They have no HP. Like if a wizard ruled the world and got stabbed, they would just die.
There are plenty of spellcasters with good hit points (all of them except Sorcerers and Wizards, that is). Also, if you stab most people, they'll die. Mages are not anymore vulnerable to stabbing than anyone else. And I'm not saying that it would be a single mage ruling the world or that the entirety of the world would be ruled by mages. I'm saying that Capitalism + Magic = Increased/Reinforced Socioeconomic Inequality.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Reading this thread has given me an idea for a mageocracy-theocracy nation (or, more accurately, group of city-states). In a certain region of my homebrew world, civilization is concentrated in a bunch of city-states, a little bit ancient Greece-style (but more with standard epic fantasy theming and such). A handful of them, somewhat isolated from the rest, form this theo-mage-ocracy-thing.
In several of these city-states, magic would be limited to the nobility and the priesthood. The primary (only legal) religion is the worship of the setting's magic god(s?). Nobles and government officials can be trained as Wizards, but arcane knowledge is a closely guarded treasure - it is seen as sacred. The priests are primarily Clerics of the Arcana domain and only maintain their magical power as long as they remain priests in good standing with the system.
Other divine spellcasters are generally just not present. Paladins are rare, though they are not illegal or anything as long as they serve the state and its ideals. Clerics who worship other deities are almost universally banned, though there are a few who don't serve the city-states' main god but still live and work there. Primal casters don't really enter into the equation, either. Some druids and rangers roam the areas surrounding the city-states, but the government and priesthood (terms that are almost synonymous in this case) largely ignore them.
Arcane casters are, in many cases, greatly feared and hated by the nobility and priesthood. Sorcerers, who have magical power despite a near-universal lack of good standing in the state's system, are seen as a threat to the city-states' way of life, religion, and government, and so they're generally murdered as fast as the government can get an assassin-mage to where they're hiding. Warlocks are likewise extremely rare, since those who follow the state's religion see their pacts as evil acts of blatant denial of the "truth." Generally, the only bards are the mundane kind, though a very small number of those entrusted with arcane knowledge become bards rather than wizards. There are few artificers, though this is just because they are effectively just rare, specialized wizards. They usually rank high in the general hierarchy and are, in almost all cases, fabulously wealthy.
Anyway, that's about as much as I've worked out about these city-states, but fortunately, it's pretty much certain that none of this will come up in any campaign I run for the foreseeable future. Which, in this case, is (sadly) probably multiple years.
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Paladin main who spends most of his D&D time worldbuilding or DMing, not Paladin-ing.
It is interesting that there are stories after stories about grand magocratic empires that fell due to either in-fighting or a magical disaster.
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Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
There could be long established cultural or political norms or institutions directed towards ethical use of magic, like mage guilds. Or certain magic is taboo and persecuted, so its too difficult for magical power to become concentrated.
Or think about our own world, rule by the strongest used to be common place, but now democratic ideals are the norm and its difficult for tyrants to gain power. Or maybe they do have power but their use of magic makes everyday life pleasant enough for most people that the people are fine with them in power.
For my world, mages tend to be rare and lonely with magic not being all that well known. People don’t get to copy other peoples spells so there is a lot of research involved which tends to ward of those looking to gain magic for power. In addition dragons own most of the kingdoms in the land so when something starts to go wrong for the kingdom they provide an extreme escalation that most people wouldn’t be able to plan for or react to.
It’s definitely possible for a sorcerer to take over a town or small city but due to bloodlines being inconsistent with who they give magic too they don’t tend to make much of an impact.
Actually, why would mages control the world? I don't really see any metric by which they'd be the most obvious. I think the case would be better for sorcerers - but really, the only class actually suited for a major power grab is the bard.
Maybe I should make a new thread =)
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Actually, why would mages control the world? I don't really see any metric by which they'd be the most obvious. I think the case would be better for sorcerers - but really, the only class actually suited for a major power grab is the bard.
Maybe I should make a new thread =)
Because people with power will use it to gain more power. That is how the world works. Bards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, Wizards, and other spellcasting classes would have a huge advantage over non-mages that would let them take more power.
And it wouldn't have to be individuals or just certain classes on their owns. It's more of a general "those with magic would use it to take power" issue. Like in Eberron, where they've taken economic and some political power. Or Dark Sun, where every city is ruled by a mage. Or the Forgotten Realms, where most city-states and nations have at least some magic in their leadership roles.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Because people with power will use it to gain more power. That is how the world works. Bards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, Wizards, and other spellcasting classes would have a huge advantage over non-mages that would let them take more power.
And it wouldn't have to be individuals or just certain classes on their owns. It's more of a general "those with magic would use it to take power" issue. Like in Eberron, where they've taken economic and some political power. Or Dark Sun, where every city is ruled by a mage. Or the Forgotten Realms, where most city-states and nations have at least some magic in their leadership roles.
As my previous post should make clear, I resoundingly disagree.
People with charisma emerge as leaders. In the great ocean of humanity, the few drops of it that can be swayed by spell casters simply make no difference. And personal power is almost entirely without influence - in the real world, even military leaders commanding great armies very rarely become heads of state. Sure, military coups are common, but generally fail extravagantly (particularly those that 'succeed').
Simply put, the power to cast a fireball or summon a demon will make barely a shred of difference, compared to the ability to stir the hearts of men. Hence, sorcerers - but mainly bards.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Because people with power will use it to gain more power. That is how the world works. Bards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, Wizards, and other spellcasting classes would have a huge advantage over non-mages that would let them take more power.
And it wouldn't have to be individuals or just certain classes on their owns. It's more of a general "those with magic would use it to take power" issue. Like in Eberron, where they've taken economic and some political power. Or Dark Sun, where every city is ruled by a mage. Or the Forgotten Realms, where most city-states and nations have at least some magic in their leadership roles.
As my previous post should make clear, I resoundingly disagree.
People with charisma emerge as leaders. In the great ocean of humanity, the few drops of it that can be swayed by spell casters simply make no difference. And personal power is almost entirely without influence - in the real world, even military leaders commanding great armies very rarely become heads of state. Sure, military coups are common, but generally fail extravagantly (particularly those that 'succeed').
Simply put, the power to cast a fireball or summon a demon will make barely a shred of difference, compared to the ability to stir the hearts of men. Hence, sorcerers - but mainly bards.
I feel like we're talking past each other. I do not mean only political positions of leadership. I mean any positions of leadership would have a heavy bias towards spellcasters in many D&D worlds. Economic Leadership (the richest of the rich, the aristocracy, CEOs, magical corporations like Eberron's Dragonmarked Houses, etc), Religious Leadership (most religions/cults in D&D already are headed by some type of spellcaster), and Political Power (not just because people with magic would be more capable of taking political power, but also those in these places of power that don't have magic would seek after it to avoid mages challenging their leadership).
I don't mean "every mage would be in a position of power" or "mages would hold all seats of political power", I mean that there would be a heavy bias towards almost any type of mage in almost any type of power in a world where magic exists and can be regularly practiced, like D&D.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Because people with power will use it to gain more power. That is how the world works. Bards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, Wizards, and other spellcasting classes would have a huge advantage over non-mages that would let them take more power.
And it wouldn't have to be individuals or just certain classes on their owns. It's more of a general "those with magic would use it to take power" issue. Like in Eberron, where they've taken economic and some political power. Or Dark Sun, where every city is ruled by a mage. Or the Forgotten Realms, where most city-states and nations have at least some magic in their leadership roles.
As my previous post should make clear, I resoundingly disagree.
People with charisma emerge as leaders. In the great ocean of humanity, the few drops of it that can be swayed by spell casters simply make no difference. And personal power is almost entirely without influence - in the real world, even military leaders commanding great armies very rarely become heads of state. Sure, military coups are common, but generally fail extravagantly (particularly those that 'succeed').
Simply put, the power to cast a fireball or summon a demon will make barely a shred of difference, compared to the ability to stir the hearts of men. Hence, sorcerers - but mainly bards.
I feel like we're talking past each other. I do not mean only political positions of leadership. I mean any positions of leadership would have a heavy bias towards spellcasters in many D&D worlds. Economic Leadership (the richest of the rich, the aristocracy, CEOs, magical corporations like Eberron's Dragonmarked Houses, etc), Religious Leadership (most religions/cults in D&D already are headed by some type of spellcaster), and Political Power (not just because people with magic would be more capable of taking political power, but also those in these places of power that don't have magic would seek after it to avoid mages challenging their leadership).
I don't mean "every mage would be in a position of power" or "mages would hold all seats of political power", I mean that there would be a heavy bias towards almost any type of mage in almost any type of power in a world where magic exists and can be regularly practiced, like D&D.
Like I said: Resoundingly disagree.
I wonder why you think mages would be 'the richest of the rich'. I bet you imagine you can dive into the DMG, look at prices for magic items, and then calculate the rate at which the average archmage could produce ... say, staffs of the magi, or vorpal swords, or some such thing - and never consider what market they're trying to cater to.
The richest of the rich in any game world should be a greasy spice merchant with less magic to his name than it takes to boil an egg. The dragonmarked houses are cool and cute - but they're insane. That's never what would happen. Oh, the halflings can do a little magic hostery-trick once* a day? What difference could that possible make? I've worked in the service industry. You need to produce hundreds if not thousands of meals every day, on time, hot when it hits the table, without fail, to run a restaurant. Mark of Hospitality would only be a liability - 'why does the pretty elf girl get the magic ...' It's not even a magic meal, it's Unseen Servant, Prestigitation or Purify Food and Drink. At best, it's never needed at a proper eatery.
And the other dragonmarked houses are far worse. The whole point of Eberron is to strain our suspension of disbelief almost but not quite to the point of breaking. Airships and lightning rail and a magic fuelled economy that no one in the world would be able to afford. It's like ... try to calculate the price of a 1000 miles of lightning rail. If there are a thousand magic crystals per mile, for a thousand miles you need to create a million magic crystals. And that just the first step - then you need to install them, you need to level the terrain to allow for rail service, you need to build the trains themselves, tame elementals, build stations. Let's just call it a million bajillion gold pieces to get that show started. A ticket is 1 gold. The average working Joe of Eberron would need to work for ... oh, let's just say a month to save up a whole, shiny gold piece of spending money for a train ride. Even if the Great Eberron Railway Company operates at a hefty 10% profitability, it will take 95-99% of eternity to even reach break even on the lightning rail project.
I have done precisely zero math on any of this. I consider it selfexplanatory, but that always runs the risk of someone else being very insistent on actually running the numbers. Please don't, it doesn't matter.
Point is: Mages are good at magic - but that pretty much ensures they're bad at most other things, and also are primarily interested in magic, not politics, or commerce. With the possible exception of bards and sorcerers, who have high charisma. Which might account for something.
* It's actually two
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
In all D&D settings magic exists, can be controlled, and can perform feats of power unrivaled by non-magical means . . . why haven't those that practice magic taken over the setting?
I suspect you are specifically referring to the Sword Coast of Toril, in the Forgotten Realms Setting only, and only during the current point of time. Because if you took the time to delve deeper... you would get your answers with a quick wiki entry or two, or even a lore video on Youtube.
1: Wizards and/or Dragons do control most settings in D&D. With a few settings absolutely destroy by them. See Darksun for the worst case, See Dragonlance for a violent example.
2: All of Toril was once controlled by an Empire of Human Wizards (Netheril), they nearly destroyed the prime material plane by accident, by killing the god of magic and trying to steal her power. Most of the artifacts ruins, floating sky islands, undead, and strange monsters come from that era.
3: Thay, the nation state of Thay is ruled by Wizards and engages in slavery over lesser beings.
4: Eastern Lands aka Kara-Tur is ruled by Dragons and wizards. Or was in 3rd, been 20 years since that region was updated. And 11 years since WotC last mentioned it.
The sword coast, and the lands of western Faerun is the least developed, least populated part of the continent. It's basically the wild lands of Toril and why the setting is called Forgotten Realms. Baldur's Gate is the Largest city, and it's realistically just a large town compared to cities in Thay. I think the lore says the current population is 125,000 people in Baldur's Gate. Some of the Eastern Cities can have double or triple that number, and some of the cities in Kara-Tur can have a million people. When comparing to Earth in the "middle ages" The Sword coast is basically a Stand in for the British Islands with Baldur's gate being a stand in for London. btw London was a Large Town until about 1600 when it finally hit 400k populations, it didn''t hit a million people until 1800, meanwhile Rome had a Million or more during it's empire period btw Thay is basically based on Evil Rome, and the Dragonborn City in that area is basically Good Rome. And the Grey Orc City has a larger population than both.
So basically flawed premise. Wizards, and Dragons do rule. You are just playing in the wild unincorporated regions of the world.
---
Also to prevent another Netheril the gods do limit the size of Magical Empires.
A good read is the history of Netheril.
Oh and the world just recovered from the Spellplague, which killed of a lot of magic for a while. So you should read up on that as well.
Also a good chunk of Race based civilizations ie Elves, Dwarves, Dragonborn, etc are Ruled by Clerics and Sorcerers in Service to gods/goddesses.
Also the new "Shadow Empire" is basically a surviving piece of Netheril, and they currently control most of the Northern parts of the continent.
There are plenty of spellcasters with good hit points (all of them except Sorcerers and Wizards, that is). Also, if you stab most people, they'll die. Mages are not anymore vulnerable to stabbing than anyone else. And I'm not saying that it would be a single mage ruling the world or that the entirety of the world would be ruled by mages. I'm saying that Capitalism + Magic = Increased/Reinforced Socioeconomic Inequality.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
You can stab any NPC and kill them because they have no HP.
I presume a mage leader in a mageocracy would have plenty of HP and bodyguards like any other noble leader.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Wizard takes 1d4 damage and dies from "Dreams of World Domination!". ;-)
Reading this thread has given me an idea for a mageocracy-theocracy nation (or, more accurately, group of city-states). In a certain region of my homebrew world, civilization is concentrated in a bunch of city-states, a little bit ancient Greece-style (but more with standard epic fantasy theming and such). A handful of them, somewhat isolated from the rest, form this theo-mage-ocracy-thing.
In several of these city-states, magic would be limited to the nobility and the priesthood. The primary (only legal) religion is the worship of the setting's magic god(s?). Nobles and government officials can be trained as Wizards, but arcane knowledge is a closely guarded treasure - it is seen as sacred. The priests are primarily Clerics of the Arcana domain and only maintain their magical power as long as they remain priests in good standing with the system.
Other divine spellcasters are generally just not present. Paladins are rare, though they are not illegal or anything as long as they serve the state and its ideals. Clerics who worship other deities are almost universally banned, though there are a few who don't serve the city-states' main god but still live and work there. Primal casters don't really enter into the equation, either. Some druids and rangers roam the areas surrounding the city-states, but the government and priesthood (terms that are almost synonymous in this case) largely ignore them.
Arcane casters are, in many cases, greatly feared and hated by the nobility and priesthood. Sorcerers, who have magical power despite a near-universal lack of good standing in the state's system, are seen as a threat to the city-states' way of life, religion, and government, and so they're generally murdered as fast as the government can get an assassin-mage to where they're hiding. Warlocks are likewise extremely rare, since those who follow the state's religion see their pacts as evil acts of blatant denial of the "truth." Generally, the only bards are the mundane kind, though a very small number of those entrusted with arcane knowledge become bards rather than wizards. There are few artificers, though this is just because they are effectively just rare, specialized wizards. They usually rank high in the general hierarchy and are, in almost all cases, fabulously wealthy.
Anyway, that's about as much as I've worked out about these city-states, but fortunately, it's pretty much certain that none of this will come up in any campaign I run for the foreseeable future. Which, in this case, is (sadly) probably multiple years.
Paladin main who spends most of his D&D time worldbuilding or DMing, not Paladin-ing.
It is interesting that there are stories after stories about grand magocratic empires that fell due to either in-fighting or a magical disaster.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
The question should be: How come you don't know that mages control the world? One answer is they don't. The other is they don't want you to know.
There could be long established cultural or political norms or institutions directed towards ethical use of magic, like mage guilds. Or certain magic is taboo and persecuted, so its too difficult for magical power to become concentrated.
Or think about our own world, rule by the strongest used to be common place, but now democratic ideals are the norm and its difficult for tyrants to gain power. Or maybe they do have power but their use of magic makes everyday life pleasant enough for most people that the people are fine with them in power.
For my world, mages tend to be rare and lonely with magic not being all that well known. People don’t get to copy other peoples spells so there is a lot of research involved which tends to ward of those looking to gain magic for power. In addition dragons own most of the kingdoms in the land so when something starts to go wrong for the kingdom they provide an extreme escalation that most people wouldn’t be able to plan for or react to.
It’s definitely possible for a sorcerer to take over a town or small city but due to bloodlines being inconsistent with who they give magic too they don’t tend to make much of an impact.
Mostly nocturnal
help build a world here
Actually, why would mages control the world? I don't really see any metric by which they'd be the most obvious. I think the case would be better for sorcerers - but really, the only class actually suited for a major power grab is the bard.
Maybe I should make a new thread =)
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Because people with power will use it to gain more power. That is how the world works. Bards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, Wizards, and other spellcasting classes would have a huge advantage over non-mages that would let them take more power.
And it wouldn't have to be individuals or just certain classes on their owns. It's more of a general "those with magic would use it to take power" issue. Like in Eberron, where they've taken economic and some political power. Or Dark Sun, where every city is ruled by a mage. Or the Forgotten Realms, where most city-states and nations have at least some magic in their leadership roles.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
As my previous post should make clear, I resoundingly disagree.
People with charisma emerge as leaders. In the great ocean of humanity, the few drops of it that can be swayed by spell casters simply make no difference. And personal power is almost entirely without influence - in the real world, even military leaders commanding great armies very rarely become heads of state. Sure, military coups are common, but generally fail extravagantly (particularly those that 'succeed').
Simply put, the power to cast a fireball or summon a demon will make barely a shred of difference, compared to the ability to stir the hearts of men. Hence, sorcerers - but mainly bards.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Merchants should control the world.
Material components are expensive, man.
“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.
I feel like we're talking past each other. I do not mean only political positions of leadership. I mean any positions of leadership would have a heavy bias towards spellcasters in many D&D worlds. Economic Leadership (the richest of the rich, the aristocracy, CEOs, magical corporations like Eberron's Dragonmarked Houses, etc), Religious Leadership (most religions/cults in D&D already are headed by some type of spellcaster), and Political Power (not just because people with magic would be more capable of taking political power, but also those in these places of power that don't have magic would seek after it to avoid mages challenging their leadership).
I don't mean "every mage would be in a position of power" or "mages would hold all seats of political power", I mean that there would be a heavy bias towards almost any type of mage in almost any type of power in a world where magic exists and can be regularly practiced, like D&D.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Like I said: Resoundingly disagree.
I wonder why you think mages would be 'the richest of the rich'. I bet you imagine you can dive into the DMG, look at prices for magic items, and then calculate the rate at which the average archmage could produce ... say, staffs of the magi, or vorpal swords, or some such thing - and never consider what market they're trying to cater to.
The richest of the rich in any game world should be a greasy spice merchant with less magic to his name than it takes to boil an egg. The dragonmarked houses are cool and cute - but they're insane. That's never what would happen. Oh, the halflings can do a little magic hostery-trick once* a day? What difference could that possible make? I've worked in the service industry. You need to produce hundreds if not thousands of meals every day, on time, hot when it hits the table, without fail, to run a restaurant. Mark of Hospitality would only be a liability - 'why does the pretty elf girl get the magic ...' It's not even a magic meal, it's Unseen Servant, Prestigitation or Purify Food and Drink. At best, it's never needed at a proper eatery.
And the other dragonmarked houses are far worse. The whole point of Eberron is to strain our suspension of disbelief almost but not quite to the point of breaking. Airships and lightning rail and a magic fuelled economy that no one in the world would be able to afford. It's like ... try to calculate the price of a 1000 miles of lightning rail. If there are a thousand magic crystals per mile, for a thousand miles you need to create a million magic crystals. And that just the first step - then you need to install them, you need to level the terrain to allow for rail service, you need to build the trains themselves, tame elementals, build stations. Let's just call it a million bajillion gold pieces to get that show started. A ticket is 1 gold. The average working Joe of Eberron would need to work for ... oh, let's just say a month to save up a whole, shiny gold piece of spending money for a train ride. Even if the Great Eberron Railway Company operates at a hefty 10% profitability, it will take 95-99% of eternity to even reach break even on the lightning rail project.
I have done precisely zero math on any of this. I consider it selfexplanatory, but that always runs the risk of someone else being very insistent on actually running the numbers. Please don't, it doesn't matter.
Point is: Mages are good at magic - but that pretty much ensures they're bad at most other things, and also are primarily interested in magic, not politics, or commerce. With the possible exception of bards and sorcerers, who have high charisma. Which might account for something.
* It's actually two
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
I suspect you are specifically referring to the Sword Coast of Toril, in the Forgotten Realms Setting only, and only during the current point of time. Because if you took the time to delve deeper... you would get your answers with a quick wiki entry or two, or even a lore video on Youtube.
1: Wizards and/or Dragons do control most settings in D&D. With a few settings absolutely destroy by them. See Darksun for the worst case, See Dragonlance for a violent example.
2: All of Toril was once controlled by an Empire of Human Wizards (Netheril), they nearly destroyed the prime material plane by accident, by killing the god of magic and trying to steal her power. Most of the artifacts ruins, floating sky islands, undead, and strange monsters come from that era.
3: Thay, the nation state of Thay is ruled by Wizards and engages in slavery over lesser beings.
4: Eastern Lands aka Kara-Tur is ruled by Dragons and wizards. Or was in 3rd, been 20 years since that region was updated. And 11 years since WotC last mentioned it.
The sword coast, and the lands of western Faerun is the least developed, least populated part of the continent. It's basically the wild lands of Toril and why the setting is called Forgotten Realms. Baldur's Gate is the Largest city, and it's realistically just a large town compared to cities in Thay. I think the lore says the current population is 125,000 people in Baldur's Gate. Some of the Eastern Cities can have double or triple that number, and some of the cities in Kara-Tur can have a million people. When comparing to Earth in the "middle ages" The Sword coast is basically a Stand in for the British Islands with Baldur's gate being a stand in for London. btw London was a Large Town until about 1600 when it finally hit 400k populations, it didn''t hit a million people until 1800, meanwhile Rome had a Million or more during it's empire period btw Thay is basically based on Evil Rome, and the Dragonborn City in that area is basically Good Rome. And the Grey Orc City has a larger population than both.
So basically flawed premise. Wizards, and Dragons do rule. You are just playing in the wild unincorporated regions of the world.
---
Also to prevent another Netheril the gods do limit the size of Magical Empires.
A good read is the history of Netheril.
Oh and the world just recovered from the Spellplague, which killed of a lot of magic for a while. So you should read up on that as well.
Also a good chunk of Race based civilizations ie Elves, Dwarves, Dragonborn, etc are Ruled by Clerics and Sorcerers in Service to gods/goddesses.
Also the new "Shadow Empire" is basically a surviving piece of Netheril, and they currently control most of the Northern parts of the continent.