What level of magic is your campaign?
- Thread starter Quasqueton
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MonsterMash
First Post
Lower than standard 3e D&D, but even with the 'classic' Sword and Sourcery feel that I aim at (Conan, Lankhmar type feel), not minimal, but magic items are rare and very hard to purchase.
TwinBahamut
First Post
My campaign is best summed up as "Something else".
There is a whole nation run by wizards, but at the same time wizards are quite different than standard in terms of what kind of magic they use. For the most part, magic items actually created by a wizard as per the DMG rules are almost nonexistant, but on the other hand different kinds of magic items exist due to different forces at work. Divine intervention tends to also be a bit more widespread, so that changes things somewhat.
There is a whole nation run by wizards, but at the same time wizards are quite different than standard in terms of what kind of magic they use. For the most part, magic items actually created by a wizard as per the DMG rules are almost nonexistant, but on the other hand different kinds of magic items exist due to different forces at work. Divine intervention tends to also be a bit more widespread, so that changes things somewhat.
Wombat
First Post
How do we start defining this...?
I look upon standard D&D as Very High Magic -- magic items readily for sale, many magical creatures in the world, high level magicians doing very flashy spells all about. Yep, high magic.
I use AU as my base set of rules currently, but with modifications. First of all, my campaign (and world) is pretty Low Level. The PCs at the momen range from 3rd to 5th level; there are certainly more powerful people in this world, but they are pretty rare. There are no magic shops, NPC magisters, runethanes, and greenbonds are less common than usually described, etc. There are also very few monsters in the classic D&D sense -- major opponents tend to be NPCs, backed up with wild animals and disease. OTOH, no character is restricted as to what kinds of magic he or she may pick up (within the game rules, that is) or what magic items they may make, also given the standard rules (with the single proviso that anyone may "donate" the XP for magical item creation, rather than leaving it all on the magic using type). We also have a fair amount of undead and spirits floating about -- just not "intelligent" monsters.
So while the PCs are not restricted in their access to magic (thus making them High Magic by my definitions), the world itself is pretty much close to what I would consider Medium Magic (Low Magic by D&D definitions).
Take your choice.
I look upon standard D&D as Very High Magic -- magic items readily for sale, many magical creatures in the world, high level magicians doing very flashy spells all about. Yep, high magic.
I use AU as my base set of rules currently, but with modifications. First of all, my campaign (and world) is pretty Low Level. The PCs at the momen range from 3rd to 5th level; there are certainly more powerful people in this world, but they are pretty rare. There are no magic shops, NPC magisters, runethanes, and greenbonds are less common than usually described, etc. There are also very few monsters in the classic D&D sense -- major opponents tend to be NPCs, backed up with wild animals and disease. OTOH, no character is restricted as to what kinds of magic he or she may pick up (within the game rules, that is) or what magic items they may make, also given the standard rules (with the single proviso that anyone may "donate" the XP for magical item creation, rather than leaving it all on the magic using type). We also have a fair amount of undead and spirits floating about -- just not "intelligent" monsters.
So while the PCs are not restricted in their access to magic (thus making them High Magic by my definitions), the world itself is pretty much close to what I would consider Medium Magic (Low Magic by D&D definitions).
Take your choice.
Its really hard for me to say...
The game I run --which in my mind, at least, is called The Tales of CITY-- is set in, well, CITY, which is the colloquial name for nine metropolii linked togther by multitude of ancient magic gates. Native Outsiders are (relatively) common on its streets. Forges (and even large bakeries) might by powered by elementals. CITY Woman shutter their windows against tiny, voyeuristic demons and street urchins try to catch low-grade Celestials to beat blessings out of them (the 'leeres' and 'pinyates', respectively). A wealthy noble might have a 'picture window' that's really a permanent magic gate which opens out onto another continent. A whole race has mind-magic powers (each indiviudal has at least 3 cantrips/day). Low-level magic (and masterwork+ items that have better bonuses/special abilities) are pretty common. Magic shops exist in CITY, albeit concentrated in a few locations, and each focusing on a specific kind of arcana.
But for all that, my players feel its a low magic setting. Magic isn't always for sale (seeing as most items are crafted by priests). Magicians come in four flavors/apsects, so casters' lists are far smaller (and thematically linked). Certain magics, like teleportation, for instance, are extremely rare (a lost art, you see).
Its my attempt at making a D&D setting that's at once more chock full of wonders, and less magical-superheroic. In Hong's terms, it contains the specific subset of wahoo that I'm comfortable running.
The game I run --which in my mind, at least, is called The Tales of CITY-- is set in, well, CITY, which is the colloquial name for nine metropolii linked togther by multitude of ancient magic gates. Native Outsiders are (relatively) common on its streets. Forges (and even large bakeries) might by powered by elementals. CITY Woman shutter their windows against tiny, voyeuristic demons and street urchins try to catch low-grade Celestials to beat blessings out of them (the 'leeres' and 'pinyates', respectively). A wealthy noble might have a 'picture window' that's really a permanent magic gate which opens out onto another continent. A whole race has mind-magic powers (each indiviudal has at least 3 cantrips/day). Low-level magic (and masterwork+ items that have better bonuses/special abilities) are pretty common. Magic shops exist in CITY, albeit concentrated in a few locations, and each focusing on a specific kind of arcana.
But for all that, my players feel its a low magic setting. Magic isn't always for sale (seeing as most items are crafted by priests). Magicians come in four flavors/apsects, so casters' lists are far smaller (and thematically linked). Certain magics, like teleportation, for instance, are extremely rare (a lost art, you see).
Its my attempt at making a D&D setting that's at once more chock full of wonders, and less magical-superheroic. In Hong's terms, it contains the specific subset of wahoo that I'm comfortable running.
el-remmen said:
Standard D&D has very common magic items, powerful magic, no unusual social constraints on some spellcasters (all arcane casters, rangers), some social constraints on other spellcasters (druids, clerics, and paladins), a relatively large number of spellcasters, and lots of other supernatural effects around. Any one of these could cause a setting to be tagged as "high magic". The major problem in keeping reduced magic D&D balanced is that all of the above need to be scaled back by roughly the same amount or you end up creating odd corner cases that take advantage of the one aspect of magic that's not scaled back.
The_Gneech
Explorer
I'm currently running something fairly akin to the standard, maybe a bit on the low side. The game is set in Greyhawk and uses a lot of Dungeon adventures, I just tend to be really stingy with treasure.
-The Gneech
-The Gneech
Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
For the homebrew I'm working on, I voted standard, but there are certain forms of magic that will get you in trouble with various groups if they're associated with the wrong gods or you're the wrong sex.
"Ye Olde Magic Shoppe" is replaced by wizard colleges. You can't just stroll into Oxford and go pick up a vorpal weapon at the campus bookstore, but you can make a generous donation to the university and as a result get an appropriate gift of your choice made on commission. Of course, some of the colleges, like Redhurst, have a bad habit of not being where you last left them.
"Ye Olde Magic Shoppe" is replaced by wizard colleges. You can't just stroll into Oxford and go pick up a vorpal weapon at the campus bookstore, but you can make a generous donation to the university and as a result get an appropriate gift of your choice made on commission. Of course, some of the colleges, like Redhurst, have a bad habit of not being where you last left them.
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