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What is "grim and gritty" and "low magic" anyway?
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<blockquote data-quote="GoodKingJayIII" data-source="post: 1422354" data-attributes="member: 13804"><p>What I haven't really seen discussed too much are campaign reasons that include "low magic," middle-of-the-road, and "high" magic all in one campaign world.</p><p></p><p>Remember, I won't examine specific PCs in general; only the general "level" of society.</p><p></p><p>Say you have a campaign world where people of higher than 9th level are quite rare (not that dissimilar from a standard dnd game). This world has 4 continents, 2 of which are at least the size of Western Europe. You're going to have a lot of cultural seperation. I'd imagine this division of cultures would look at magic differently, so you may have 3 different cultural views about magic.</p><p></p><p>Consider a one small country that legally forces <em>all</em> spellcasters to register themselves with the government and swear a bind oath that they will never use magic to destroy or enhance tools of war. This oath is made binding by a special item upon which the spellcasters must swear (Wheel of Time's Oathrod). Perhaps this country has highly-trained, elite military, with a few wizards per unit that serve to magically buff the troops. Likewise, this culture might be more inclined to create magic items that heal and benefit society on the whole, focusing their efforts to keep the country clean, healthy, etc. This could lead to a very cosmopolitan society, without necessarily "crippling" them should another nation threaten them with force. Also, this does not necessarily raise or lower the magic level. It's still there. However, adventurers would have a tough time finding arms and armaments, but might be able to get their hands on potions, scrolls, this sort of thing. Offensive magic in general would be hard to come by.</p><p></p><p>This sort of keeps things middle-of-the-road, but alters it in such a way that in some illusive ways it gives off the appearance of both high and low magic.</p><p></p><p>You could also have another country far across the country that has developed such wonderful processes with metallurgy, architecture, etc. that they don't really use magic in their society. Mages have never been interested in this country (lack of useful magical resources, strange fluxes in magical "zones," whatever) and society has adjusted itself to get along without them. The land could have that "gritty" medieval europe style as well as some very romanesque feelings as well (highly innovative peoples). This gives off the illusion of "low" magic, however, this nation has developed weapon- and armorsmithing skills like no other, and thus its equipment is highly sought-after, and highly expensive. By some quirk, the metal they have developed is no better when enchanted...</p><p></p><p>My point (I think) is: in a campaign world that is large, fluid, and has a history, a good DM will provide a plethora of different "styles" of play as there are cultures, giving a certain feel to the campaign. 8th level PCs have more than enough funds to travel <em>very</em> far by mundane means, and travelling long distances just gets easy from there. I don't think a large world shold necessarily be all low or high magic (though it could be) or all grim n' gritty (though, again, this is possible). Consider the level of technology the Middle East had back around 900-1300 compared to western europe. It's very different.</p><p></p><p>I hope this makes sense, because I thought I had some valuable things to say, but it's 3am here, and this huge conference of highly experienced and intelligent gamers has left me somewhat intimidated.</p><p></p><p>I hope I could contribute meaningfully...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="GoodKingJayIII, post: 1422354, member: 13804"] What I haven't really seen discussed too much are campaign reasons that include "low magic," middle-of-the-road, and "high" magic all in one campaign world. Remember, I won't examine specific PCs in general; only the general "level" of society. Say you have a campaign world where people of higher than 9th level are quite rare (not that dissimilar from a standard dnd game). This world has 4 continents, 2 of which are at least the size of Western Europe. You're going to have a lot of cultural seperation. I'd imagine this division of cultures would look at magic differently, so you may have 3 different cultural views about magic. Consider a one small country that legally forces [I]all[/I] spellcasters to register themselves with the government and swear a bind oath that they will never use magic to destroy or enhance tools of war. This oath is made binding by a special item upon which the spellcasters must swear (Wheel of Time's Oathrod). Perhaps this country has highly-trained, elite military, with a few wizards per unit that serve to magically buff the troops. Likewise, this culture might be more inclined to create magic items that heal and benefit society on the whole, focusing their efforts to keep the country clean, healthy, etc. This could lead to a very cosmopolitan society, without necessarily "crippling" them should another nation threaten them with force. Also, this does not necessarily raise or lower the magic level. It's still there. However, adventurers would have a tough time finding arms and armaments, but might be able to get their hands on potions, scrolls, this sort of thing. Offensive magic in general would be hard to come by. This sort of keeps things middle-of-the-road, but alters it in such a way that in some illusive ways it gives off the appearance of both high and low magic. You could also have another country far across the country that has developed such wonderful processes with metallurgy, architecture, etc. that they don't really use magic in their society. Mages have never been interested in this country (lack of useful magical resources, strange fluxes in magical "zones," whatever) and society has adjusted itself to get along without them. The land could have that "gritty" medieval europe style as well as some very romanesque feelings as well (highly innovative peoples). This gives off the illusion of "low" magic, however, this nation has developed weapon- and armorsmithing skills like no other, and thus its equipment is highly sought-after, and highly expensive. By some quirk, the metal they have developed is no better when enchanted... My point (I think) is: in a campaign world that is large, fluid, and has a history, a good DM will provide a plethora of different "styles" of play as there are cultures, giving a certain feel to the campaign. 8th level PCs have more than enough funds to travel [I]very[/I] far by mundane means, and travelling long distances just gets easy from there. I don't think a large world shold necessarily be all low or high magic (though it could be) or all grim n' gritty (though, again, this is possible). Consider the level of technology the Middle East had back around 900-1300 compared to western europe. It's very different. I hope this makes sense, because I thought I had some valuable things to say, but it's 3am here, and this huge conference of highly experienced and intelligent gamers has left me somewhat intimidated. I hope I could contribute meaningfully... [/QUOTE]
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