HeapThaumaturgist said:
Kalamar looks interesting, but even with the heavy pimpage, it feels all but Flavor-Free ... I'd like to see them talk more about the Hobgoblins and maybe some of the HIGH MAGIC aspects of the setting. I'd say I'm a low-magic kind of guy, but I don't want to play Harn.
Well, if you're looking for more on the hobgoblins, you should check out
Strength and Honor: the Mighty Hobgoblins of Tellene (PDF preview).
The high magic doesn't really present itself openly. Certainly, there is magic all over the place, but it's often woven into the background as myths and legends for the DM to do with as he sees fit.
For example, the humans of Brandobian came to see themselves as superior to the demihumans and all other “lesser” races. They even credited themselves with teaching the elves magic and the halflings how to grow carrots. Soon only pureblooded Brandobians held offices of power. The Brandobians persecuted their demihuman neighbors and all foreigners, even non-Brandobian humans.
When the elves had enough of the humans’ arrogance, they withdrew into Lendelwood, content to wait for the short-lived humans to die off. The Brandobians were not content with driving the elves into the forest. In an effort to force all elves from the area, they mounted an attack on the Lendelwood. The elves ambushed the humans and easily defeated them in the first major clash.
Humiliated, the bitter Brandobian King threw insults at the elven ruler. The elven king responded with laughter and a magical blessing for fruitful loins. Less than a year later, the queen gave birth to triplet boys.
As the princes matured, each felt that he was the rightful heir to the throne. When the king died, all three brothers claimed the crown. The country fell into chaos as the brothers vied for control. The nature of the elven curse finally became apparent; Brandobia tumbled into a bitter civil war.
Also, wizards and sorcerers are not overly common and common people accept most unusual and seemingly inexplicable events as the work of one of the gods rather than arcane magic. In smaller communities, the townsfolk easily confuse wizards and especially sorcerers with clerics, and arcane spells may be misconstrued as miracles or portents of the gods. This can work to a spellcaster’s weal or woe depending on which god the commoners believe sent the miracle.
Of course, there are still some possibilities for a good DM to use if he or she's looking for a really high magic campaign. For example, for the first ten years of its existence, the kingdom of Pel Brolenon was a utopia. Then a scouting party came upon a strange stone temple in the Eldrose Forest. Its doors stood over twenty feet tall and were inscribed with a large rune. The party managed to open the doors, and in doing so, broke the ancient magical seal. Unwittingly, they released the Overlord who had been imprisoned there by other gods millennia before. The deity immediately made followers of the valley people. Pel Brolenon has since become the single largest source of slaves on Tellene.
Just have the PCs try to re-entrap the Overlord...
Another idea would be to meet up with a trio of wizards that has formed a core of a guild they hope will grow into a large organization. They claim as their goal the discovery of the fabled Lost City of Sekhancha, supposedly destroyed by the gods because their primary wizards had developed alchemy and medicine to such a degree that potions, poultices, and balms cured people of all diseases, extended one’s lifespan and enhanced magical abilities beyond those of mortals and into realms belonging to the gods.
Heck, just send them to the city of Dynaj. What makes this community such a frighteningly unique place is the abundance of undead found in the Khydoban Desert, which is aptly nick-named the Dead Lands. This unusual distinction makes the city a haven for unsavory individuals seeking to interact or do business with Dynaj's unholy neighbors. Desperate generals occasionally visit Dynaj, seeking to hire undead mercenaries.
It is rumored that somewhere in the Dead Lands lies an entire country populated with undead and ruled by a lich lord. Although these rumors are unsubstantiated, certain merchants head east from Dynaj with full cargoes and return with empty wagons and pockets lined with gold.
Or Giilia, City of Bats. Giilia answers to the absolute rule of its ruler for the last 200 years, an elven vampire known only as Esmaran. Esmaran does not intend to concede power. The city’s next ruler will have to wrest power from her by force. Besides the immediate need for heroes to destroy the undead villains in the city, the area is ripe for adventurers. The bats draw a wide range of predators. A cave complex just over a mile west of the city holds one of the largest colonies of bats on Tellene. Sixteen million bats live in a huge underground cavern system that has yet to be fully explored by anyone, even the dwarves. Giilian myth says that mind flayers live in the deepest part of the complex, but the people of Giilia do not like to spread the rumor. They have enough monsters of their own without making up stories about others. The caves themselves could be home to nearly anything the DM wants to put in there, and the Sotai Gagalia Headlands have a reputation for being the stomping grounds for tribes of goblins and bugbears.
Anyway, I could go on and on but, basically, there are plenty of opportunities for someone interested in running a high magic campaign. But it's not a setting where every city has a shop of magic items, there's continual flame streetlamps on every corner, several 20th+ level characters in each town, and so on. It's much easier for a DM to add magic than to take it out, and that's part of the intent.
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