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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Arkhandus" data-source="post: 3199068" data-attributes="member: 13966">Yeah, I'm still trying to figure out what to do about the low-magic-item conundrum in my Rhunaria campaign.  The characters are at a level where magic items would normally be a significant part of their power, but instead the party only has a paltry few magic items (an average of perhaps 2 per character; a few have 3 or 4 minor magic items, while one or two have only 1 magic item I think; by their own choice though, as those are the ones who have been saving their accumulated treasure).It doesn't really hurt the magic-users any more than intended, but I didn't really put enough thought into it initially to compensate the less-magical PCs, like the fighter and the rogue.  Although I did make little additions that beef up those kinds of classes to be closer to magic-users in effectiveness, I didn't consider the impact at first of having lower wealth and scarcer magic items than normal.While I'm careful not to throw monsters at them that would be too tough for their slightly-diminished effectiveness, (and I raise the CR of some monsters in recognition of their greater toughness against a party with few magic items), I still know that the spellcasters have been doing the majority of the butt-kicking and problem-solving.  Chances are I'll give some minor physical-ability-score increases, AC boosts, and Initiative boosts to the mundane and mostly-mundane classes.On the other hand, I may just end up sneakily providing the less-magical-types with more powerful Nari glyph relics to compensate, but it wouldn't solve the setting-wide problem.  Glyph relics are the equivalent of minor artifacts in my homebrew, but much more limited, unique, and (dangerously) flawed.  The only glyph relic in the party right now is a magic gauntlet that temporarily calls spirit creatures, and improves the wearer's own summoning spells, but only functions briefly and at certain times of the day/month.  And expends one of the wearer's highest-level spell slots to activate, IIRC.----------Anyhoo, maybe something like this would work as the basis for a lower/rarer but still effective magic in D&D?Spoiler block since it would otherwise slightly more than double the post's length:[sblock]Casting a spell costs 1 Magic Point per spell level (counting 0-level, so a 9th-level spell would cost 10 points, frex).  This replaces spell slots.  A class' total number of MP would be based on their level in the class and their key stat.  1 MP per level in the class, + the relevant ability modifier in further MP (Int for wizards, Wis for divine casters, etc.).  So a 1st-level wizard with 18 Int would get 5 MP to start; enough to cast 2 Magic Missiles and 1 Ray of Frost, at best (or 1 Stoneskin, or 1 Fireball and 1 Detect Magic, etc.).  Spells known would probably need adjusting.MP from different classes would not stack (prestige classes that increase caster level would also improve MP with the chosen class, as appropriate, but other caster level alterations should not affect MP).  Specialist wizards might get 1 extra MP each time they would have normally gained access to a new spell level (so at 3rd-level, 5th-level, etc.).  If bards are kept, they might not get any MP on even-numbered class levels.  Paladins and rangers would only get MP at 4th-level and every three class levels thereafter.  So a 20th-level ranger with great Wisdom might have 10 MP, enough to cast two 4th-level spells or five 1st-level spells, frex.Sorcerers would be ditched or made more like wizards, while bards would likewise be altered, since all casters would become spontaneous.  Casters might have a limit on 'spells readied' like in Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed, to help balance out the spontaneity of their casting (and the large number of spells a wizard, cleric, or druid could potentially know at once).Main spellcasting classes would get a few more skill points per level, and a few more class skills perhaps.  Wizards might get d6 or d8 hit dice and a medium BAB as well, or instead, to make them less completely reliant on spells for effectiveness.Spells known may be limited by Knowledge (arcana/nature/religion) ranks, as appropriate to the class.  Perhaps they could know a maximum of 2 spell levels worth of spells per rank (counting 0-level, so 2 ranks could get them a 1st-level spell known, while 5 ranks could net them a 9th-level spell known).  A 1st-level wizard might, for example, choose to learn only Charm Person, then wait until 4th-level (when they have a total of 7 ranks) to learn Summon Monster IX, knowing only those two spells until they get another chance to learn more.Casting a spell would require a Spellcraft check (a specialist wizard's +2 bonus would apply when casting from their specialized school) to avoid mishap.  Failing the check would waste the spell and half the MP used for it, rounded up; failing by 5 or more points would cause some manner of disaster in addition to the spell failing, and would waste all MP spent on the spell.  A Concentration check may also be needed to avoid losing a bit of mental potency (1 point of temporary Int, Wis, or Cha damage, perhaps), at DM's option.  Taking 10 and taking 20 would never, ever be an option with these particular skill checks, regardless of stuff like Skill Mastery.The check DCs would probably be 15 + spell level + half the caster level it was cast at, rounded up.  So an 11th-level wizard might try casting Fireball, with Spellcraft against DC 24, likely having a total bonus of around +20 if reasonably optimized (without magic items considered though), so easily cast usually.  A 1st-level wizard trying to cast Fireball would attempt Spellcraft against DC 19, with a bonus of about +10 if similarly optimized, so kinda tough but nothing more.  It would expend 4 MP though, likely all or nearly all the 1st-level wizard had (and as a 1st-level caster, it would only deal 1d6 damage to everything within its area, but that's better than the single-target-each 1d4+1 of two Magic Missile spells).An 11th-level wizard casting Shapechange would need to spend 10 MP (out of probably 16 MP total), and make a DC 30 Spellcraft check, tough but not too much so, while a fairly-optimal 5th-level wizard might have +15 total on a check against DC 27 to cast the same spell (likely using up every single MP he or she had available, and with a 30% chance of failure and losing half their MP, and a 25% chance of catastrophic failure and loss of all MP).You might consider adding +1 to the check DC for every 3 spell levels beyond 0-level (so +1 DC for a 3rd/4th/5th-level spell, +2 DC for 6th/7th/8th, and +3 DC for 9th).  In any case, MP would probably only be replenished once a month or once a week, rather than once a day, as another poster suggested for low-magic campaigns.  Expensive, day-long rituals may be possible to fully replenish MP sooner (such as 100 GP per MP to be regained, or 1 GP(MP to be regained)^squared, +100 GP; that would be 125 GP spent on a day-long ritual to regain all 5 MP as a 1st-level wizard with 18 Int.  Maybe increase the cost further, but I don't feel like doing any more complex math right now, nor starting up the calculator program on my computer to do it for me.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /> Also, depending on setting, casting spells could run a small risk of attracting the attention of mischevious, dangerous, or corrupt spirits/outsiders/whatever.  Maybe a d20 roll or d% roll, drawing the attention of such entities from the Ethereal Plane or Astral Plane on a result of 1, arriving to harass, annoy, disrupt, misdirect, or tempt the caster towards corruption.  Longer casting times might be used as well or instead (or might be the only way to avoid definitely attracting such unwanted fiendish attention!).[/sblock]</blockquote>

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