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<blockquote data-quote="Wombat" data-source="post: 1298315" data-attributes="member: 8447">My feeling is that any system that has stores that openly sell actual working magical items on a regular basis is a High Magic setting.&nbsp; By that count, all of D&amp;D is High Magic, and I can agree with that statement.The sheer amount of magical items available (and expected) in D&amp;D is far above my normal limits; as a GM I heavily restrict magical items and even access to certain kinds of spells (&quot;Sorry, that one isn't generally available -- you have to find someone who actually knows that one and pay through the nose to copy it...&quot;).&nbsp; When I label something &quot;High Magic&quot;, I am doing so in comparison to the literature I have read -- LotR, Earthsea, various Arthurian tales, etc.&nbsp; Again, by these standards, D&amp;D is High Magic.&nbsp; And Forgotten Realms, from what I have read of it, is Very High Magic.But that is merely a personal take.&nbsp; The problem here is do the D&amp;D rules set the standards?&nbsp; That seems to be the starting place for most arguments for and against FR as High Magic.&nbsp; If we accept the rules as representing Standard Magic, then FR is only Slightly Above Standard, with Greyhawk being Standard; if we take a definition outside of the game rules, then we will have entirely different answers, depending on the base.&nbsp; So, of course, YMMV -- quite heavily, as a matter of fact.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Wombat, post: 1298315, member: 8447"] My feeling is that any system that has stores that openly sell actual working magical items on a regular basis is a High Magic setting. By that count, all of D&D is High Magic, and I can agree with that statement. The sheer amount of magical items available (and expected) in D&D is far above my normal limits; as a GM I heavily restrict magical items and even access to certain kinds of spells ("Sorry, that one isn't generally available -- you have to find someone who actually knows that one and pay through the nose to copy it..."). When I label something "High Magic", I am doing so in comparison to the literature I have read -- LotR, Earthsea, various Arthurian tales, etc. Again, by these standards, D&D is High Magic. And Forgotten Realms, from what I have read of it, is Very High Magic. But that is merely a personal take. The problem here is do the D&D rules set the standards? That seems to be the starting place for most arguments for and against FR as High Magic. If we accept the rules as representing Standard Magic, then FR is only Slightly Above Standard, with Greyhawk being Standard; if we take a definition outside of the game rules, then we will have entirely different answers, depending on the base. So, of course, YMMV -- quite heavily, as a matter of fact. [/QUOTE]

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