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The "Low Magic"/"Rare Magic" Conundrum
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<blockquote data-quote="Emirikol" data-source="post: 3198814" data-attributes="member: 10638"><p><strong>DM Tweaks</strong></p><p></p><p>I'm surprised that nobody's brought up the issue of what a <strong>DM must do differently</strong> in a low magic game.</p><p></p><p>In a normal D&D game, he can hand out items like candy. The spell access can be a free for all. Monsters can be epic level just to fight 5th level parties. Well, how about a lower-magic game? It seems there's more restraint in order on the part of the DM.</p><p></p><p>Ace does a fairly accurate listing of AC and damage/hit bonus for fighters so I came up with a quick chart.</p><p></p><p>HERE'S AN ASSESSMENT OF A LOWER MAGIC GAME WITH A STANDARD D&D GAME:</p><p>a) Assume the following power-down issues for a lower magic game: </p><p>* Spellcasters: 1 level of a non-spellcasting class for each 4 levels (multiclass 1st, 6th, 11th, 16th, 21st). </p><p>* Certain "crucial" spells are bumped up a level (teleport, fly, invisibility, create food/water, fireball, sleep, raise dead spells, etc.). </p><p>* Magic items as per chart below, plus no PC will typically have more than 1 permanent magic item per couple levels and they may come and go throughout the adventures.</p><p></p><p>b) For balance, the DM could simply lower/remove DR magic or super-high AC or super-high damage from most monsters and add a few hit points instead making for an easy balance..but let's assume a sort-of dumb DM for the sake of argument.</p><p></p><p><strong> EQUIVALENCY TABLE:</strong></p><p>EL OR.........EQIVALENT.......MAGIC ....................STANDARD</p><p>D&D...........LOWER MAGIC...ITEM.......AVERAGE....SPELLCASTER</p><p>CHAR.........CHARACTER.......PLUS.......MONSTER...SPELL LEVEL</p><p>LEVEL.........LEVEL..............AVERAGE......AC........EQUIVALENT</p><p>-------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>1................1-4................M.W..........14..........0-1</p><p>2-4.............5-7................+1............15...........2</p><p>5-6.............8-10..............+1.5..........16...........3</p><p>7-8.............11-13.............+2.............18..........4</p><p>9-10...........13-16.............+2.5...........20..........5</p><p>11-12..........17-19.............+3.............23..........6 </p><p>13-14..........20-23.............+3.5..........27...........7 </p><p>15-16..........24-25.............+4.............28..........8(9 typically with bumps) </p><p>17-20..........26-30.............+5*...........30...........9</p><p></p><p>* This doesn't take into account that a magical item may be massively strong as a plot device in a lower magic game and then removed from play, where as that same item would be a permanent addition in a standar D&D game. THis also doesn't take into account all the "swiss-army functions" of multiple-magical-stacking weapons (frost, bane +2 swords).</p><p></p><p>Thoughts?</p><p></p><p>jh</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>..</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Emirikol, post: 3198814, member: 10638"] [b]DM Tweaks[/b] I'm surprised that nobody's brought up the issue of what a [B]DM must do differently[/B] in a low magic game. In a normal D&D game, he can hand out items like candy. The spell access can be a free for all. Monsters can be epic level just to fight 5th level parties. Well, how about a lower-magic game? It seems there's more restraint in order on the part of the DM. Ace does a fairly accurate listing of AC and damage/hit bonus for fighters so I came up with a quick chart. HERE'S AN ASSESSMENT OF A LOWER MAGIC GAME WITH A STANDARD D&D GAME: a) Assume the following power-down issues for a lower magic game: * Spellcasters: 1 level of a non-spellcasting class for each 4 levels (multiclass 1st, 6th, 11th, 16th, 21st). * Certain "crucial" spells are bumped up a level (teleport, fly, invisibility, create food/water, fireball, sleep, raise dead spells, etc.). * Magic items as per chart below, plus no PC will typically have more than 1 permanent magic item per couple levels and they may come and go throughout the adventures. b) For balance, the DM could simply lower/remove DR magic or super-high AC or super-high damage from most monsters and add a few hit points instead making for an easy balance..but let's assume a sort-of dumb DM for the sake of argument. [B] EQUIVALENCY TABLE:[/B] EL OR.........EQIVALENT.......MAGIC ....................STANDARD D&D...........LOWER MAGIC...ITEM.......AVERAGE....SPELLCASTER CHAR.........CHARACTER.......PLUS.......MONSTER...SPELL LEVEL LEVEL.........LEVEL..............AVERAGE......AC........EQUIVALENT ------------------------------------------------------------- 1................1-4................M.W..........14..........0-1 2-4.............5-7................+1............15...........2 5-6.............8-10..............+1.5..........16...........3 7-8.............11-13.............+2.............18..........4 9-10...........13-16.............+2.5...........20..........5 11-12..........17-19.............+3.............23..........6 13-14..........20-23.............+3.5..........27...........7 15-16..........24-25.............+4.............28..........8(9 typically with bumps) 17-20..........26-30.............+5*...........30...........9 * This doesn't take into account that a magical item may be massively strong as a plot device in a lower magic game and then removed from play, where as that same item would be a permanent addition in a standar D&D game. THis also doesn't take into account all the "swiss-army functions" of multiple-magical-stacking weapons (frost, bane +2 swords). Thoughts? jh .. [/QUOTE]
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