My new LOW MAGIC game idea!!!

[Jerrid Al-Kundo]

If you're going with low/no Healing magic, you'll want to use Wounds & Vitality instead of Hit Points. It's done wonders for my own (low magic/no gods) campaign.

 

[kamosa]

Actually, it's a tough sell for some reason. I've got a bee in my bonnet to do some real gritty low fantasy; had the itch for years but always met with some resistance. ....

Gee I wonder why. Here is a hint. If no one wants to do this, its because it doesn't sound fun to them. Players don't like it when you take away all the cool powers and make them lame. They find that lame. They want you to run cool stories and let them keep their powers. You can tell good stories, have interesting NPC's and force the players into situations without making them lame.

You can complain about powergaming and "munkinism" all you want, but in the end when people tell their "I had fun on this adventure" stories, they are never about the time they couldn't act or their powers were taken away. The stories are about cool things that happened and ultra trickey ways the players averted danger. Overly restrictive GM's are the only ones that love the stories about characters that are powerless or lame.

Loosen up and have some fun with your players. They are rejecting your idea for a reason, listen to them.

 

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

Low fantasy to them seems "harder" for some reason, I suppose because it does not rely on high magic and tons of monsters as a crutch. They merely expressed some reluctance to the idea, they didn't say they hated it or wouldn't try it. Which is funny, because the co-DM and I have had some of our best campaigns with PCs starting off as Commoners (back in 2e and Palladium FRPG). We both love Lankhmar and Thieve's World and Greyhawk, too. I think the reluctance to Harn is that the material looks so low budget and dated (80s). I thought it looked kind of lame too, but after reading it, was really impressed. I think once I get them "into" Harn, they will enjoy it.

 

[mmadsen]

Another idea for a rare magic idea is also from Oriental Adventures. The samurai's ancestral sword can be upgraded with XP.
...
You don't go hunting down the theives because the took you coolest toy, you hunt them down because it is also a family heirloom, some of your own essence is in the sword (that would greatly reduce scry rolls on the samurai), and if you don't retreive it, then you son will only get a mundane sword -- what a disgrace and loss of face and an edge (no pun intended).

Further evidence that Oriental Adventures is great for so much more than oriental adventures.

 

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

OA and AEG's Rokugan books (setting, magic, creatures) are all EXCELLENT resources for more than asian-themed games, I agree.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

One big mistake people make when dreaming up a "low magic" campaign is that they think that means giving out a +1 dagger instead of a +1 longsword or whatever. Frankly, I think you'll keep magic more "magical" if you hand out a single +5 Holy Avenger. It'll seem magical, and there's no threat of the heroes drowning in magic items, since you're only handing out one or two and not letting them make their own at will.

That way it makes sense that whole kingdoms quake at the name of an ancient blade, or that assassins come in the night to steal the magic orb, or whatever.

Excellent point.

HarnWorld is not actually low magic in the normal sense of the word. It is magic rare. Very powerful items do fit into the setting, you just don't roll them up randomly for this weeks haul.

A hero might start with a shortsword, move up to a longsword, save up money for masterwork, and someday acquires a +3 keen freezing burst aberration bane bastard sword. Acquiring that item is a character defining moment. Having the item a character defining feature.

I have sometimes criticized D&D for making magic "mundane". The basis for that complaint is it does not replicate the feel of most heroic literature. But that does not mean I am against powerful magic, purposely placed by the DM. If you look in the literature you find plenty of Hats of Improved Invisibility, Flying Carpets, Vorpal Swords, Horses that talk and cast spells, etc. You just do not see many standard +n swords.

 

[mmadsen]

So, even if you are going to use the D20 system, do NOT tell them "we're going to play low-magic D&D." Of course, what you are suggesting is really not D&D anymore, so there should be no shame in this. Tell them, instead, it is a D20 game that you designed yourself to be a gritty, low-magic game.

Tell them you're playing "fantasy Call of Cthulhu".

 

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

Tell them you're playing "fantasy Call of Cthulhu".

Gotcha.