So I'm making a DnD campaign that has my players be in a 4 man pirate crew, them and 2 npc's. I want to make the environment feel low fantasy but also somehow like a star wars, I was thinking use a lot of mandalorian and book of boba fett backgrounds as inspiration, idk pls help.
I think it may be a little hard to sell space travel as low magic.
You could do something like 'ancient remnants'. Like: We don't know who they were, or where they went - what happened to them at all, it's all a mystery. But here's what we do know: Untold ages ago, there was another race, now long long gone, and they had magic we can only dream about. Barely anything of their ancient culture remains. Just some weird stone columns in the desert - and their ships.
And sort of just handwave it from there: The ancients could do this, but now no one can. Other than super high magic spaceship, this setting is low magic.
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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.
D&D doesn't really do what most people think of as low fantasy well to begin with.
What do you mean by "low fantasy"?
Low magic? D&D in any form is not the game for this, and magic space travel is working hard against the very premise. (And technological space travel creates a huge can of worms of its own. One could make it work while remaining at a normal D&D tech level, but it's still going to feel like magic.)
Gritty stories, unconcerned with big heroic deeds? At low levels, you can play D&D in this mode, but its tendency toward big flashy stuff tends to work against the mood.
That's the first question to answer.
The other big one is: Why space travel? What is there in your campaign premise that can't be done with horses, carts, and ships?
I do mean a low magic type of setting, not entire jedis and siths one after another, but more like mandalorian where there could be a magic bit but it isn't big, like grogu does have magic but it's weaker and the dark saber.
I'm trying to keep them towards that pirate mindset, throughout the campaign they'll steal, lie, and cheat through all of it, making immoral decisions to keep themselves alive, let some evil live, lake some down to help your own goals, not out of morals.
The story will have a few planets they go to and from, it's space pirates but I thought they could start out as doing a fetch-quest, most of these will be in a close area, small city districts, a small town, or in a general area. They're not going around the planet.
To quote from it: "Invention and artifice are the cornerstones of life and culture on Kaladesh. Inventors are significant cultural figures, from the invisible functionaries creating the conveniences of civilized life in the Consulate’s foundries, to the renowned free artisans who attract groups of admirers when they walk the streets of Ghirapur. Societies of inventors and artisans are a key social unit, uniting people who share similar interests, and providing the basis for social interaction and the exchange of ideas. Mages who can cast actual spells, without the assistance of aether-powered devices, are a rarity on Kaladesh. Under the Consulate’s rule, mages have always been regarded as dangerous and unstable, to the point that a special Consulate force is tasked with protecting the world from them. Led by Inspector-General Baral, this force seeks mages out, learns their secrets, disrupts their plans, and brings them to justice for their crimes whether actual or potential."
You could then swap out any reference to Kaladesh for whatever planets or places you are going to have and use "technology" which mimics spells like effects but people do not consider to be magical and have classes with spell slots treated as Mages in the description above and thus most of them stay hidden or are rare to the point they've be "removed" from society and may even be considered to be nothing more than folk lore, myth and legend.
The pdf goes into a bit more detail about the the classes and changes to be made as well as a small bestiary of creatures.
Or just have them discover the old spelljammer that a crew abandoned years/ centuries ago and discover that one of the party ( the mage/sorcerer/ warlock can attune to it. Then off you go with the only (known) spell jammer in a region of low magic worlds.
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Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
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So I'm making a DnD campaign that has my players be in a 4 man pirate crew, them and 2 npc's. I want to make the environment feel low fantasy but also somehow like a star wars, I was thinking use a lot of mandalorian and book of boba fett backgrounds as inspiration, idk pls help.
I think it may be a little hard to sell space travel as low magic.
You could do something like 'ancient remnants'. Like: We don't know who they were, or where they went - what happened to them at all, it's all a mystery. But here's what we do know: Untold ages ago, there was another race, now long long gone, and they had magic we can only dream about. Barely anything of their ancient culture remains. Just some weird stone columns in the desert - and their ships.
And sort of just handwave it from there: The ancients could do this, but now no one can. Other than super high magic spaceship, this setting is low magic.
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.
Hi, I would suggest these products of mine:
EBERRON: Pirates' secret toys! - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild
DRAGONLANCE: Isle of Dread - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild
D&D doesn't really do what most people think of as low fantasy well to begin with.
What do you mean by "low fantasy"?
Low magic? D&D in any form is not the game for this, and magic space travel is working hard against the very premise. (And technological space travel creates a huge can of worms of its own. One could make it work while remaining at a normal D&D tech level, but it's still going to feel like magic.)
Gritty stories, unconcerned with big heroic deeds? At low levels, you can play D&D in this mode, but its tendency toward big flashy stuff tends to work against the mood.
That's the first question to answer.
The other big one is: Why space travel? What is there in your campaign premise that can't be done with horses, carts, and ships?
there is a 3rd party star wars for 5e (link here; https://www.sw5e.com/rules/phb) you could probably use that for a lot of what you want.
I do mean a low magic type of setting, not entire jedis and siths one after another, but more like mandalorian where there could be a magic bit but it isn't big, like grogu does have magic but it's weaker and the dark saber.
I'm trying to keep them towards that pirate mindset, throughout the campaign they'll steal, lie, and cheat through all of it, making immoral decisions to keep themselves alive, let some evil live, lake some down to help your own goals, not out of morals.
The story will have a few planets they go to and from, it's space pirates but I thought they could start out as doing a fetch-quest, most of these will be in a close area, small city districts, a small town, or in a general area. They're not going around the planet.
Here's another option, take a look at Planeshift: Kaladesh (link to free pdf here: https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Plane_Shift).
To quote from it:
"Invention and artifice are the cornerstones of life and culture on Kaladesh. Inventors are significant cultural figures, from the invisible functionaries creating the conveniences of civilized life in the Consulate’s foundries, to the renowned free artisans who attract groups of admirers when they walk the streets of Ghirapur. Societies of inventors and artisans are a key social unit, uniting people who share similar interests, and providing the basis for social interaction and the exchange of ideas. Mages who can cast actual spells, without the assistance of aether-powered devices, are a rarity on Kaladesh. Under the Consulate’s rule, mages have always been regarded as dangerous and unstable, to the point that a special Consulate force is tasked with protecting the world from them. Led by Inspector-General Baral, this force seeks mages out, learns their secrets, disrupts their plans, and brings them to justice for their crimes whether actual or potential."
You could then swap out any reference to Kaladesh for whatever planets or places you are going to have and use "technology" which mimics spells like effects but people do not consider to be magical and have classes with spell slots treated as Mages in the description above and thus most of them stay hidden or are rare to the point they've be "removed" from society and may even be considered to be nothing more than folk lore, myth and legend.
The pdf goes into a bit more detail about the the classes and changes to be made as well as a small bestiary of creatures.
You could do SpellJammer as a low magic fantasy campaign, simply create an alternative "helm", something like the SPACE 1889 aether propellers.
Or just have them discover the old spelljammer that a crew abandoned years/ centuries ago and discover that one of the party ( the mage/sorcerer/ warlock can attune to it. Then off you go with the only (known) spell jammer in a region of low magic worlds.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.