The "Low Magic"/"Rare Magic" Conundrum

[Brimshack]

It's an interesting concept, and I have to admit I am not terribly interested in all the many ways to buff up an extra point here and there in the game.

There are more sources for the notion of magic as commonplace, however, than some might think. The idea that runes were magic means for example that every sword with a rune carved into it carried an enchantment for those who believed this. Some people blessed this and that item or person, house, etc. on a regular basis. How this helped the people involved would not necessarily be clear, but it could easily be interpreted as the kind of mini buffing that is now commonplace in D&D.

I think one other thing to consider about the rare but subtle and powerful school of magic is that part of the reason it works is that its mechanics are so totally dictated by those of the storyline. Gandolf uses a ray of light to scare off the Ringwraiths. Cool, but that's all the narrative needed at that point, which is common in stories of such spell casters as well as in mythology itself. If you pare magic down in D&D and make it more rare, it makes it harder for the player to find good uses for it. This can be compensated by railroading a bit. (Imagine Gandolf's player being told at the beginning of book II that he has the power to produce a big ray of light. Oh great! ...but then the ability is just what is needed for a specific point in the storyline.) Immense flexibility could also work. You have one spell per day, choose it wisely (and then maybe it's a big list or the DM just wings it when the magic button is pressed.) I tend to like the idea, but it's hard to put into practice.

 

[Wik]

I sort of like Call of Cthulu's magic system. You can have as many spells as you want, of whatever level, but each time you cast a spell.... you lose sanity.

This really emulates the "conan" feel, where sorcerors were all very dark and evil beings. Plus, because every time you cast a spell you go a little bit more nuts (and in an adaptation to D&D, there could be other penalties over insanity... XP loss, maybe?), you're not going to be flinging about magic missiles every other round.

One thing I do in D&D when I'm trying to make a low-magic feel (and I've mentioned this before) is assign spellcasters a "Special Effects Budget". The basic feel is this: "Every time you cast a spell that would cost a director money in a movie to render in special effects, such as a fireball, or teleport, you have to pay the budget. If you run out of money, you can't cast any mor efancy spells". So, if my cleric casts Cure Light Wounds and it instantly heals you, that'll cost me. But, if my cleric brews you a special tea, and you feel healthier after drinking that tea, it doesn't cost me. Both times, I'm casting Cure Light Wounds, but one just *looks* low-magic.

It works, but only if you have creative players.

 

[kigmatzomat]

I'd go with a spell point system but one with very few points, not the hundreds that most systems give. Make casters a single prime caster class that has 3/4 BAB, d6HD, 6 skills/level, and then (using the XPH point system) 2x class level magic points. A 17th level caster can fire off two 9th level spells, 6 fireballs, or 34 magic missles.

Net result, casters use their magic when they really need to and it will make a difference. The rest of the time they use a weapon. If you want, have them take a feat chain to be able to cast in different grades of armor.

 

[mmadsen]

Magic as Plot Device -- With Rules

You may want to read Magic as Plot Device -- With Rules. A quick recap:

A standard complaint about D&D magic (and much RPG magic in general) is that it doesn't feel magical; it's too tactical, too well-defined, too scientific. Of course, if it's not well-defined, it's hard to adjudicate within a game -- and at least part of D&D's allure is that it's a game with rules.

What are some straightforward, easy-to-adjudicate ways to get that "plot device" magic feel -- without losing game-ability?

Ravenloft offers a few interesting elements. Evil acts (and evil spells in particular) draw a Powers Check -- the Dark Powers may take notice and grant the evildoer a twisted boon to draw him down the Path of Corruption. (Star Wars has Dark Side points that achieve much the same thing.)

Ravenloft's curses mix dramatic elements with game mechanics, giving penalties for less dramatic curses: a large penalty for mentioning game mechanics in the curse, another penalty for broad prohibitions (e.g. no spellcasting) rather than narrow (e.g. blinding headaches with every spell cast), another penalty for not tailoring the curse to the victim, another penalty for not including an "escape clause" (e.g. until kissed by a beautiful princess), etc. Naturally, there's a bonus for making a curse with your dying breath.

Rather than offering just one 3rd-level version of bestow curse (with bland effects: −6 to an ability; −4 on attacks, saves, and checks; or 50% chance of losing each action), Ravenloft gives examples of curses from embarrassing to lethal:

Embarrassing
Forked Tongue
Blackened Hands
Hair Turns White
Hungers for Raw Meat
etc.

Lethal
Torturous Death
Immediate Transformation into Monster
Must Kill Daily
etc.​

You could make an entire spell system out of Ravenloft's curses.

Ravenloft also modifies many plot-crashing spells (most divinations, remove curse, etc.), forcing characters to do a little detective work, to quest for a cure to the curse or disease that plagues them, etc.

Call of Cthulhu makes spells fairly rare, generally creepy, and very costly to learn or cast. Players fear the Sanity cost of learning and casting magic spells.

GURPS's alternate Unlimited Mana rules offer a surprisingly elegant solution: instead of providing spellcasters with a hard limit (whether in terms of fatigue points, power points, or spell slots), it gives them a soft limit they can cross -- with (unpredictable) consequences. "To draw too deeply on my Gift can lead to madness and death. Do not demand of me what you do not comprehend."

Also -- and this may sound trivial -- it gives spellcasters quite a bit of power, but power that does not return completely overnight. Much of the mundane nature of gaming magic is in its trivial cost. If you make a D&D spellcaster's slot monthly rather than daily, you don't change his adventuring behavior much, but you explain why magic isn't quite so ubiquitous.

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer game goes out of its way to emulate the "plot device" magic of the show. One of the simpler mechanics it uses for this is a roll to see if a spell works flawlessly. A spell can do any number of things:

Fails
Works
Works, but delayed
Works, but weakly
Works, but caster harmed
Works, but wrong target
Unexpected effect​

Thus, magic often comes at a price. Also, Buffy enforces strong "flavor" constraints: spells typically require research in an occult library, followed by long rituals with elaborate ingredients, etc. And, for a true "plot device" spell, the director can require a rare alignment of the stars (or whatever); it's actually encouraged.

Lastly, even D&D touches on "plot device" magic with its long history of the twisted wish spell. That's magic at a price.​

 

[IceFractal]

Part of it is that most magic-using characters is fiction are closer to Sorcerers than Wizards. So they've got a limited number of spells. Now let's assume that they've used a number of their spells known on really long duration buff spells that they only cast once a week or less, that have invisible effects.

For instance: Increased lifespan, Resistance to disease and other ailments, Greater perception, Luckyness, and so forth. They cast these spells off-screen. The net result is that they appear to only have a few spells that they use.

Why the spells are so powerful? Because they aren't facing equal-level challenges, so to speak - and against commoners, even a 1d4+1 Magic Missile has a good chance to knock someone to death's door.


Alternate theory - they're actually Wilders, and as such, know a very small number of spells/powers, but can do quite a bit of damage with them. This would fit with the fact that going full-out on a spell can be tiring (in a lot of series).

 

[Slife]

One thing I do in D&D when I'm trying to make a low-magic feel (and I've mentioned this before) is assign spellcasters a "Special Effects Budget". The basic feel is this: "Every time you cast a spell that would cost a director money in a movie to render in special effects, such as a fireball, or teleport, you have to pay the budget. If you run out of money, you can't cast any mor efancy spells". So, if my cleric casts Cure Light Wounds and it instantly heals you, that'll cost me. But, if my cleric brews you a special tea, and you feel healthier after drinking that tea, it doesn't cost me. Both times, I'm casting Cure Light Wounds, but one just *looks* low-magic.

It works, but only if you have creative players.

So, invisibility doesn't cost anything, right? After all, you don't even have to pay the actors for the scenes.

 

[pawsplay]

However, I think it is worth noting again that D&D, as written, doesn't emulate any Fantasy Genre then the one it spawned; superhero adventurers kicking monster booty and collecting magic trinkets in a pseudo-medieval world.

Like in The Faerie Queen, the story of Perseus and Medusa, Tales of the Dying Earth, Poul Anderson's Ango-Saxan fantasies, or The Hobbit.

 

[Aus_Snow]

The D&D magic system doesn't even begin to model any kind of fantasy literature or movie I've read, or seen, respectively. But then, it's not designed to anyway. So whatever.

Perhaps incantations (as per UA, and the SRD) is another place to look for the 'right' kind of feel.

But honestly, there are other systems entirely that do this thing *so* much better. As has been pointed out, I believe.

 

[Brimshack]

To me the thing that really takes the wind out of the sails of my interest in D&D magic is the lack of mystery. In D&D, the power of each magic item is generally known, and even when a new item cannot be identified, that's only a temporary problem. A curse is virtually always known to be a curse (heck you failed a save. What do you think it was big guy!?! ow you're left hand his shrinking.) Magical effects almost never occur without the players essentially understanding what is happening. It's unfortunate that some of the mystery of maic gets lost in such a mechanical system.

 

[Brimshack]

So, invisibility doesn't cost anything, right? After all, you don't even have to pay the actors for the scenes.

Well that depends. Did they have to stop camers and run another take after he left stage, or was he invisible all the way through the scene. I mean it costs money to stop and restart those cameras you know. I mean, you try negotiating with the folks from SAG. Sheesh!

BTW: I think that the special effects limit is a really interesting twist.