D&D 5E Sword & Sorcery / Low Magic

[Aldarc]

Didn't that have the d20 Modern classes (Strong hero, Fast hero, etc.)? That was pretty good, yea.

That's the one.

 

[TwoSix]

That's the one.

I would love to see more products where magic is "opt-in" and progression based rather than a defining feature at character creation.

 

[GlassJaw]

Side Note: Grim Tales updated for the 5e engine would be lovely.

I agree!!!

The one good thing 5E has in its toolbelt is that bounded accuracy is very conducive to a low-magic setting and feel.

 

[Laurefindel]

I would love to see more products where magic is "opt-in" and progression based rather than a defining feature at character creation.

Like a feat/ASI progression tree kind of thing?

 

[GlassJaw]

@tetrasodium Care to explain your reaction? Just curious.

It's much easier to keep the power scaling under control in 5E than 3ed was.

 

[GlassJaw]

Like a feat/ASI progression tree kind of thing?

Yes.

Again, 5E also has done some of the work with paths and half-casters. The path system is a step towards the Modern character progression already as it's an "a la carte" suite of features. D20 Modern/Grim Tales just opened it up even more.

The 5E feat system would need to be reworked though. Modern/GT heavily utilized the feat for character customization and the 5E feat system is too restrictive.

 

[tetrasodium]

@tetrasodium Care to explain your reaction?

I've never heard of Grim Takes before & was pretty sure you were laying on the sarcasm. Yea that was supposed to be one of the goals of & theory behind bounded accuracy & having everything pegged to not require magic items, but then they wrote almost every other part of the system from the not factored in "optional" feats themselves to the rest mechanics & much more with the dial set closer to some kind of over the top superheroes who don't need magic items to function like they have them.

 

[TwoSix]

Like a feat/ASI progression tree kind of thing?

That's a possibility, although I think it's not quite granular. I'm playing around with other progression tracks.

 

[jmartkdr2]

I think they can be satisfactorily reskined. The hardy stone-cutter clans with their iron stomach and they slow and deliberate walk? Dwarf. The lithe and exotic traveller who doesn’t sleep? Elf. The old and wise people who claim they can speak to beasts? Gnome.

the biggest offender is Darkvision; if I had to reskin the PHB races as regional variants, I’d consider removing Darkvision from all PC « races »

It depends a lot on the race and why they want it: if you want to play a dragonborn for the theme (and resistance), then 'dragon clan' works. If you want to play it for the look - that's a lot tougher (and possibly not very S&S.)

 

[GlassJaw]

I've never heard of Grim Takes before & was pretty sure you were laying on the sarcasm. Yea that was supposed to be one of the goals of & theory behind bounded accuracy & having everything pegged to not require magic items, but then they wrote almost every other part of the system from the not factored in "optional" feats themselves to the rest mechanics & much more with the dial set closer to some kind of over the top superheroes who don't need magic items to function like they have them.

It was not sarcasm. What you described is no fault of bounded accuracy, and I would still argue that 5E can be run without magic items or feats. However, I will agree that's not ideal.

5E's problems are mainly due to a grossly unbalanced feat system and lackluster monster design. So when the characters use the OP feats and have magic items, they quickly outpace the monsters.