Am I wrong? a DM's quadry... [Archive] - Wizards Community

Am I wrong? a DM's quadry... [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Moriar2k3
08-26-03, 10:18 AM by the number of postings i see there are a lot of DM's out there.. so I will ask your opnion...
I have read in the postings that magic and exotic creatures seem to be quiet common ( dragons,etc)

My campaign is quite the opposite....
In my campaign, magic users are very rare..the use of magic is considered something akin to god-like by most...so most mages are shunned or feared or respected and only the most wealthy king has a mage in his employ..and ALL magic is wild magic unless your mage is fortunate enough to have found a shard of the Black Orb (that's another story) that can control the wild surges of magic.
Players have a 1% chance of being non-human ( I made this decision after playing in games where EVERYONE wanted to be an elf for their powers and ablities)
Magic items (potions and such) are frequently unstable and rare.. and a Race of Smart Orcs are the most organized in the campaign world.
Dragons have not been seen in a Thousand years..and the level of human society has fallen into a Dark age due to a short (1000yr) Ice Age ..yes there are wooly mammoths :) and Steel is worth 20 Gold (all weapons are made of Iron, a steel weapon is as rare as a Vorpal sword)
My question is this...am I denying my Players a full role-playing fantasy experience in a setting such as this? Should be more open and let my PC's make whatever they want (ie: elf,dwarf, halfling..whatever) your HONEST opnion please..
Would YOU play in a setting such as this?
Moriar2k3
08-26-03, 10:19 AM Flarkinshnit..spelled "Quandry" wrong ...need coffee
Arbitrary Aardvark
08-26-03, 10:21 AM Sounds well thought out and reasonable to me.
I wouldn't be interested in playing in it (probably), although I've wanted to run some weird things (including a Neolithic campaign).
Just make sure to give your players information about the campaign before they start, so that they won't have characters that don't fit.
ThorvaldHafgrimsson
08-26-03, 10:26 AM Yes I would Gladly play in such a campaign.
Damren
08-26-03, 10:29 AM Sounds fine to me. Any other ice age creature roving around?

Low magic is a fine alternative & can make magic, when encountered, all the more interesting and valuable.

The ultimate question is are you and your players having fun with it? If yes, then your on target!
Erus
08-26-03, 11:13 AM I like a good dose of magic & critters in my campaigns, but thats just my Opinion....

Someone on these boards, (Please forgive me, I cannot remember your name currently) has in their Sig:
"There is no wrong way to play D&D"

That is Gospel. Are you having fun? Are your players having fun? Sounds to me like you put a lot of work into it, and have worked out quite a storyline. What you have built is the Varient discussed in the DMG as a "low-magic campaign" if you search these boards for that term, You will find out that you are FAR from alone in your enjoyment of this type of world...

Usually OOC discussion will tell you what your group needs... If they are not happy or board, they will ask you for things, or ask to start a different group of characters in a different realm...

Happy gaming.
Erus.
skrayper2003
08-26-03, 11:24 AM I see no problems with your campaign, it sounds fascinating.

Just remember a couple of things:
#1 - If your treasure isn't going to drop, then you'll need to convert the magic items to cash. Otherwise, if everything is cheaper anyways, so you should just drop the magic items.
#2 - Once you hit CR4 or 5, and above, you may need to tone down the monsters, as they'll be assuming everyone in the party has a magical weapon.
epimetheus
08-26-03, 11:38 AM Sounds like fun to me, but with the general lack of magic (and where it does exist it being wild magic) and the Orcs actually getting organized, I see a brutal future for the humans as they are enslaved at the hands of the very successful Orcs unless you put something in there to prevent it (maybe the Orcs have a really low birth-rate, for example).
Perseus
08-26-03, 01:52 PM Yes, I'd love to play a campaign like that.
Moriar2k3
08-26-03, 02:00 PM Well..nice to know ppl find it intrigueing,,to answer one question ..yes.. there are other Ice Age critters roaming around..as well as large,dog sized, and omnivorous rabbits called Rombats that will attack if injured..and large deer that look like Ice Age Elk called "Rowdudo" ..makes hunting for food a bit more interesting.
And the last poster does have a good point...smart Orcs "Dark Orcs" do provide a constant threat..i cna't say much more as my players , Spellmaster and SputnikCorp, may read this...however..rest assured that the human city (they only know of one so far) is walled ,5 stories high and 20 feet thick at the base. beyond that...the rest of the land is feral and open plain..the Glaciers have just started to retreat.. oh..and watch out for the feral Halflings with a penchant for Human Flesh...but thanks again for your input..keep it coming
AntiDjinn
08-26-03, 02:17 PM You're not wrong - you are the DM. What you are discussing is a set of campaign-specific changes for your game. When running a homebrew campaign the only real ways to screw up are to make changes on the fly that produce a system that is not consistent with itself, or to fail to explain the changes to the players.

By tradition DMs who are running homebrew provide their players with a list of what is different from the standard setting and the most commonly held conventions. Assuming your characters were not dumped on the world from off-plane, or didn't just wake up one day with amnesia, they probably grew up in this world and know the basics of how it works. So players should not be surprised by the scarcity of magic -- they should accept it as the norm.

I would still allow players to play any race or class you have not specifically excluded from the world. Heroes are supposed to be rare individuals. So if someone wants to play an elven wizard in such as setting (I assume you have elves) then they should be allowed. They should also be aware that people are going to be afraid of them, that there may be situations where they need to keep their magic secret, and that they won't be able to walk into a shop in a major city and purchase a spell component pouch.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Moriar2k3 08-26-03, 10:18 AM	by the number of postings i see there are a lot of DM's out there.. so I will ask your opnion... I have read in the postings that magic and exotic creatures seem to be quiet common ( dragons,etc) My campaign is quite the opposite.... In my campaign, magic users are very rare..the use of magic is considered something akin to god-like by most...so most mages are shunned or feared or respected and only the most wealthy king has a mage in his employ..and ALL magic is wild magic unless your mage is fortunate enough to have found a shard of the Black Orb (that's another story) that can control the wild surges of magic. Players have a 1% chance of being non-human ( I made this decision after playing in games where EVERYONE wanted to be an elf for their powers and ablities) Magic items (potions and such) are frequently unstable and rare.. and a Race of Smart Orcs are the most organized in the campaign world. Dragons have not been seen in a Thousand years..and the level of human society has fallen into a Dark age due to a short (1000yr) Ice Age ..yes there are wooly mammoths :) and Steel is worth 20 Gold (all weapons are made of Iron, a steel weapon is as rare as a Vorpal sword) My question is this...am I denying my Players a full role-playing fantasy experience in a setting such as this? Should be more open and let my PC's make whatever they want (ie: elf,dwarf, halfling..whatever) your HONEST opnion please.. Would YOU play in a setting such as this?
Moriar2k3 08-26-03, 10:19 AM	Flarkinshnit..spelled "Quandry" wrong ...need coffee
Arbitrary Aardvark 08-26-03, 10:21 AM	Sounds well thought out and reasonable to me. I wouldn't be interested in playing in it (probably), although I've wanted to run some weird things (including a Neolithic campaign). Just make sure to give your players information about the campaign before they start, so that they won't have characters that don't fit.
ThorvaldHafgrimsson 08-26-03, 10:26 AM	Yes I would Gladly play in such a campaign.
Damren 08-26-03, 10:29 AM	Sounds fine to me. Any other ice age creature roving around? Low magic is a fine alternative & can make magic, when encountered, all the more interesting and valuable. The ultimate question is are you and your players having fun with it? If yes, then your on target!
Erus 08-26-03, 11:13 AM	I like a good dose of magic & critters in my campaigns, but thats just my Opinion.... Someone on these boards, (Please forgive me, I cannot remember your name currently) has in their Sig: "There is no wrong way to play D&D" That is Gospel. Are you having fun? Are your players having fun? Sounds to me like you put a lot of work into it, and have worked out quite a storyline. What you have built is the Varient discussed in the DMG as a "low-magic campaign" if you search these boards for that term, You will find out that you are FAR from alone in your enjoyment of this type of world... Usually OOC discussion will tell you what your group needs... If they are not happy or board, they will ask you for things, or ask to start a different group of characters in a different realm... Happy gaming. Erus.
skrayper2003 08-26-03, 11:24 AM	I see no problems with your campaign, it sounds fascinating. Just remember a couple of things: #1 - If your treasure isn't going to drop, then you'll need to convert the magic items to cash. Otherwise, if everything is cheaper anyways, so you should just drop the magic items. #2 - Once you hit CR4 or 5, and above, you may need to tone down the monsters, as they'll be assuming everyone in the party has a magical weapon.
epimetheus 08-26-03, 11:38 AM	Sounds like fun to me, but with the general lack of magic (and where it does exist it being wild magic) and the Orcs actually getting organized, I see a brutal future for the humans as they are enslaved at the hands of the very successful Orcs unless you put something in there to prevent it (maybe the Orcs have a really low birth-rate, for example).
Perseus 08-26-03, 01:52 PM	Yes, I'd love to play a campaign like that.
Moriar2k3 08-26-03, 02:00 PM	Well..nice to know ppl find it intrigueing,,to answer one question ..yes.. there are other Ice Age critters roaming around..as well as large,dog sized, and omnivorous rabbits called Rombats that will attack if injured..and large deer that look like Ice Age Elk called "Rowdudo" ..makes hunting for food a bit more interesting. And the last poster does have a good point...smart Orcs "Dark Orcs" do provide a constant threat..i cna't say much more as my players , Spellmaster and SputnikCorp, may read this...however..rest assured that the human city (they only know of one so far) is walled ,5 stories high and 20 feet thick at the base. beyond that...the rest of the land is feral and open plain..the Glaciers have just started to retreat.. oh..and watch out for the feral Halflings with a penchant for Human Flesh...but thanks again for your input..keep it coming
AntiDjinn 08-26-03, 02:17 PM	You're not wrong - you are the DM. What you are discussing is a set of campaign-specific changes for your game. When running a homebrew campaign the only real ways to screw up are to make changes on the fly that produce a system that is not consistent with itself, or to fail to explain the changes to the players. By tradition DMs who are running homebrew provide their players with a list of what is different from the standard setting and the most commonly held conventions. Assuming your characters were not dumped on the world from off-plane, or didn't just wake up one day with amnesia, they probably grew up in this world and know the basics of how it works. So players should not be surprised by the scarcity of magic -- they should accept it as the norm. I would still allow players to play any race or class you have not specifically excluded from the world. Heroes are supposed to be rare individuals. So if someone wants to play an elven wizard in such as setting (I assume you have elves) then they should be allowed. They should also be aware that people are going to be afraid of them, that there may be situations where they need to keep their magic secret, and that they won't be able to walk into a shop in a major city and purchase a spell component pouch.