Low Magic Campaign Help [Archive] - Wizards Community

Low Magic Campaign Help [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Exileman
09-08-07, 08:15 PM I've been wanting to run a very low magic Campaign for some time now. My main issue is that I've no idea how to adjust the CR of the monsters. Since there won't be full casters and magic weapons will be the stuff of legends, the PC's will be much less powerful than normal. Now, I am gonna try and use very low magic monsters as well, tho not all the time. I intend to use Arms and Equipment guide, and Unearthed Arcana has several ideas for classes Sans spellcasting. Any other ideas would be wonderfully appreciated.
AAB
09-09-07, 04:14 AM I thought of this today at work. I'm basically mixing the new Star Wars: Saga Edition ruleset with DnD to make a low-magic game easy.

All PCs gain a Level Bonus (stacks with everything) to their armor class equal to 1/2 of their level. I changed the armor bonus of shields as follows: buckler +1, small shield +2, large shield +4, tower shield +6.

Here are some examples of characters with the current (3.5 RAW) rules, assuming a Dex score of 10:
lvl 1 fighter: AC 16 ( 10 + 4 armor [scale mail] + 2 large shield)
lvl 1 wizard: AC 14 with Mage Armor cast

lvl 10 fighter: AC 25 (10 + 10 armor [+2 full plate] + 3 large shield [+1 enhancement] + 1 [ring of protection] + 1 [amulet of natural armor])
lvl 10 wizard: AC 16 (10 + 4 Mage Armor + 1 [ring of protection] + 1 [amulet of natural armor])

lvl 20 fighter: AC 40 (10 + 13 armor [+5 full plate] + 7 large shield [+5 enhancement] + 5 [ring of protection] + 5 [amulet of natural armor])
lvl 20 wizard: AC 28 (10 + 8 Bracers of Armor + 5 [amulet of natural armor] + 5 [ring of protection])

And now with MY rules:
lvl 1 fighter: AC 18 (10 + 4 armor [scale mail] + 4 large shield)
lvl 1 wizard: AC 14 with Mage Armor cast

lvl 10 fighter: AC 27 (10 + 5 level + 8 armor [full plate] + 4 large shield)
lvl 10 wizard: AC 19 (10 + 5 level + 4 Mage Armor)

lvl 20 fighter: AC 32 (10 + 10 level + 8 armor [full plate] + 4 large shield)
lvl 20 wizard: AC 24 (10 + 10 level + 4 Mage Armor)

As you can see I'm still trying to iron the kinks out (the characters have slightly higher ACs at low to mid level, slightly lower at high), but I am looking forward to trying it in one of my games. The high-level characters' ACs can be improved by granting magic items with small bonuses (a +2 enhancement on the full plate and shield and a +2 amulet of natural armor and ring of protection will bring the fighter's AC up to normal and an amulet and ring would bring the wizard up to par as well).

Don't know if that helps any (it doesn't completely negate the need for magic items), but at least you don't have to be handing them out like it's halloween.

EDIT: I just looked at my DM's Guide and found out that I shortchanged the 3.5 lvl 10 characters on defensive gear. Both should have about 2 higher AC.
Tokus
09-11-07, 09:31 PM you could can still have semi magical items, I think exceptionally well made weapons and armor that are produced from exotic materials on a magic dead or low magic world would be the equivalent of low magic items. Mithril armor and adamantium weapons might not be magical but they would definitely have magic-like qualities. I wanted to work on a low magic (almost magic dead) primitive campaign world so if you wanna brain storm a bit with me, that would be great.
AAB
09-12-07, 12:20 AM Yeah, that's what I figured: low-magic, so that it's still rare and exciting, but a high-level character will have at least a few decent items.

I don't know about bringing magic to the level of nonexistence, though. I don't know how I would beef up characters any more than I have already.

Oh, and I forgot to mention this in my above post: at fourth level and every four levels thereafter (8th, 12th, 16th, and 20th) a character can increase any two ability scores of their choosing. Many characters will use this extra point to increase their Dexterity, further closing the gap that magic item loss creates.
Tokus
09-12-07, 12:32 AM I was working on a world that made magic the sole domain of dragons and they shared it with no one and hunted down anyone who shared the knowledge. Perhaps a powerful rogue wizard or two in all the world that are too powerful to be slain by the dragons but would be extremely hermetic as either party would avoid confrontation. and perhaps a rogue dragon teaching magic to people as a jumping off point for a story. I havent fleshed out any details yet though.
AAB
09-12-07, 01:05 AM I recommend using my rules. Oh, and discarding all DRs that are overridden by magic. Either replace them with a suitable material or just scrap them (they usually don't matter, anyways).

This system will keep PCs on a comparable power level to the challenges they'd face.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Exileman 09-08-07, 08:15 PM	I've been wanting to run a very low magic Campaign for some time now. My main issue is that I've no idea how to adjust the CR of the monsters. Since there won't be full casters and magic weapons will be the stuff of legends, the PC's will be much less powerful than normal. Now, I am gonna try and use very low magic monsters as well, tho not all the time. I intend to use Arms and Equipment guide, and Unearthed Arcana has several ideas for classes Sans spellcasting. Any other ideas would be wonderfully appreciated.
AAB 09-09-07, 04:14 AM	I thought of this today at work. I'm basically mixing the new Star Wars: Saga Edition ruleset with DnD to make a low-magic game easy. All PCs gain a Level Bonus (stacks with everything) to their armor class equal to 1/2 of their level. I changed the armor bonus of shields as follows: buckler +1, small shield +2, large shield +4, tower shield +6. Here are some examples of characters with the current (3.5 RAW) rules, assuming a Dex score of 10: lvl 1 fighter: AC 16 ( 10 + 4 armor [scale mail] + 2 large shield) lvl 1 wizard: AC 14 with Mage Armor cast lvl 10 fighter: AC 25 (10 + 10 armor [+2 full plate] + 3 large shield [+1 enhancement] + 1 [ring of protection] + 1 [amulet of natural armor]) lvl 10 wizard: AC 16 (10 + 4 Mage Armor + 1 [ring of protection] + 1 [amulet of natural armor]) lvl 20 fighter: AC 40 (10 + 13 armor [+5 full plate] + 7 large shield [+5 enhancement] + 5 [ring of protection] + 5 [amulet of natural armor]) lvl 20 wizard: AC 28 (10 + 8 Bracers of Armor + 5 [amulet of natural armor] + 5 [ring of protection]) And now with MY rules: lvl 1 fighter: AC 18 (10 + 4 armor [scale mail] + 4 large shield) lvl 1 wizard: AC 14 with Mage Armor cast lvl 10 fighter: AC 27 (10 + 5 level + 8 armor [full plate] + 4 large shield) lvl 10 wizard: AC 19 (10 + 5 level + 4 Mage Armor) lvl 20 fighter: AC 32 (10 + 10 level + 8 armor [full plate] + 4 large shield) lvl 20 wizard: AC 24 (10 + 10 level + 4 Mage Armor) As you can see I'm still trying to iron the kinks out (the characters have slightly higher ACs at low to mid level, slightly lower at high), but I am looking forward to trying it in one of my games. The high-level characters' ACs can be improved by granting magic items with small bonuses (a +2 enhancement on the full plate and shield and a +2 amulet of natural armor and ring of protection will bring the fighter's AC up to normal and an amulet and ring would bring the wizard up to par as well). Don't know if that helps any (it doesn't completely negate the need for magic items), but at least you don't have to be handing them out like it's halloween. EDIT: I just looked at my DM's Guide and found out that I shortchanged the 3.5 lvl 10 characters on defensive gear. Both should have about 2 higher AC.
Tokus 09-11-07, 09:31 PM	you could can still have semi magical items, I think exceptionally well made weapons and armor that are produced from exotic materials on a magic dead or low magic world would be the equivalent of low magic items. Mithril armor and adamantium weapons might not be magical but they would definitely have magic-like qualities. I wanted to work on a low magic (almost magic dead) primitive campaign world so if you wanna brain storm a bit with me, that would be great.
AAB 09-12-07, 12:20 AM	Yeah, that's what I figured: low-magic, so that it's still rare and exciting, but a high-level character will have at least a few decent items. I don't know about bringing magic to the level of nonexistence, though. I don't know how I would beef up characters any more than I have already. Oh, and I forgot to mention this in my above post: at fourth level and every four levels thereafter (8th, 12th, 16th, and 20th) a character can increase any two ability scores of their choosing. Many characters will use this extra point to increase their Dexterity, further closing the gap that magic item loss creates.
Tokus 09-12-07, 12:32 AM	I was working on a world that made magic the sole domain of dragons and they shared it with no one and hunted down anyone who shared the knowledge. Perhaps a powerful rogue wizard or two in all the world that are too powerful to be slain by the dragons but would be extremely hermetic as either party would avoid confrontation. and perhaps a rogue dragon teaching magic to people as a jumping off point for a story. I havent fleshed out any details yet though.
AAB 09-12-07, 01:05 AM	I recommend using my rules. Oh, and discarding all DRs that are overridden by magic. Either replace them with a suitable material or just scrap them (they usually don't matter, anyways). This system will keep PCs on a comparable power level to the challenges they'd face.