Need good low-magic fantasy setting

[Kzach]

For a D20 book, though it's out of print, I'd suggest A Game of Thrones by Guardians of Order. If you've ever read George R.R. Martin, you'd know how gritty the setting is. But there is very rare magic, and when it does come up it comes up very powerfully. There's not much in the way of magic rules, because it is so rare, though.

The license for the setting has gone to Green Ronin, who will be putting out a new game (not D20) for it later this year, too. A Song of Ice and Fire RPG. Not sure what it'll be like, though.

Seconded.

I believe you could do a very gritty game with 4e with a few simple modifications but you may want to use something like GURPS for more 'realism'. Not sure what other systems would work for that.

 

[HP Dreadnought]

I'll add another vote for the Black Company Campaign Setting by Green Ronin. Its gritty, combat is brutal. Magic can be extremely powerful, but it is concentrated in the hands of a very few people, so there is not much magic proliferation at all.

On top of this, there's an excellent series of novels. . . some of the best fantasy written in fact. . . to help you really imbue your world with flavor.

 

[The Human Target]

I'll throw in my vote for Midnight, as its pretty much exactly what you described.

 

[Eenlikebean]

Thanks, guys! Midnight is right what I was looking for, and I'm already in the process of producing an adaptation.

If anyone else has any other suggestions, I'm still open, though. Always time to incorporate new elements! (Even after the game starts. "Lost magical power" anyone?)

 

[The Human Target]

I always enjoy spreading the word of Midnight.

I'm trying to figure out how I can mod the setting to be 4E compatible as we speak.

 

[Eenlikebean]

Wow, trying to make Midnight 4E compatable sounds pretty rough... I would basically start from scratch and just try and get the feel of Midnight. All those "at will" and "encounter" abilities seem to kinda run counter to the whole play style of Midnight.


Found a bunch of abilities in Iron Heroes that convert well into FATE stunts. I've got about 4 pages of adapted "Feats" (stunts) now, to help inspire players.

 

[Silverblade The Ench]

Probably not what you want, but have you ever considered "Dark Sun"?
I like it cause it's gnarly as hell, lol. But it's not very "goody heroic" and more "We survived, eat obsidian dagger between yer teeth, scumbag!"