D&D 5E Sword & Sorcery / Low Magic

[doctorbadwolf]

Thats not swords and sorcery

What about the classes are incompatible with sword and sorcery?

Because I’d didn’t frelling claim that AIME was sword and sorcery, I stated correctly that the classes from it work quite well as classes for a low magic S&S game.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

The magic-y things I can remember him doing are...it's been a long time, but he has to maintain chanting (I think) to keep Valeria's soul (or whatever) in her body or to heal her? Then in Conan The Destroyer I remember he has a telekinesis-like tug-of-war of sorts with another spellcaster as he tries to close a big door/portcullis thing. Both of those seem to be physically taxing for him, and I'm particularly interested in how to emulate that in 5E. There's probably something else he does in those movies that I'm forgetting.

A character that only has some subtle magical effects powered by hit dice could be interesting, but it’s be hard to balance.

 

[Greg Benage]

If Schwartzengger's Conan movies qualify as S&S for the purposes of this thread, how would you allow for Akiro - the magic-user played by Mako in those films? What kind of 5E spellcaster is he? What changes would you make to 5E to allow a PC to play that kind of spellcaster? Or would you just have him be an NPC?

Monk or rogue with one or more of my spellcasting feats.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I'd create a Rogue archetypes gaining:

• Ritual casting
• The Vision of the Past feature of the Knowledge cleric.
• A choice of: Minor Conjuration or Minor Alchemy
• Walker in Dreams and Heart of Moonlight and Shadow from Dream Druid.

Savant? Scholar?

 

[Voadam]

If Schwartzengger's Conan movies qualify as S&S for the purposes of this thread, how would you allow for Akiro - the magic-user played by Mako in those films? What kind of 5E spellcaster is he? What changes would you make to 5E to allow a PC to play that kind of spellcaster? Or would you just have him be an NPC?

His magic power level seems to be around the level of the ritual caster feat. No real attack spells, sort of esoteric situation ones.

The ritual magic feat does not really match the door contest magic scene, but neither would magic missiles. It is his big scene in Destroyer though so ritual casting might disappoint the PC in play if he can't even match that one scene. In 4e I'd see training in arcana as sufficient for part of an opposed check in a skill challenge type situation to match that scene.

I would probably have him be an NPC companion because he really does not stand next to the rest of the parties from the movies in combat (even the weaseally thief guy in Destroyer proved to be really good with his knives in a big combat).

 

[Ath'kethin]

Sorry, but which is it? In one paragraph you say making magic have a cost or cause mutation is unfair and doubly unfair, yet in the next paragraph you say you like DCC magic...which both has a cost and can cause mutations.

It's both.

In DCC, the game is built around the expectation that as a magic-user, you're going to get warped. It's cool.

D&D - even the oldest-school D&D, that's just not the case. Vile magic in 3.x had a nod toward it, and some options from the 2e Spells & Magic book did too. But the "cost" of magic in D&D is largely lore based, not mechanical, and it's a big subversion of expectations to treat it differently.

Now, that doesn't mean you can't - you can and I have. But I think it does add an unfair burden onto casters in D&D. I've played with a lot of different options, both just for fun and playtesting material to be published. I've found that for some reason, people happy to get warped beyond belief playing DCC don't have as much fun with it in D&D.

 

[dave2008]

If Schwartzengger's Conan movies qualify as S&S for the purposes of this thread, how would you allow for Akiro - the magic-user played by Mako in those films? What kind of 5E spellcaster is he? What changes would you make to 5E to allow a PC to play that kind of spellcaster? Or would you just have him be an NPC?

Low level magic user multiclassed with rogue. If you want to emulate the exhaustion you mentioned in another post I would maybe give magic use a cost other than slots: perhaps HD or levels of exhaustion. Though maybe that only applies to concentration spells. So maybe for each minute of concenteration (min. 1 minute) you lose 1 HD or roll Con check or gain 1 level of exhaustion.

 

[overgeeked]

His magic power level seems to be around the level of the ritual caster feat. No real attack spells, sort of esoteric situation ones.

The ritual magic feat does not really match the door contest magic scene, but neither would magic missiles. It is his big scene in Destroyer though so ritual casting might disappoint the PC in play if he can't even match that one scene. In 4e I'd see training in arcana as sufficient for part of an opposed check in a skill challenge type situation to match that scene.

I would probably have him be an NPC companion because he really does not stand next to the rest of the parties from the movies in combat (even the weaseally thief guy in Destroyer proved to be really good with his knives in a big combat).

Yeah, that scene was a wizard’s duel for control of the door / mouth. That’s a skill challenge at best, or competing mage hand / telekinesis spells. He does the equivalent to an eyebite spell to win.

 

[overgeeked]

Just rewatched the Arnie Conan the Barbarian movie. The big bad, Thulsa Doom, cast maybe five spells in the whole thing. Two charm person spells, a polymorph to turn himself into a snake, and turned two snakes into arrows. His real power was his cult. I know it’s generally seen as a Conan story in name only, and has little if any connection to REH’s stories, but it’s still fun.

 

[Scott Christian]

I think that 4e had the distinct quality of making PCs be able to be big damn heroes capable of withstanding incredible amount of punishment without requiring spellcasting.

Second Wind, Action points and such were a great help for this kind of fiction, as were the Inherent Bonus + masterwork equipment (from Darksun 4e?) that replaced the magic items threadmill.

The Martial practices (mundane rituals) were also fun.

Warlords, rogue, ranger, barbarian (ish), fighter etc are all quite able without resorting to the ''corrupting'' power of magic.

I am with you on that. Although, I do picture everything having a tinge of magic in 4e, including martial types. But that could very well have been the art direction too; everything had an aura around it - everything.