D&D General Lowest level of magic that still "feels like D&D"

[Stalker0]

I'm running a game right now which is capped at 2nd level spells (you can have higher level slots but only put 2nd level spells in them).

So far it still feels pretty dnd, though I do think there are several 3rd level spells that add in some "iconic dndness"

 

[azabaro]

Where do you think you can cap magic and still have a game that feels like a D&D world? My intuition says 5th level magic, beyond that seems more of the same, but more powerful. Any thoughts?

5th level sounds good to me. I’ve often felt one of the early defining aspects of D&D was the way it just assumed that characters could come back from the dead purely as a result of player agency - haul your buddy’s corpse back to town and to the right temple, and as long as you’ve got the money they can get back in the game.

A lot of other games will let you throw fireballs, summon monsters, freely teleport around, etc. but for me dying and coming back so matter-of-factly really is a key D&D trait.

 

[Bluenose]

Up to 3rd level I'm fine with. Above that anything needs to be a ritual and really shouldn't be something you can just cast with a little money.

You want to use a Meteor Swarm to bring down a city wall so your army of skeletons can storm it and carry off the citizens to be used for a mass sacrifice? Then you need to do it when there's a meteor shower or a comet in the sky and when you've been able to bury a lodestone beneath the city wall to act as the attractor. You can't cast Raise Dead with money and a couple of hours; you need to travel to the afterworld of that person and bargain or defeat the guards to release them.

 

[Maxperson]

1st to 9th level magic all feel D&D to me. From Magic Missiles and Sleep to Meteor Swarms and Wishes.

 

[jayoungr]

If you cut cantrips, would that raise the limit on available spells?

I don't think many spellcaster players enjoy having to resort to their light crossbows, though.

 

[mamba]

1st to 9th level magic all feel D&D to me. From Magic Missiles and Sleep to Meteor Swarms and Wishes.

it’s not that they do not feel like D&D, it’s that they are not needed for the game to still feel like D&D

 

[Micah Sweet]

Where do you think you can cap magic and still have a game that feels like a D&D world? My intuition says 5th level magic, beyond that seems more of the same, but more powerful. Any thoughts?

What do you mean by "cap"? Magic in the world, or accessible by PCs through simple level advancement and therefore front-and-center in the game as soon as those levels are reached magic?

5th level cap for easily-acquired (ie, nothing in the narrative) sounds good, but I would want higher-level magics to be available as rituals that need to be found or researched, and that require difficult to find or harvest ingredients.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Higher than 5th level spells seems like Super Heroes D&D to me.

Depending on the edition, super heroes D&D can start a lot lower than that.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Agreed, but for a slightly different reason: unlimited cantrips means that the spells can go a flyin' as soon as the new PCs hit the Tavern. Nothing says D&D to me like out-of-control fantasy.

I really wish I could get rid of unlimited cantrips.

 

[Micah Sweet]

This is interesting. Generally speaking, spells in TSR era D&D are much more powerful and setting impactful.

Sure, but casters had more practical restrictions than they do today in a lot of ways. It's just a matter of what you prefer, and what you can convince your players to try.