So I was readin' the other thread about buying magic items, and the potential troubles of running a "low-magic" D&D game:
And it occurred to me... the easiest way to reduce the availability of magic in your games is simply to assume that everyone in the campaign world is fairly low-level. That way there simply aren't as many people who can create powerful magic items or cast powerful spells.
This is what I've been doing, without really even thinking about it, but when I compare my campaign world to Wizards' first-party D&D stuff, I get the impression that Wizards' Greyhawk has a lot more high-level NPCs running around.
In my campaign world, however, I'm assuming that most people, even professionals, rarely get above 3rd or 4th level. Anyone above 8th level is definitely rare. So for instance, it's hard to find a cleric who can raise dead, simply because there aren't that many 9th-level clerics, except in big cities. Anyone of, say, 15th level on up, is SUPER-rare, and is a mighty power to be reckoned with. In any core class, there's probably less than 30 people in the world who are 15th level or higher.
Of course, I'd never restrict the *PCs'* level. The PCs are exceptions, you see -- they're just that talented!
This gives them a certain superheroic flavor which helps them stand out from the crowd. And it sort of matches the rules-mechanics reality of D&D, wherein the players might gain several levels in a few weeks of game time, while simultaneously, some 50-year-old man who's been a soldier all his life might only be a 3rd level fighter. As the PCs go up higher and higher levels, they find themselves standing out from the mas s of low-level folks, and dealing more and more with the "select few" bad-asses who are as high-level as they are.
It's like what Monte Cook wrote in his ARCANA UNEARTHED supplement which goes from 21st to 25th level. Cook basically wrote that he doesn't see the need of having levels go on up infinitely, because he designed the ARCANA UNEARTHED world so that the "ultimate bad guys" were all around 20th level, and he didn't want to have to pull back the curtain further to show that those bad guys were merely pawns controlled by some hitherto unknown 30th level dudes. Frankly, the system mechanics get clunkier as you get up towards 20th level (just because of all the high numbers and increased options and multiple actions). Also, I doubt that many campaigns which start at 1st level actually get that high. (Although I'm sure some do.)
Of course, I'm not saying that there isn't a place for Epic campaigns -- I wouldn't turn down the chance to play in one -- but I generally prefer playing and DMing lower-level stuff. By turning down the "power gauge" slightly, 11th to 20th level stuff can have the same earth-shaking "Whoa, we're in the big leagues now!! Omigod, these monsters are so tough!" feel that Epic campaigns are supposed to have. It's all a matter of RELATIVE power.
Jason
drothgery said:
And it occurred to me... the easiest way to reduce the availability of magic in your games is simply to assume that everyone in the campaign world is fairly low-level. That way there simply aren't as many people who can create powerful magic items or cast powerful spells.
This is what I've been doing, without really even thinking about it, but when I compare my campaign world to Wizards' first-party D&D stuff, I get the impression that Wizards' Greyhawk has a lot more high-level NPCs running around.
In my campaign world, however, I'm assuming that most people, even professionals, rarely get above 3rd or 4th level. Anyone above 8th level is definitely rare. So for instance, it's hard to find a cleric who can raise dead, simply because there aren't that many 9th-level clerics, except in big cities. Anyone of, say, 15th level on up, is SUPER-rare, and is a mighty power to be reckoned with. In any core class, there's probably less than 30 people in the world who are 15th level or higher.
Of course, I'd never restrict the *PCs'* level. The PCs are exceptions, you see -- they're just that talented!
This gives them a certain superheroic flavor which helps them stand out from the crowd. And it sort of matches the rules-mechanics reality of D&D, wherein the players might gain several levels in a few weeks of game time, while simultaneously, some 50-year-old man who's been a soldier all his life might only be a 3rd level fighter. As the PCs go up higher and higher levels, they find themselves standing out from the mas s of low-level folks, and dealing more and more with the "select few" bad-asses who are as high-level as they are.It's like what Monte Cook wrote in his ARCANA UNEARTHED supplement which goes from 21st to 25th level. Cook basically wrote that he doesn't see the need of having levels go on up infinitely, because he designed the ARCANA UNEARTHED world so that the "ultimate bad guys" were all around 20th level, and he didn't want to have to pull back the curtain further to show that those bad guys were merely pawns controlled by some hitherto unknown 30th level dudes. Frankly, the system mechanics get clunkier as you get up towards 20th level (just because of all the high numbers and increased options and multiple actions). Also, I doubt that many campaigns which start at 1st level actually get that high. (Although I'm sure some do.)
Of course, I'm not saying that there isn't a place for Epic campaigns -- I wouldn't turn down the chance to play in one -- but I generally prefer playing and DMing lower-level stuff. By turning down the "power gauge" slightly, 11th to 20th level stuff can have the same earth-shaking "Whoa, we're in the big leagues now!! Omigod, these monsters are so tough!" feel that Epic campaigns are supposed to have. It's all a matter of RELATIVE power.
Jason
