Magic: rare and mysterious - is there a game?

[Doug McCrae]

In AD&D I got the feeling that Gygax preached that magic items were rare and finding spells to add to spell books should also be rare.

Can you back this up with a quote? (I've looked myself but haven't been able to find anything.)

 

[SWBaxter]

Is there a game system where magic (spells or items) is rare, mysterious, etc. but also available to the PCs?

Lots of games that try. Usually, they use some combination of:

- spontaneous spell generation, by which I mean rather than preset spells the caster describes an effect and the GM figures out what rolls need to be made to achieve that effect

- nasty and unpredictable side effects that increase with the level of magic attempted

- limited access to magic

- unbalanced power levels, in that magic is more powerful than other pursuits at a tradeoff in terms of risk

Games that do some or all of this include (but are not limited to) Ars Magica, Mage, Call of Cthulhu, The Riddle of Steel, HeroQuest, Sorcerer, and even some fantasy implementations of GURPS and Hero. Some d20/OGL products, like Midnight, Conan, and The Wheel of Time (among others) also try to capture this sort of feel.

 

[RFisher]

Ars Magica might have the single best magic system ever created.

As long as you like freeform magic that doesn't really fit its medieval setting.

Seriously, I like Ars Magica & its magic system a lot, but it is not inherently better than other magic systems.

For rare & mysterious magic: I like not letting the PCs use magic directly & not letting the players know the rules (if any) that govern it.

That said, I try to make magic fairly rare in almost any game I run. The PCs may be able to use magic, but spells & other magical gear will be hard to find. Most NPCs will react with fear & uncertainty towards anyone who seems to have magical powers.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Conan
Black Company
Call of Cthulhu
Ars Magica
Any of the World of Darkness games
Most of the d20 Modern settings
Buffy
Skull & Crossbones

Yeah, that's about 10 seconds of riffing off the top of my head. Plenty of games fit that category.

Good list.

I don't know if you'd coutn Grim Tales as a d20 Modern setting, but it easily meets the criteria here.