Low Magic Settings?

tetsujin28 said:
I've thought about crossing it with Iron Heroes. Though as mentioned above, I don't think it really qualifies as 'low' magic, but rather as 'scary' magic.

Dark Legacies is actually both. Magic is rare, magic is hard to use, magic is scary, and, most importantly, magic has been vilified by the dominant religious institutions of the world (and rightfully so, to an extent). Those who use it in "civilized lands" risk extreme retribution from church agents and pious mobs. Priests use an entirely new non-spell-based mechanic, "the Voice," to produce a limited number of supernatural powers, in addition to sermonizing (bard-style effects invoked through preaching).

Additionally, magic items are replaced with holy items and demonic items, neither of which are easy to acquire. Demonic items are more powerful than holy ones, but each bears side effects ranging from simple corruption to environmental distortions and mass hysteria. Such items demand a high cost to create (permanent drain, possible possession in the case of demonic items), and can never be purchased outright, except perhaps on the black market for ridiculous amounts of gold, but more likely in exchange for a much higher cost in blood and favors. DL presents masterpiece qualities for weeapons and armor -- non-magical upgrades that go well beyond the core masterwork rules.
 

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I also know i'm going to...but you'll have to wait until next payday ;)
I'm a paycheck to paycheck kinda guy. But don't worry, you have me sold (I browsed the website yesterday and downloaded all the preview PDFs)...and I'll be purchasing.

~Fune
 

catsclaw227 said:
As PCs raise in level, though, I imagine that some of these NPCs might as well, especially the rogues and fighters. Is this the case?

Not that we need super-duper high level guys, just that it seems that they aren't just sitting there silent and static.

We've stated that we are NOT going to advance the timeline of the setting in future releases. You won't see massive world changes that force DMs to ignore the updates or incorporate changes that don't necessarily fit with their own campaign.

So, naturally, unless the DM wants to advance every NPC on a regular basis, just use the NPCs as they are now. (Or remove them, or do whatever you want with them - it's your game.) Again, remember that most or all of these NPCs are leaders and persons that have had years to get where they are now. They don't go out adventuring all the time, and their experience point progression is naturally much slower than a PC's would be.

catsclaw227 said:
Also what kind of magic item levels are there? I hate "magic shops" and I believe that most magic items over +1 are unique and have some special history and characteristic. Is this how it is in Kalamar?

Certainly in the campaign book, that's how it is. The adventures, however, are written more for D&D standard, so magic items are a little more prominent.

The only "magic shops" you'll find are shops that sell herbs, trinkets, relics (like supposed bones of saints, etc - as in our own medieval history) and so on. The kind of magic shops that the superstitious commoner might frequent in hopes of gaining a "love potion" or some such.

Magic exists, and certainly influenced the history of the world but wizards and sorcerers are not overly common and the average person accepts most unusual or seemingly inexplicable events as the work of one of the gods, rather than arcane magic. In smaller communities, the townsfolk easily confuse wizards and especially sorcerers with clerics, and misconstrue arcane spells as miracles or portents of the gods.

catsclaw227 said:
Then is it safe to assume that a great portion of the RPing at higher levels is political/national/warlike?

Again, that's up to the DM. The setting is certainly designed for it. A new DM I know referred to the KoK setting as a "mass battle world," which I thought was an interesting phrase, since the major events usually ARE decided by wars and political maneuvers, and the setting is driven by the actions of ordinary men. Thus even a low-level PC can have a profound effect on the world and shape the history with his actions. Also, the political entities have a similarly detailed background history. Each governmental body is fully described with their history of war and peace. It's easy to work large military and political conflicts into your campaign.
 

In the past couple of days, I've gotten Dark Legacies and about 12 Kalamar books. Ebay is a good thing.

I can't wait until I get into each of them.

Mark -- there's a series of adventures, I think it consists of Coin's end and a couple of others, how would you rate them with the other adventures? Which are best to get teh players into the flavor of KoK?
 

Excellent Posts!!

Fellow RPGers,
I've been away from my computer (and the internet) for awhile, so first off I'd like to say thank you for all of the great posts and discussion! I wish I had the time and money to examine all of the books that have been mentioned. I've also just remembered that my much younger brother has the KoK source book, of which I don't believe he uses. Mark, I have to say nice pitch! I think I will be confiscating little bro's book soon :] . I wonder how easily it would be to institute the Iron Heroes info into KoK...
 

catsclaw227 said:
In the past couple of days, I've gotten Dark Legacies and about 12 Kalamar books. Ebay is a good thing.

I can't wait until I get into each of them.

Mark -- there's a series of adventures, I think it consists of Coin's end and a couple of others, how would you rate them with the other adventures?

Wow - that's a tough question.

You're referring to what we call the "coin trilogy," which is "The Root of All Evil," "Forging Darkness," and "Coin's End." Those were our very first 3.0 adventures and, while great storywise, do require a bit more DM involvment.

Personally, I favor either "Lands of Mystery" or "Harvest of Darkness," both of which have 4 shorter adventures in them and are good for beginning players, although "Midnight's Terror" and "Deathright" are good for higher levels. Of course, everyone has their favorites.

This would be a good question to throw out to people who have already run the adventures - post on our KoK forums for some good feedback from DMs.

FYI, our 3.5 adventures are "Stand and Deliver," "Perils of Pekal," and the upcoming "Black as the Brightest Flame," if you're only looking for the newer stuff. You can also download Living Kalamar adventures from the RPGA.
 


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