So in the world I'm creating for my campaign, there are going to be several laws restricting spellcasters, except for clerics and druids. Warlocks are going to be illegal (my players can still choose to play one), and wizards and sorcerers are going to be required to register and carry a "license" on them at all times. I'm thinking that if someone wants to be a wizard, they go to an academy to train or become an apprentice and obtain their license through that; when someone who is a sorcerer starts showing magical capabilities, the local authorities are alerted and that person is registered. I'm not sure what to do with bards though. They use arcane-like magic, so they would need to be registered. Should I go with a bard college that they learn their magic through and so could be registered that way? Arcane magic is heavily monitored and restricted in my world, so I can't just let them slip through the cracks.
Given the setting i think a having the Bard's College be a legal requirement to becoming a bard is a good idea, the license idea is simple and should work fine, it could also be posed as more of a functional requirement, in the sense that to use bardic magic you NEED to learn it from a Bard College (think Solitude Bard college from Skyrim) you can still be a musician and play without one, but if you want to be more than a bard in name only and use bardic magic, you need a bard license.
Edit: also just thought a more fluffy reason to add on to the stuff above, bards pass on songs and stories by word of mouth, so perhaps it would make sense that bardic magic is passed on in such a way, where masters will find hopeful bards-to-be and teach them, presenting them a license after they are sufficiently trained, still structured, but helps differentiate it from the Wizard structure, perhaps different groups of teachers have formed larger followings which vary in style (perhaps 'genres' is a good term?) Which mechanically work the same but lorewise are performed differently; this also has potential to create cool plot hooks or side-quests :)
I thought of the Skyrim Bard College as I was typing out the post. But I like your idea of bard-masters, and maybe each region could have their own style/culture. Thanks!
You could always go the ***** route and have the player be part of a roaming performance troupe. They skirt the boundaries of the laws because they are always on the move and Bard's magic tends to be a bit more subtle when compared to other Arcane spellcasters.
Our current campaign is non-too-dissimilar, where magic is heavily frowned upon. So we agreed that Bard's kept their powers secret and instead called themselves simply Minstrels. They traded magical tips and training in secret or in "band practices" with other Minstrels.
I think the bard college is a good idea. For the story say they had studied at a college. In order to graduate and earn their abilities they must do some field work for a short period of time (levels 1&2). Once they have accomplished that they graduate and are bestowed the magical properties of their college and now gain full rights to grow and experiment with their powers in jurisdiction with the law (levels 3+).
I think Shadowrun is actually a pretty good reference here. If "Magic" is "restricted", but only Arcane magic. Why? People mostly don't make laws for no reason, there has to be a reason behind it? Did a Liche used to rule this nation for 1,000 years of tyranny before being overthrown and so now Arcane Casters are held with suspicion as any could be the next "dread lord"?
I image if a Wizard uses "mend" to fix a torn dress people aren't likely to be upset, except maybe the seamstress' guild. Is the registration created from out of wack-regulationand gate-keeping within this society? Does it look like Ankh Morpork?
What happened that MADE magic illicit? Why is "divine" magic ok? If you wanted to make Bardic magic special it could be the only "acceptable" Arcane magic. It's as old as folklore and fairytales, it's the quasi-shamistic. Maybe because the people who practice is are so welcome it is more welcome and lacks the stigma. Remember that people in-universe probably don't have access to the "proper nouns" we use nor would they necessarily fully understand the cosmology. We as Gamers know Bardic magic is "Arcane", but does it present as that different from Druidic or Cleric? In universe is a "Cleric" and a "Druid" proper nouns? Even words the characters would use to identify themselves?
Now to get the legality. This is why I like Shadowrun as an example. Charm Person would be super illegal it's as much of a violation of a person's will as a direct damage spell. It's mystical assault. In Shadowrun any magical attack is considered premeditative. So if you get into a bar fight and kill someone it's assault and manslaughter. If you pull out a knife then it's assault with a dead weapon and possibly manslaughter. Even if you "self defense" someone to death with Magic Missile during that same bar fight it's now assault with a deadly weapon and first degree murder.
Also is this law only in this nation? A few allied nations? All nations? Do the Elves not have this fear, but when an Elf Wizard travels to this nation do get the "registered" as part of "immigration"? Are Dwarven Runesmiths' goods treated with suspicion in this human (?) city because they might be forged with magical techniques?
Also for Warlocks. Are Celestial Pacts illegal? Can a Pact of the Tome pass itself off as a Wizard and get accepted into Wizards' school? Can a Pact of the Fey Warlock say they are a Druid? There is a Sprite that will totally vouch for the fact that they are a Druid.
If an "illegal" caster has the Criminal Background, will she be able to get a forged license?
In one of my home campaigns casting arcane magic is very dangerous for reasons I won't expound on here, so the bards vanished from the world. This made the God of music very sad. So instead of imbuing his worshipers with clerical powers, he gave them bardic abilities. Thus divine bards were born. They pray for their spells just like clerics. And everybody knows they are essentially clerics of the god of music. Other gods of similar portfolios liked that idea, so several different archetypes of bards exist, with each god only imbuing one archetype. So far 5 gods gave up on having clerics and have bards instead.
I suggest you take illegal magic further than licensed use to make it more engaging to the players.
why is magic illegal. Who is enforcing it from authority stand point. I suggest putting in place special NFC’s very immune to magic spells or most.
what system is in place to prevent magic. I would recommend concentrated areas where magic is dispelled. Maybe even road blocks on routes to do magic checks.
of course create a shady underground that is fighting the suppressing of magic. How do they approach the party. How do they use them to try and change the system.
You could always go a completely different route and make it so 'true bards' are rare, and no one actually knows they can cast spells, everyone else is just a performer. Any bard that's caught always lies ('cause they're generally good at that) and admits they're some sort of other class in masquerade. That could make for a fun twist and lead to some interesting plot developments and world building.
You can also have the bards being unaware they're actually using magic; Healing Word doesn't actually heal, it's just your inspirational speech inspired your companions to keep going. Thunderwave? You just make a cacophony with your instrument, and everyone cringes from the sound, almost seeming like it hurts them. Disguise self? You are just that good at disguises and deception.
Sure, this makes the bard have to likely select spells carefully to fit the idea as your party levels up, as things like Polymorph, Fly, or other powerful spells are harder to fit into the concept, but most low-level spells could be handwaved by the bard thinking they're just that good with music or that inspirational a leader or such to where they actually aren't using "real" magic.
I played a wizard in a campaign where the named spells "Melf", "Leomund", "Bigby", etc., were all copyright of the great mage's families. You generally had two choices: Pay the family a licensing fee for the right to use their family's spell, or cast it "illegally" and face stiff fines, imprisonment, or both. Needless to say, my tight-fisted wizard learned spells that didn't violate copyrights. He eventually met Mordenkainen, did some adventuring for him and received letters of marque as payment that allowed him to use various spells of his without having to license them.
Bards could probably hide their magic capability, and play a lot of it off as showmanship or something of the like.
You could of course, go the Bards college route as others have mentioned and allow for Bards to be legal, but require a permit and some form of formal recognition of their training similar to Wizards.
I think the other way would be to have Bards regarded with superstition, but have most of their more noticeable Arcane powers viewed as Myth, rather than reality. This would especially make sense if Bards are not common in the world. NPCs would be suspicious of Bard players, but would mainly view it like voodoo magic, hypnosis, or other magic acts- something that is definitely out of the ordinary, but is probably just a trick or a ruse of some kind.
If you haven't already done this, I would go with the Bard College idea. You could though have some of those colleges be underground ones that try to get around licensing. This could make an interesting Bard where it is required to really be a "Jack-of-All-Trades" to hide their magic. This could end up with some great group role-playing too where the Bard is constantly trying to deceive the group. It may slow combat down with perception/deception checks if the bard isn't careful: standing near the cleric, using spells that don't create visual effects etc.
You could even get a little code going with that player for when they want to use charm spells or something else like that. This is also a lot of work and may not work for your group. I would talk it over with a player if they want to play a bard.
I played a bard in a low-magic game a few years ago, where no one was inherently magical - it was all magitech items, and those were rare as well. The solution that my DM and I came up with was that many of my bard "spells" were actually mundane actions (that were mechanically identical to the spells; it's just the flavor that changed). This was in Pathfinder instead of 5E, so the exact spells I had were different, but I'll give you a couple examples anyway so you have an idea of what I mean.
For Daze, I threw pocket sand in the person's eyes.
For Lullaby, the song I sang would have a subtle hypnotic effect - entirely psychological, not magical.
For Cure Wounds, I was just mundanely patching up characters - slapping a bandage on them with some salve, etc.
So in the world I'm creating for my campaign, there are going to be several laws restricting spellcasters, except for clerics and druids. Warlocks are going to be illegal (my players can still choose to play one), and wizards and sorcerers are going to be required to register and carry a "license" on them at all times. I'm thinking that if someone wants to be a wizard, they go to an academy to train or become an apprentice and obtain their license through that; when someone who is a sorcerer starts showing magical capabilities, the local authorities are alerted and that person is registered. I'm not sure what to do with bards though. They use arcane-like magic, so they would need to be registered. Should I go with a bard college that they learn their magic through and so could be registered that way? Arcane magic is heavily monitored and restricted in my world, so I can't just let them slip through the cracks.
Given the setting i think a having the Bard's College be a legal requirement to becoming a bard is a good idea, the license idea is simple and should work fine, it could also be posed as more of a functional requirement, in the sense that to use bardic magic you NEED to learn it from a Bard College (think Solitude Bard college from Skyrim) you can still be a musician and play without one, but if you want to be more than a bard in name only and use bardic magic, you need a bard license.
Edit: also just thought a more fluffy reason to add on to the stuff above, bards pass on songs and stories by word of mouth, so perhaps it would make sense that bardic magic is passed on in such a way, where masters will find hopeful bards-to-be and teach them, presenting them a license after they are sufficiently trained, still structured, but helps differentiate it from the Wizard structure, perhaps different groups of teachers have formed larger followings which vary in style (perhaps 'genres' is a good term?) Which mechanically work the same but lorewise are performed differently; this also has potential to create cool plot hooks or side-quests :)
Edit 2: spelling errors!
Hope that helps! :)
I thought of the Skyrim Bard College as I was typing out the post. But I like your idea of bard-masters, and maybe each region could have their own style/culture. Thanks!
You could always go the ***** route and have the player be part of a roaming performance troupe. They skirt the boundaries of the laws because they are always on the move and Bard's magic tends to be a bit more subtle when compared to other Arcane spellcasters.
Our current campaign is non-too-dissimilar, where magic is heavily frowned upon. So we agreed that Bard's kept their powers secret and instead called themselves simply Minstrels. They traded magical tips and training in secret or in "band practices" with other Minstrels.
I think the bard college is a good idea. For the story say they had studied at a college. In order to graduate and earn their abilities they must do some field work for a short period of time (levels 1&2). Once they have accomplished that they graduate and are bestowed the magical properties of their college and now gain full rights to grow and experiment with their powers in jurisdiction with the law (levels 3+).
I think Shadowrun is actually a pretty good reference here.
If "Magic" is "restricted", but only Arcane magic. Why? People mostly don't make laws for no reason, there has to be a reason behind it?
Did a Liche used to rule this nation for 1,000 years of tyranny before being overthrown and so now Arcane Casters are held with suspicion as any could be the next "dread lord"?
I image if a Wizard uses "mend" to fix a torn dress people aren't likely to be upset, except maybe the seamstress' guild.
Is the registration created from out of wack-regulationand gate-keeping within this society? Does it look like Ankh Morpork?
What happened that MADE magic illicit? Why is "divine" magic ok?
If you wanted to make Bardic magic special it could be the only "acceptable" Arcane magic. It's as old as folklore and fairytales, it's the quasi-shamistic. Maybe because the people who practice is are so welcome it is more welcome and lacks the stigma. Remember that people in-universe probably don't have access to the "proper nouns" we use nor would they necessarily fully understand the cosmology. We as Gamers know Bardic magic is "Arcane", but does it present as that different from Druidic or Cleric? In universe is a "Cleric" and a "Druid" proper nouns? Even words the characters would use to identify themselves?
Now to get the legality. This is why I like Shadowrun as an example. Charm Person would be super illegal it's as much of a violation of a person's will as a direct damage spell. It's mystical assault. In Shadowrun any magical attack is considered premeditative.
So if you get into a bar fight and kill someone it's assault and manslaughter. If you pull out a knife then it's assault with a dead weapon and possibly manslaughter. Even if you "self defense" someone to death with Magic Missile during that same bar fight it's now assault with a deadly weapon and first degree murder.
Also is this law only in this nation? A few allied nations? All nations?
Do the Elves not have this fear, but when an Elf Wizard travels to this nation do get the "registered" as part of "immigration"?
Are Dwarven Runesmiths' goods treated with suspicion in this human (?) city because they might be forged with magical techniques?
Also for Warlocks. Are Celestial Pacts illegal? Can a Pact of the Tome pass itself off as a Wizard and get accepted into Wizards' school? Can a Pact of the Fey Warlock say they are a Druid? There is a Sprite that will totally vouch for the fact that they are a Druid.
If an "illegal" caster has the Criminal Background, will she be able to get a forged license?
In one of my home campaigns casting arcane magic is very dangerous for reasons I won't expound on here, so the bards vanished from the world. This made the God of music very sad. So instead of imbuing his worshipers with clerical powers, he gave them bardic abilities. Thus divine bards were born. They pray for their spells just like clerics. And everybody knows they are essentially clerics of the god of music. Other gods of similar portfolios liked that idea, so several different archetypes of bards exist, with each god only imbuing one archetype. So far 5 gods gave up on having clerics and have bards instead.
I suggest you take illegal magic further than licensed use to make it more engaging to the players.
why is magic illegal. Who is enforcing it from authority stand point. I suggest putting in place special NFC’s very immune to magic spells or most.
what system is in place to prevent magic. I would recommend concentrated areas where magic is dispelled. Maybe even road blocks on routes to do magic checks.
of course create a shady underground that is fighting the suppressing of magic. How do they approach the party. How do they use them to try and change the system.
You could always go a completely different route and make it so 'true bards' are rare, and no one actually knows they can cast spells, everyone else is just a performer. Any bard that's caught always lies ('cause they're generally good at that) and admits they're some sort of other class in masquerade. That could make for a fun twist and lead to some interesting plot developments and world building.
You can also have the bards being unaware they're actually using magic; Healing Word doesn't actually heal, it's just your inspirational speech inspired your companions to keep going. Thunderwave? You just make a cacophony with your instrument, and everyone cringes from the sound, almost seeming like it hurts them. Disguise self? You are just that good at disguises and deception.
Sure, this makes the bard have to likely select spells carefully to fit the idea as your party levels up, as things like Polymorph, Fly, or other powerful spells are harder to fit into the concept, but most low-level spells could be handwaved by the bard thinking they're just that good with music or that inspirational a leader or such to where they actually aren't using "real" magic.
i think you could make it illegal but there be a secret bard society in every town/village that helps bards.
I played a wizard in a campaign where the named spells "Melf", "Leomund", "Bigby", etc., were all copyright of the great mage's families. You generally had two choices: Pay the family a licensing fee for the right to use their family's spell, or cast it "illegally" and face stiff fines, imprisonment, or both. Needless to say, my tight-fisted wizard learned spells that didn't violate copyrights. He eventually met Mordenkainen, did some adventuring for him and received letters of marque as payment that allowed him to use various spells of his without having to license them.
Interesting campaign.
Bards could probably hide their magic capability, and play a lot of it off as showmanship or something of the like.
You could of course, go the Bards college route as others have mentioned and allow for Bards to be legal, but require a permit and some form of formal recognition of their training similar to Wizards.
I think the other way would be to have Bards regarded with superstition, but have most of their more noticeable Arcane powers viewed as Myth, rather than reality. This would especially make sense if Bards are not common in the world. NPCs would be suspicious of Bard players, but would mainly view it like voodoo magic, hypnosis, or other magic acts- something that is definitely out of the ordinary, but is probably just a trick or a ruse of some kind.
If you haven't already done this, I would go with the Bard College idea. You could though have some of those colleges be underground ones that try to get around licensing. This could make an interesting Bard where it is required to really be a "Jack-of-All-Trades" to hide their magic. This could end up with some great group role-playing too where the Bard is constantly trying to deceive the group. It may slow combat down with perception/deception checks if the bard isn't careful: standing near the cleric, using spells that don't create visual effects etc.
You could even get a little code going with that player for when they want to use charm spells or something else like that. This is also a lot of work and may not work for your group. I would talk it over with a player if they want to play a bard.
I love D&D.
I find it funny that as soon as a DM says "These things are illegal" or "There aren't any XX" a players goes, "I want to be that!"
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
I played a bard in a low-magic game a few years ago, where no one was inherently magical - it was all magitech items, and those were rare as well. The solution that my DM and I came up with was that many of my bard "spells" were actually mundane actions (that were mechanically identical to the spells; it's just the flavor that changed). This was in Pathfinder instead of 5E, so the exact spells I had were different, but I'll give you a couple examples anyway so you have an idea of what I mean.
"We're the perfect combination of expendable and unkillable!"