Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cheiromancer" data-source="post: 1052568" data-attributes="member: 141">I'm going to have a low magic parallel universe in my fall campaign, I think.  Forgotten Realms style portals, most of which are one-way.  There will be a way for the heroes to get back, of course, but it won't be easy.I think these rules (as tweaked and revisioned by me, of course) will make a fine basis for how magic will work.  I might add Clay_More's spirits to the mix, too.  And maybe a few "classy" monsters like wyverns and griffins.Characters will be inconvenienced, but a wizard who knows what spells to prepare will still be deadly.  Here's what I'm thinking of - pretend it's bolded and italicized in all the right places <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> Magic notes:General duration: Spells with a finite duration (including “concentration”) of more than one round have a maximum duration of 1 round/level. Permanent duration: Spells with a duration of “permanent” last 10 minutes.1 round duration: Spells whose duration is one round (either naturally, or because of a low magic effect) function as written except for range and damage (see below).  In other words, such spells are not further affected by other effects of low magic.  This includes 1 round/level spells cast by 1st level spellcasters.General range: Spells with a range of long or less are reduced to short.Extreme range:  Spells with a range greater than “long” are reduced to long range.Targetting: Targetted spells affect at most one target.  Spells which have the option of targetting the same target multiple times may do so.Damage:  Spells which inflict damage like fireball, wall of fire or lightning bolt have a density of energy about that of a torch; they deal a maximum of 1d6 hp damage in a given round.  However certain spells may affect a given creature multiple times: for example, each orb in a meteor swarm will do 1d6 damage, as will each damaging layer of a prismatic wall.  Each missile of a magic missile does the standard 2-5 hp damage.  A character who passes through a wall of fire multiple times in one round receives 1d6 damage each time (but no damage for being near the wall- it is no hotter than a torch).Damaging Transformations: Spells like disintegrate, shatter or rusting grasp deal damage as noted in their spell description; their damage is not reduced by low magic.Cures/Inflicts: Cure spells turn real damage into non-lethal damage.  Inflict spells deal non-lethal damage instead.Healing: Spells that remove harmful conditions such as blindness, disease, poison or curses give the recipient a new saving throw against the condition.  If the harmful effect did not allow a save, use DC 25.Restoration: Spells that normall heal ability drain turn it into ability damage instead.  To heal ability damage you need an effect that could heal than amount of ability drain.  Effects that remove negative levels or restore levels lost to energy drain instead give a new save.Life/Unlife: Spells that grant life, sentience or animation last no more than 10 minutes, even if normally of “instantaneous” duration.  (Clone, awaken, reincarnation, raise dead, animate dead, etc.) Living creatures are not retroactively killed by this effect. Divinations: Any divinations that involve asking questions take at least an hour to cast and require an animal sacrifice for entrail reading.  This requires a knowledge (religion or arcana) check, DC 15.Bonuses: Magic that grants a bonus to attacks, damage or saving throws has a maximum bonus of +1.  Bonuses to ability scores are capped at +2, and bonuses to skills are capped at +4.Illusions: Any kind of illusion ends after one round.  This including figments, glamers, phantasms and shadow effects. Summonings/callings: Any effect that brings something from another plane of existence ends after one round. Called or summoned creatures then return to where they came from.Conjured forces: Spells like grasping tentacles, mage’s sword and the various hand spells have their duration reduced to one round.Planar Travel: Effects which place a target on the plane of shadow, on the astral plane, or on the ethereal plane last for only one round.  Attempts to access extradimensional spaces or travel to other planes simply fail.Note: Unlike Jester’s original rules, in this variant I allow petrification, gaseous form and polymorph, though possibly with a shorter duration.  Spells like darkvision, flying or water breathing work, although they also will have a very limited duration. Blink works normally, despite the restriction on planar travel, since it produces a new plane shifting effect each round.  True strike works normally, despite the restriction on bonuses, since it naturally has a 1 round duration.</blockquote>

Verification