Need Advice - Anti-Magic?

[egarvue]

As part of a homebrew campaign, I'm encouraging my players to contribute to the creation of the world we're adventuring in.

One of my players has come up with a militant, xenophobic and fiercely anti-magic society of warriors. Its organization being modeled after such orders as the Knights Templar, this group hates all magic and magic users. Sounds like a pretty good idea for some Inquisition-style "burn 'em at the stake" bad guys.

However, in a world where sorcery and magic are real, I would think that these guys would get pasted every time they went up against a group of magic users. In 3.5 I would have given them some kind of Spell Resisitance (as a result of the "Mark of Whatever" ritual that each undergoes) to assist them in fighting against magic. I'm having a hard time figuring out what to do here in 4E though, as Spell Resistance is gone.

Any ideas on how a bunch of crazed lunatics with limited or no magical enhancements or abilities could pose a threat to the magic users in society? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[chronoplasm]

Could they use technology to even the odds a little bit?
How do you feel about things like cannons and firearms in your campaign?

 

[Av3rnus]

You might think about reworking spell resistance for 4E. Perhaps they get a bonus on their defenses against arcane and divine attacks? Maybe they've also got a power to force rerolls on magic attacks against them once per round?

 

[bardolph]

The 4e ruleset actually goes a long way to evening up the odds, since Martial powers can accomplish effects that are every bit as powerful as Arcane effects.

I agree with chronoplasm that technology can create "magical" effects, through exploding bombs, etc.

What about Divine magic? Are clerics also branded as "magical"?

I don't think Spell Resistance is necessary. A good Striker is pretty deadly to a Wizard already.

 

[keterys]

I think it makes for a richer effect if they're normal and just use tactics to make it happen.

Lots of bows, some sneaky characters, outnumbering their foes as needed. They're all viable without resorting to outside sources of power.

 

[Exquisite Dead Guy]

There's a family in Forgotten Realms called Kanarok that hates all arcane casters and anyone they think is an arcane caster - a pretty broad range as most of the family members are insane. They have a "trial" and then burn suspected casters at the stake. Maybe you can use them as a model to build off?

 

[Revinor]

Blanket anti-magic field will be quite unfair in 4e - penalizing power sources explicitly is probably not a valid solution.

I would rather think about other solutions, which will target it indirectly. Think about feats like Evasion and Mettle - they are probably good way to start anti-magic warriors. Additionally, throw in some elemental resistances, bonuses to non-AC defenses etc. Such thing will in effect make spell-users less effective, without being very obviously anti magical.

 

[Nifft]

The 4e ruleset actually goes a long way to evening up the odds, since Martial powers can accomplish effects that are every bit as powerful as Arcane effects.

I agree with this.

IMHO an anti-magic nation would have Warlords, Fighters, Rangers and Rogues, and they'd do just fine in battles against Clerics, Wizards, Warlocks and Paladins.

4e closes the power gap pretty nicely, such that casters aren't any more god-like than martial dudes.

You may want to use technology to emulate Rituals and certain magic items, particularly communication items.

Cheers, -- N

 

[egarvue]

Great suggestions, everyone, and thanks, I knew I'd get a quick answer. After thinking about it further, I probably will leave 'em just normal with no magic, let martial powers do their thing...although I'm not opposed to going the firearms route either. Its just hard sometimes to shift out of a 3.5 to a 4E mindset when creating adventures; just have to learn the new paradigm, that's all.