Rare Magic Worlds

Shadekeep · 09-25-2018, 11:34 AM

One campaign setting I had a lot of success with was making it so that magic was very rare in the game world. All of the magic in Wizard/ITL still existed, but it was a much more difficult and secretive art, and not something the average character learned or encountered very often. Wizards were uncommon and extremely dangerous beings in this world, and enchanted items became vastly more precious. The players as well took a different approach to world, sizing up people and encounters without weighing magic heavily into the equation. It was an interesting experience, and if anyone ran a similar campaign it would be cool to hear about how it worked for them.

Terquem · 09-25-2018, 12:27 PM

Well, no, but *pfffft* now I want to.

Shadekeep · 09-25-2018, 12:55 PM

Cool, let us know how it works out if you do.

Skarg · 09-26-2018, 10:46 AM

Not quite like that, but we tended even in TFT to play infrequent-wizard, numerous-fighter games, where yes, most people don't have magic and sizing up people is mostly assuming they don't have magic.

We didn't make all the wizards more powerful, but being rare does make them more relatively special and valuable, because no one else has the power they do.

For example, I ran a low-population TFT campaign where the known population of the region in play was somewhere around 10,000. There were 3 NPC and 1 PC wizards in play, the PC starting at 32 points and the NPC wizards around the same, but they were important people because they were about the only known public wizards involved. And the player of the PC was experienced and clever at using spells and schemes, so what those four wizards did or didn't get up to had major effects on the rebellion that was the game's focus, even though the game's climax was a battle with about 200 fighters in it. Also because the people tended to be a bit awed and respectful of the wizards, partly because I roleplayed them as people who didn't know that much about the details of what the wizards could and couldn't do.

In our other TFT campaigns too, although people tended to know more or less about magic and there tended to be wizards guilds and/or government wizards, most encounters and many PC adventuring groups often had no wizard, and even the more experienced and successful adventurers and warriors tended to have few if any magic items.

Part of it was we realized we didn't really like having too many magic items in play, and that it made the game more about what magic equipment people had than what their PCs' abilities developed during play were.

Also there was a clear escalation of power and deadliness of logical situations if adventurers go around using powerful magic items, because people will notice and talk and that can get the attention of wizards and aristocrats and the military and other people who are playing power games at the highest levels, and who would like your magic items.

We also considered that those powerful and wealthy elements would be present at public markets for magic (usually wizards guilds) doing things like buying up useful magic items and willing to pay more for them both in money and political brownie & intimidation points, commissioning magic items to be made from whatever enchanters were making themselves available for hire, and possibly noticing who else is doing the same, or is selling used magic items, and noticing whether they're backed by anyone or whether they're just adventurers.

And we also considered who the wizards were at wizards guild chapters, and what they might or might not be interested in. Finding a wizard who was willing and available to make a magic item for an adventurer with no strings attached didn't seem like something a PC should be able to expect with any particular frequency.

And so the idea from Advanced Wizard that a PC can say "I'm shopping for a particular existing magic item with these spells..." and just make an IQ roll to find exactly that, seemed like it should probably only happen on a crit success, if ever, with exponentially diminishing chances based on what they wanted to randomly "find for sale".

Players also voluntarily backed off their magic item use. Some powerful magic items were sold, stored, and used discretely, or at least carefully selected for the most fun and useful ones to take out on each journey.

And yet, in the campaign where the power level of who was known and fought started to get high, it still started to become a thing that the better warriors would tend to have a magic item. It became clear that you almost needed a magic item if you wanted to be relevant in a group of powerful characters with magic who sometimes fought other powerful characters with magic. We had some crazy high-powered battles, but they started to feel a bit like gadget-based super-heroes and wizards, with the human characters and ordinary equipment differences and weapon tactics becoming less and less significant. Stone Flesh items stacked with armor was a dire culprit, because without magic such people can be quite hard to hurt (and will be more so in the new TFT with lower-damage polearm charges and 3d-max missile spells).

At that point we added a magic item breakdown house rule, to add a reason to not just always have self-powered Stone Flesh or other magic items being used all the time.

The longest-running and most powerful character went through many magic items, including various magic swords (even a +5 DX fine broadsword), magic armor, an invisibility ring, a special summon myrmidon ring, flying carpet, self-powered stone flesh, and others. But at the end of several years of TFT play, he just used a fine greatsword, fine chainmail, stone flesh, a light ring, and a magic carpet, with a lot of the other stuff stored someplace by choice. We switched to playing GURPS and he ditched the stone flesh ring, so he was going with no magical combat powers, by choice.

Shadekeep · 09-26-2018, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skarg

*snip*

Interesting stuff, and yes, changing the prevalence of magic does have a lot of knock-on effects on the world at large. Political, religious, mercantile, and social orders all feel the impact of such a change.

One thing that helped mitigate against "magic creep" in my campaign world (where players capped out and sought magic to keep improving) is that magic itself was banned in many parts of the country. Magicians were persecuted and often slain when caught, and the career of Witchfinder was a profitable, if highly dangerous, one. In the more dogmatic regions even enchanted items were forbidden, and possession of them could lead to charges of devilry. Some lesser enchantments could be passed off as "blessed" items and holy relics, but anything more beefy than a simple charm or +1 item could bring the Inquisition to your door.

This made it pretty interesting for players who either sought magical aid, or who wanted to practice magic themselves. Hiring a wizard or enchanter usually meant travel to remote areas, or seeking out fugitive hedge mages at the same dives one finds other dangerous criminal types. And being a mage meant always running the risk of having a Witchfinder scent you out and take you (and your companions) away for a nice chat with the Cardinal.

Such a setting makes a nice change of pace, and actually puts some of the magic back into magic.

09-25-2018, 11:34 AM	#1
Shadekeep Join Date: Aug 2018 Location: Aerlith	Rare Magic Worlds One campaign setting I had a lot of success with was making it so that magic was very rare in the game world. All of the magic in Wizard/ITL still existed, but it was a much more difficult and secretive art, and not something the average character learned or encountered very often. Wizards were uncommon and extremely dangerous beings in this world, and enchanted items became vastly more precious. The players as well took a different approach to world, sizing up people and encounters without weighing magic heavily into the equation. It was an interesting experience, and if anyone ran a similar campaign it would be cool to hear about how it worked for them.

09-25-2018, 12:27 PM	#2
Terquem Join Date: Apr 2018 Location: Idaho Falls	Re: Rare Magic Worlds Well, no, but pfffft now I want to.

09-25-2018, 12:55 PM	#3
Shadekeep Join Date: Aug 2018 Location: Aerlith	Re: Rare Magic Worlds Cool, let us know how it works out if you do.

09-26-2018, 10:46 AM	#4
Skarg Join Date: May 2015	Re: Rare Magic Worlds Not quite like that, but we tended even in TFT to play infrequent-wizard, numerous-fighter games, where yes, most people don't have magic and sizing up people is mostly assuming they don't have magic. We didn't make all the wizards more powerful, but being rare does make them more relatively special and valuable, because no one else has the power they do. For example, I ran a low-population TFT campaign where the known population of the region in play was somewhere around 10,000. There were 3 NPC and 1 PC wizards in play, the PC starting at 32 points and the NPC wizards around the same, but they were important people because they were about the only known public wizards involved. And the player of the PC was experienced and clever at using spells and schemes, so what those four wizards did or didn't get up to had major effects on the rebellion that was the game's focus, even though the game's climax was a battle with about 200 fighters in it. Also because the people tended to be a bit awed and respectful of the wizards, partly because I roleplayed them as people who didn't know that much about the details of what the wizards could and couldn't do. In our other TFT campaigns too, although people tended to know more or less about magic and there tended to be wizards guilds and/or government wizards, most encounters and many PC adventuring groups often had no wizard, and even the more experienced and successful adventurers and warriors tended to have few if any magic items. Part of it was we realized we didn't really like having too many magic items in play, and that it made the game more about what magic equipment people had than what their PCs' abilities developed during play were. Also there was a clear escalation of power and deadliness of logical situations if adventurers go around using powerful magic items, because people will notice and talk and that can get the attention of wizards and aristocrats and the military and other people who are playing power games at the highest levels, and who would like your magic items. We also considered that those powerful and wealthy elements would be present at public markets for magic (usually wizards guilds) doing things like buying up useful magic items and willing to pay more for them both in money and political brownie & intimidation points, commissioning magic items to be made from whatever enchanters were making themselves available for hire, and possibly noticing who else is doing the same, or is selling used magic items, and noticing whether they're backed by anyone or whether they're just adventurers. And we also considered who the wizards were at wizards guild chapters, and what they might or might not be interested in. Finding a wizard who was willing and available to make a magic item for an adventurer with no strings attached didn't seem like something a PC should be able to expect with any particular frequency. And so the idea from Advanced Wizard that a PC can say "I'm shopping for a particular existing magic item with these spells..." and just make an IQ roll to find exactly that, seemed like it should probably only happen on a crit success, if ever, with exponentially diminishing chances based on what they wanted to randomly "find for sale". Players also voluntarily backed off their magic item use. Some powerful magic items were sold, stored, and used discretely, or at least carefully selected for the most fun and useful ones to take out on each journey. And yet, in the campaign where the power level of who was known and fought started to get high, it still started to become a thing that the better warriors would tend to have a magic item. It became clear that you almost needed a magic item if you wanted to be relevant in a group of powerful characters with magic who sometimes fought other powerful characters with magic. We had some crazy high-powered battles, but they started to feel a bit like gadget-based super-heroes and wizards, with the human characters and ordinary equipment differences and weapon tactics becoming less and less significant. Stone Flesh items stacked with armor was a dire culprit, because without magic such people can be quite hard to hurt (and will be more so in the new TFT with lower-damage polearm charges and 3d-max missile spells). At that point we added a magic item breakdown house rule, to add a reason to not just always have self-powered Stone Flesh or other magic items being used all the time. The longest-running and most powerful character went through many magic items, including various magic swords (even a +5 DX fine broadsword), magic armor, an invisibility ring, a special summon myrmidon ring, flying carpet, self-powered stone flesh, and others. But at the end of several years of TFT play, he just used a fine greatsword, fine chainmail, stone flesh, a light ring, and a magic carpet, with a lot of the other stuff stored someplace by choice. We switched to playing GURPS and he ditched the stone flesh ring, so he was going with no magical combat powers, by choice.