Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Amondaun Aug 07, 2015 5:52:44	I'm starting up a campaign very soon where the major theme is that magic is illegal. Only the Queen and her enforcers can use magic. Others not affiliated with the government can but they have to get an official licence to do so first. My question is how do I balance this? I don't want any potential magic users to feel completely restricted due to the nature of not being able to prance around using magic wherever and whenever they want. I'm relatively new to being a DM and so I don't have hardly any experience with something like this. Final question: should I make the restriction and only ban arcane magic or go all the way and ban divine and nature magic too? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
#2 Sorsohka Aug 07, 2015 6:00:56	go see the Mulmaster Article with Adventure League, where they ae rule for somethign really similar to what you propose: Arcane Banishement Edict. should be fairly easy to ajust to your campaign.   http://dndadventurersleague.org/state-of-mulmaster/   Without knowing your story background and why is there such a restriction, it's difficult to tell you if all magic should be restricted or just arcane (or just divine or just nature)   In the State of Mulmaster article, they explaint hat the current Tyrrant of Mulmaster took control from The sorcerer King, and forbid arcane magic to avoid a new Sorcerer King to appear. The tyrant is a devoted follower of Bane, so he cannot really ban Bane cleric spells.   Why is your campaign forbid magic? that might help you determine if just one type should be ban or if all magic type shoud be ban.
#3 Amondaun Aug 07, 2015 6:08:51	Thanks for the quick reply! Ill definitely check that article out. My current idea is that not too terribly long ago a group of really powerful mages tried to ascend to godhood. They then ended up killing a minor god that they tricked into being summoned. They were eventually stopped but how or when I have not yet determine.
#4 Mommy_was_an_Orc Aug 07, 2015 6:36:05	You might also want to look at the Glen Cook book series the Black Company. Especially the first few in the series. Basically magic is either phenomenally rare and a pain to do anything with or use, or it borders on near demigodhood level of power. And being of the 2nd group of power is basically a 'bunch of demigods are really interested in neutralizing you, either by co-opting you, destroying your ability to use magic, or killing you'
#5 Ralif_Redhammer Aug 07, 2015 7:59:34	That’s a tough call – instantly, spellcasters get a whole lot of heartache that non-casters don’t have to experience. As far as banning divine as well, that’s up to you. But that also creates some deep consequences. Not having access to healing magic makes for a much more dangerous campaign. For magic items, I'd just say that there are some +1 items that are just really fine craftsmanship, a bit like the old masterwork items.   What kind of campaign are you planning on running? Are these adventurers that just so happen to be in this land of illegal magic? Are they going to be part of an underground group of magic users trying to take down the repressive government? Or are they part of the establishment, hunting down rogue wizards? What will the players and you have fun playing?   I think that the key is to figure out what happens when the spellcasters get in trouble, and what the consequences are. Because, if someone is playing a spellcaster, they’re going to use magic. So, how can the campaign continue and the laws still have teeth – death or imprisonment takes the PC out of the game, and is probably not going to be fun for anyone. Maybe there’s a degree of corruption, and the officials can be bribed to look the other way now and then.
#6 RedwoodElf Aug 07, 2015 13:26:37	Well there are several factors to consider:   1: Is it arcane magic only? Are clerical and "holy" magics OK?  What about Spell-like abilities that aren't actually spells, like a Paladin's Lay on Hands? What about Druids? (They're really "Clerics of Nature" after all...) What about Sorcerers, whose magic is innate? Or Tieflings or Drow, who have spells they can cast due to their very nature?   2: What is the penalty? Death (British TV series "Merlin?")  A Fine? Imprisonment? A long and tedious lecture about how bad magic is from one of the queen's ministers?   3: Can players get licensed by buying (or forging) a piece of paper from the government? Are they required to join an accredited "Wizard's Guild" That polices their members against doing anything irresponsible?
#7 MechaPilot Aug 07, 2015 13:43:24	Amondaun wrote:
#8 BRJN Aug 08, 2015 17:36:31	You should look over the Dark Sun campaign setting.  In short: arcane casters have to be licensed by the government, divine magic doesn't exist, and the world is so blasted that primal magic can't get it on. (DS was originally written to be a setting where not everybody would want to become an uber-mage; give the more martial classes a place to shine.)  4e Dark Sun Campaign Setting and Dark Sun Creature Catalogue were some of the best books in that edition.  Even if you don't want to play in a blasted wasteland, the "how will society be different?" work is already done for you.
#9 shintashi Aug 08, 2015 18:45:07	hmnn.. a lot of the classes have magic. Mystics don't have magic but do things that are similar. some monks don't have magic but have cool effects. Paladins can be set up to not cast spells i think, if your channel divinity type attacks are chewing up all your spell slots, but might still be considered too magical as a class.   The most fair way to go about it is to restrict ALL players to very non magical classes. So there's two types of Rogues, a type of fighter, a type of monk.That's about it. Throw in Mystic and give it to your 'i wanna play a wizard" person as a substitute. Have your Paladin/Rangers play a fighter with the noble:Knight Background in heavy armor with a good sword, and a fighter with studded leather and a Bow and scimitars and the Outlander background.   This will give you the appearance of having a Paladin, a Ranger, a Wizard, a Rogue, and a Monk. Have one of them Play a Rogue-Assassin and call themselves Ninjas, take the right background to ham it up.   As long as your class representation is diverse, it won't matter if none of them have magic, but really, if someone absolutely haz 2 have magic, you give them the mystic class for 5 levels and have them switch at level 6+ if it isn't released by then.
#10 BRJN Aug 08, 2015 20:20:23	A Paladin can be played with very few spells.  (I did.)  Use a hooded Lantern of Revealing as a pseudo-focus for Moonbeam, see how your DM reacts. You can class-Smite more often, use the spell slots to fuel your blows.  Just think up some cool (we hope) fluff to explain it - maybe a psionic work-around?   My AL Monk explains his ki as psionics.  Your Monk might be in touch with the hidden true nature of reality (doesn't work for Elemental Way).  Another Monk could be just THAT good at disciplining and honing his body / its capabilities.
#11 TenkayCrit Aug 13, 2015 15:43:48	I know I'm a bit late to the party, but wanted to throw in a few ideas. I'm currently running a city based campaign where mages blew up a big chunk of the city and as such all magic has been outlawed. At the start of the campaign mages (anyone who has a remote hint of anything magic) were simply exiled from the city, as events have progressed the penalty has increased to imprisonment and just recently execution. I brewed up the idea that magic use leaves traces on a person's hands. The city guard have batons that can sense those traces (Magic metal detector wand kinda thing). People have fashioned gloves that cover those traces so mages can hide and there is a big black market in the production and trade of magic items. I have a sorcerer and cleric in my party and neither one of them have felt gimped by these issues, it's just another aspect they have to deal with and roleplay. It adds a complication to the story that in itself provides some great story hooks: mage rebellion, secret guilds, and rulers hiding their true natures. Basicly keep in mind that just because it's illegal doesn't mean that it doesn't exist in the world. Give the players a chance to stretch their magic legs by having encounters that no one else can see. If no one sees you cast a fireball other than the dude you just torched then whos gonna persecute you? You can also use some social based skills more liberally. For example: if a player wants to cast a non flashy spell, such as Charm, in public I think it's possible they could hide it from onlookers. Since its components are V and S the player has to make 2 additional skill checks to cover those components. A deception check to cover anything verbal and a slight of hand check to cover the somatic. If they succeed on those checks then the spell is cast and no one's the wiser. You can base the DC on the number of witnesses, if they're paying attention, and their own skill with magic. My players love this additional challenge and it leads them to focus more on skills that can sometimes fall to the wayside.
#12 WorBlade Aug 14, 2015 17:00:33	Probably dealt with alredy, but a PC mage could start with a provisionary liscense to use arcane magic. Probably from their mentor that is fully liscenced. The player must then be careful of how they use magic in town to keep the liscence, but would be able to use spells to defend a village from attack without worrying about being arrested.
#13 halvgrim Aug 16, 2015 8:49:54	It sounds like fun. Most of the  time the characters will be outside the city, so you may not have to balance anything. Perhaps introduce a roleplaying aspect that NPCs tend to get cowed when they see magic. After all you have to be a badass to do something that illegal.   Is it legal to know magic as long as you don't use it? Is it legal for citizens to own magical items such as spell books?