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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pming" data-source="post: 6392266" data-attributes="member: 45197">Hiya. I generally run either my own homebrew world (very low-magic and low-level) called Eisla, or I run in Greyhawk. My new campaign (starting this Sunday) is set in Greyhawk. Since I started this whole RPG thing back in 1979/80, I've pretty much always assumed that PC's were "unique in potential".  Basically, PC's have a full-on Class. NPC's don't have classes, generally speaking, and are all 0-level. They are incapable of gaining XP for the purposes of "gaining levels"; they simply don't have levels. Old Farmer Johan is 56 years old, has 6hp and is very experienced at farming and all things related to farming his farm. He still has +0 to hit and crappy saves. So, with that in mind, equating it to magical stuff...I ended up with very limited magical capabilities of "the normal folk" (roughly 99.9% of the population).  With 5e, and how it handles Rituals, I think I'll probably have certain people able to learn/know some Rituals. The vast majority of these rituals will be non-adventurer oriented. In other words, Old Farmer Johan may have learned a ritual to enable a smooth birthing for his livestock; when the cow/pig/horse/etc goes into labor, Johan takes an hour and does the ritual, leading the animal into the area where it gives birth with no difficulty.  Of course, in my campaigns (5e included), I place a heavy onus on Material Components; you can use the 5e "Component Pouch / Focus" cop-out (yes, I said cop-out), but if you actually have the material component, your spell is better (automatically counts as +1 level higher, or has x2 duration/range/effect/something, as determined on a case by case bases). So, Old Farmer Johan would definitely need some specific items for his "Blessed Birthing" Ritual. Of course, this extra bonus doesn't count for spells that have an actual GP value material component associated with it.  As far as how common this all is? It depends on campaign location, social structure, religious beliefs, etc. In Greyhawk, for example, the Blessed Birthing Ritual may be fairly common in the Yeomanry where there are a lot of farms, but it may be virtually non-existent over in Irongate (which focuses on gems and minerals). In big cities, there are probably a handful of people who know certain Rituals that help keep the city running (some kind of 'continual flame' ritual, for example). There are likely "mundane magic-items" (like a large milk container that keeps milk fresh and cool, or a stew-pot that removes disease/poison from foods cooked in it, etc.). Those wouldn't be very common, but they would be things that people would encounter from time to time. Those would also be things that are creatable only by high-level clerics and wizards.^_^Paul L. Ming</blockquote>

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