No magic fantasy game

[andrewknaut]

So I want to run a low-no magic fantasy game but I am not to sure what system to use yet. I was thinking the world of darkness, but that may only be because it’s the only system (other then DnD) that I know and that fits what I want.

The setting is like Martians Song of Ice and Fire, very low magic, with the players not having really any magic powers.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Aus_Snow]

A couple of things that spring to mind: the A Game of Thrones RPG by Guardians of Order, now out of print and nonexistent, respectively; and the A Song of Ice and Fire RPG by Green Ronin, yet to be and very much still going, in that order. The former would be good if you like the d20 system in general, but - as you say - are after a very low magic alternative. The latter is being custom-built for the purpose, so might have the edge overall, in terms of mechanics at the least, assuming d20 is not a requirement. Which, it seems, it isn't.

On the note of World of Darkness, I've heard good things about the Dark Ages line, for running the kind of thing it sounds like you're wanting to.

Other strong contenders - without looking at generic systems, any of which can allegedly do anything, of course - would include Pendragon and Reign (though I've only heard about this one).

IMO, anyway. One thing that hardly anyone seems to agree on these days? System choice. So yeah, grain of salt and all that.

Good luck!

 

[Khuxan]

d20 Modern, despite the name, could work for you - or Star Wars Saga Edition (minus the Force). Even D&D 3.5 with non-magic classes or D&D 4e with only martial classes could work. (EDIT: Or Iron Heroes! A complicated but rewarding low-magic game.)

That said, I strongly recommend Reign. It's a fantastic game, and you can legally download nine supplements for free!

 

[Lord Xtheth]

I reccomend Iron Heroes. Its a good system, and baced on D20 OGL so not much is different realy. It has very well thought out changes to make characters not need magic at all to get by.
On top of all that, the classes are built to be at about the same power level as normal D&D characters who HAVE magic items.

Give it a look.

 

[grickherder]

I agree with the Iron Heroes recommendation. Cool stuff.

 

[Stormborn]

Also by GR you might look at the Black Company Campaign setting. There is a magic using class, but its complex and easilly removed. While, given your inspiration, I would think that the Game of Thrones book from GR would be the way to go, even at cover price it might be too expensive for what you are looking at. If you are concerend about price then the d20 Modern suggestion is the way to go , you can still find the MSRD online for free. If you need help with converting that to a medieval fantasy style game I am sure you can find help on these boards.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'll echo others' suggestion for Iron Heroes.

However, you might consider another path- try using only classes without full spellcasting progressions, drawn from all kinds of sources. Where there is a gap, you can modify by changing spell lists and a few other details.

Examples:

A Bard can become a kind of priest- lets call him a Cantor- by switching out his arcane spells for similar divine ones, giving him Turn Undead (possibly losing out on something else), and letting him only use simple weapons.

Paladins would become the template for your main priestly class...but you'd have to allow for other alignments. For this, I'd suggest Book of the Righteous, which has an appendix that lets you do just that. Even though its written for 3Ed, updating it to 3.X isn't that tough...and I've been told the 3.X update is available as a pdf. Still too beefy? Tone down their weapon & armor options.

In the alternative, Marshals could be nifty as a reworked holy-warrior class.

A Soulknife could become a magical rather than psionic warrior with little tweeks, and you wouldn't even need to import any of that other psionic stuff if you don't want to- almost none of it applies to them.

The classes from Tome of Magic and Magic of Incarnum are considered by many powergamers to be under-powered. They might be perfect for your purposes.

 

[Khuxan]

However, you might consider another path- try using only classes without full spellcasting progressions, drawn from all kinds of sources. Where there is a gap, you can modify by changing spell lists and a few other details.

There are ten options for no-magic classes:
Samurai, knight, fighter, barbarian, warblade, rogue, ranger (CW), scout, swashbuckler, marshal.

As I understand it, Song of Ice and Fire has practically no magic - I think even a bard or paladin would be too much. If you don't mind a bit of magic, that opens up:

Swordsage, crusader, monk, dragon shaman, factotum, paladin, paladin (CW), hexblade, sohei, bard, soulknife, psychic warrior and ninja.

I would be reluctant to include Incarnum classes in a low-magic game. Underpowered they may be, but in terms of flavour their magic is very overt and obvious. It's difficult to imagine reflavouring them to be non-magical, whereas that would be quite easy for a psychic warrior (depending on powers chosen) or a soulknife.

---

Even so, I would like to echo my suggestion for Reign (Greg Stolze) - which I can see working brilliantly, or Fourth Edition with only martial classes. The new official SIF RPG looks great, but it'll be a while until it's released.

EDIT: I just thought of Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play. Would that work for you?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'd probably call Monks non-magical...almost. Certainly, their magic is more internalized than almost any other class on that second list except the Ninja.

As I recall, in both classes, most of their abilities still function within an anti-magic zone.

 

[Khuxan]

I'd probably call Monks non-magical...almost. Certainly, their magic is more internalized than almost any other class on that second list except the Ninja.

As I recall, in both classes, most of their abilities still function within an anti-magic zone.

The monk's and (non-spellcasting) paladin's (from CW) ability to heal and the monk's ability to speak every language made me push them onto the somewhat-magical list. The ninja can turn invisible, so I definitely think it would be out of place in a very low-magic game.