luke in a New Hope. I can't imagine they'd all last very long. And honestly, as for "low-swords" setting, I enjoy minimal starting equipment as well! PCs don't get that 15 gp sword until they take it from the hands of a dead foe. [/QUOTE]
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