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What is "grim and gritty" and "low magic" anyway?
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<blockquote data-quote="Gothmog" data-source="post: 1418703" data-attributes="member: 317"><p>Low magic means that magic is less common, but not necessarily less powerful. No magic item shops, and maybe once every 3-4 adventures a minor magical item shows up (potion, +1 item or equivalent). I have run a low magic game for the last 12 years, and in 3E, my solution to the overly powerful core class casters was to grant all characters an extra feat at every odd level (not every 3), and to make casting classes gain a new level of spell every 3 levels instead of every 2 (much like the adept), but one more spell per day of each level. Its worked well, seems balanced so far, and the high-level magic (5th+) will pretty much always be out of the hands of most characters in the game. Spells of 6th level and higher are ritual spells, and require either lots of time or multiple casters to work. Cursed items or items with side-effects are also more common and interesting to use in such settings.</p><p></p><p>Grim & Gritty is a style of game where morality is relative (like real life), and cosmic forces of absolute good and evil are rare (especially good). Life in such a setting is often harsh, brutal, and short, and those with power hold it over those who don't. It isn't necessarily easy to die, but death can come from a mob of peasants just as easily as it can from the jaws of a dragon. This type of world is often protrayed in fiction and gaming as worse than the real world was in medieval times. Game mechanics that go along with this are lowering the massive damage threshold, using WP/VP (especially giving big critters extra VP based on size), and slowing HP advancement after a certain level (usually 10th).</p><p></p><p>I'm a big fan of both styles, and combine them to varying degrees in the games I run. I personally find that low magic and grim & gritty games are more fun to play in and run, becasue the players can more easily identify with their characters, and rampant munchkining of the game is much less likely with the kind of folks who like these games.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Gothmog, post: 1418703, member: 317"] Low magic means that magic is less common, but not necessarily less powerful. No magic item shops, and maybe once every 3-4 adventures a minor magical item shows up (potion, +1 item or equivalent). I have run a low magic game for the last 12 years, and in 3E, my solution to the overly powerful core class casters was to grant all characters an extra feat at every odd level (not every 3), and to make casting classes gain a new level of spell every 3 levels instead of every 2 (much like the adept), but one more spell per day of each level. Its worked well, seems balanced so far, and the high-level magic (5th+) will pretty much always be out of the hands of most characters in the game. Spells of 6th level and higher are ritual spells, and require either lots of time or multiple casters to work. Cursed items or items with side-effects are also more common and interesting to use in such settings. Grim & Gritty is a style of game where morality is relative (like real life), and cosmic forces of absolute good and evil are rare (especially good). Life in such a setting is often harsh, brutal, and short, and those with power hold it over those who don't. It isn't necessarily easy to die, but death can come from a mob of peasants just as easily as it can from the jaws of a dragon. This type of world is often protrayed in fiction and gaming as worse than the real world was in medieval times. Game mechanics that go along with this are lowering the massive damage threshold, using WP/VP (especially giving big critters extra VP based on size), and slowing HP advancement after a certain level (usually 10th). I'm a big fan of both styles, and combine them to varying degrees in the games I run. I personally find that low magic and grim & gritty games are more fun to play in and run, becasue the players can more easily identify with their characters, and rampant munchkining of the game is much less likely with the kind of folks who like these games. [/QUOTE]
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