DM Rowan
Adventurer
The DM Renaissance is in full swing!
Posts: 96
Favorite D&D Class: Bard/Paladin
Favorite D&D Race: Half Elf
Gender: NB Lesbian
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Post by DM Rowan on Dec 23, 2018 18:32:52 GMT
I've been dming a game for over two years which takes place in an underground society SOAKED in magic. Its everywhere and most of the races have natural spell casting abilities. Recently, I've dumped my big plot twist on the players and my big bad teleported them to the Surface, a place thought to be heaven or a myth.
One of my player suggested that the reason no one has been able to teleport here before is because there is a thick layer of anti magic ore running around the underground and he said it would be really cool if that gave a debuff to spellcasters on the surface. I also think that would be awesome, something like a week long rest to regain spell slots or scrapping low level spell slots in addition to every cast. While I have already established this ore as a plot device to kill the big bad, I have yet to stat it up. And I'm really bad at homebrew. Some help with the statistical disadvantages of being on the surface would be greatly appreciated, and I'd also be extremely grateful If anyone had ideas about the dangers of coming into direct contact with the ore.
TDLR: I need help with a penalty to magic users for being in a certain location in my setting. Something challenging enough to give an 11th level party pause but not so challenging as to make the game unfun.
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Post by DM Onesie Knight on Dec 25, 2018 4:04:48 GMT
I’d make a table for s sort of “ore density” you might encounter in a given area. If it’s this metal doing it, then a wizard on a ship in the middle of the ocean ought to be in the clear right?
I would do something like this: Pure, naked, unobscured anti magic metal has a radius within which magic straight up ceases to function at all, and spells cannot be regained. Targeted spells that cross into the area fizzle out.
High concentration (on a rich mountain or vein, pure metal nearby, but obstructed): magical effects, damage, and durations are halved. Maybe a failure chance when casting. Level cap on spell slots regained (so you’re not getting wish back). Maybe you only recover a limited number of spell slots per long rest, from low to high so you need to “charge up” your stronger spells.
Low concentration (smaller veins in the area, ore dust in the soil): creatures in the area are treated as having low-level spell resistance. Maybe you recover 1d4 fewer spells than you should have (taken off the top, of course).
You could subdivide and grade these effects a bit more, but that’s a rough and ready outline. Lemme know what you think!
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Post by Mariok Soresal Hillick on Jan 3, 2019 11:23:08 GMT
I think that there should just be no magic at all, it would make for an even more interesting setting, I think. Or perhaps only arcane spellcasters face this problem? Or the opposite? Or perhaps only non-wizard magic-users face this problem. I like D&D5e a lot (I'm assuming your playing D&D5e), but part of the problem I have with it is that there are just too many spellcasters and too many spellcasting options that it becomes ridiculous! And, you don't really need extra classes for each type of wizard, i.e. one could play a warlock-type character with the wizard class, or a sorcerer-type character with the wizard class, or a druid-type character with the cleric class. That is why old-school d&d is better in this regard - since there were less classes people had to be more creative to think up their personality, there wasn't just the warlock class all packaged up for you. If you look at the Player's Handbook there are more spellcasting classes that warrior classes, and that just doesn't make any sense - warriors are the base of things, spellcasting is extra, not the opposite. Therefore, there should be more warrior classes and less spellcasting classes. This might be partially fueled by the fact I like low-magic worlds much better than silly wild high-magic worlds that make no sense. But, each to his/her own!
Sorry, I didn't really answer the prompt.
I really like the no-magic scenario, and to make up to the spell-casting classes, you could let them train for a while so that they have non-spellcasting class levels. Still a little unfair, perhaps to the spell-casting classes, but life is unfair. But if you don't like my idea, go for what DM ONesie Knight says, I'd say. I really like the ore idea too.
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DM Rowan
Adventurer
The DM Renaissance is in full swing!
Posts: 96
Favorite D&D Class: Bard/Paladin
Favorite D&D Race: Half Elf
Gender: NB Lesbian
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Post by DM Rowan on Jan 14, 2019 20:41:21 GMT
I like both these ideas and I'll definitely play around with the top ones. The only problem with No magic at all is I'm not starting a new campaign, I'm moving my PCs from one area to another where magic is harder to throw them off. My whole part are spell casters (bard/paladin, Warlock, sorcerer, wizard/cleric) and it wouldn't be fair to tell them "well now all your levels are useless." I do agree though, that's an interesting concept for a new campaign.
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Post by randosaurus on Jan 19, 2019 3:46:13 GMT
Piers Anthony wrote a whole series of fantasy books set in Xanth, a magical land shaped like Florida. In one, a band of protagonists travel to the 'real world', where there is no magic. However, one of the band (a centaur) projects a small field of magical energy in a narrow but long line ahead of them. In Xanth, each creature has some magical ability unique to them, and that column of magical essence was beneficial in the otherwise mundane world. Such a plot device may work for your campaign, given it would work well on a game grid. The novel is titled 'Centaur Aisle' if you want to look it up. There are a lot of puns in it.
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Post by Mariok Soresal Hillick on Jan 19, 2019 9:50:45 GMT
I like both these ideas and I'll definitely play around with the top ones. The only problem with No magic at all is I'm not starting a new campaign, I'm moving my PCs from one area to another where magic is harder to throw them off. My whole part are spell casters (bard/paladin, Warlock, sorcerer, wizard/cleric) and it wouldn't be fair to tell them "well now all your levels are useless." I do agree though, that's an interesting concept for a new campaign. I was thinking you could have a time in-between two campaigns to let them catch up in a different class, so that theyŗe equal to the other players, or at least almost as equal. I remember putting up a post sometime ago about a campaign like that, a planet created by a powerful wizard and made so to have no magic. You could steal the idea if you like sometime, I haven't used it yet.
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